274 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The law of the union of gases is extremely 

 repugnant to the author ; " even if proved 

 by ten thousand mathematical calculations, 

 it is yet a natural impossibility, because 

 these calculations are based upon false 

 axioms." 



Under the head of the Universal Mechan- 

 ism the laws of motion are discussed. The 

 property of inertia in matter and the first 

 law of motion are said to be " absolutely 

 false," while the author promises to " en- 

 tirely annihilate " the force of gravitation. 

 Instead of these, he gives us centrality, " a 

 power of conservation whose impulse is to 

 keep an atom or a body in its peculiar state 

 or form." Inertia is accordingly " nothing 

 else than centrality holding each physical ob- 

 ject in its chemical bond. . . . Centrality is 

 an active force, while the force of motion is 

 passive." Another argument is furnished to 

 show that " chemical combination has only 

 to do with the qualities of objects." Even if 

 the laws of gravitation were correct, "it 

 would be a natural impossibility that the 

 moon should have an elliptical motion around 

 the earth." 



Those who prefer the idealistic to the sci- 

 entific method of explaining the mysteries of 

 the universe will find the book of interest. 



The results of over two hundred experi- 

 ments on phenomena connected with the X 

 rays have been collected in a volume by Ed- 

 ward P. Thompson* The book is designed 

 for students and workers in electricity, hence 

 no attempt has been made to render it at- 

 tractive to the general reader. Many of the 

 experiments were made before Rontgen's 

 famous discovery was announced, some dat- 

 ing back to the time of Faraday, so that 

 those who made them of course had no idea 

 of their connection with the X rays. Among 

 the special points that the experiments bear 

 upon are the action of a magnet on the 

 cathode light, photo-electric dust figures, 

 mutual repulsion of cathode rays in the dis- 

 charge tube, behavior of cathode rays outside 

 the discharge tube, effect of the X rays on 

 various chemicals, and penetrating power of 

 the X rays. We note the following well- 



* ROntgen Rays and Phenomena of the Anode 

 and Cathode. By Edward P. Thompson and Wil- 

 liam A. Anthony. New York : D. Van Noetrand 

 Co. Pp. ISO, 8vo. Price, $1.50. 



known names among the investigators whose 

 work appears in the volume : Faraday, Davy, 

 J. J. Thomson, Crookes, Lenard, Rontgen, 

 Edison, Tesla, and Lodge. The text is illus- 

 trated with a large number of reproductions 

 of skiagraphs and other pictures. 



The authors of Curiosities of Medicine 

 have been working a very fruitful field, arid 

 doubtless could have gathered an even larger 

 harvest.* Although medical journals are 

 constantly reporting curious cases of abnor- 

 mal formation or of recovery after injury, the 

 present volume appears to be the first sys- 

 tematic collection of such material. To the 

 physician a knowledge of such cases may 

 often be of service in indicating what hope 

 there may be for ameliorating similar abnor- 

 mal conditions that may occur in his practice. 

 To the layman the collection is one of start- 

 ling and often rather painful interest. In- 

 stances of children born joined together, of 

 which the Siamese twins have long been the 

 traditional type, are well represented. With 

 these are classed persons with supernumera- 

 ry limbs, heads, and other organs. Minor 

 abnormities present a wonderful variety, in- 

 cluding albinism, excessive hairiness and 

 hairlessness, elastic skin, horny growths, 

 large or small heads, harelip, congenital ab- 

 sence of limbs, deficient or supernumerary 

 fingers and toes, tails, extra breasts, and mal- 

 formations of the internal organs. Abnor- 

 mal forms and functions in the generative 

 organs afford a large volume of curious ma- 

 terial. Celebrated giants and dwarfs and 

 other anomalies of size furnish material for 

 a chapter, and there is a group of records of 

 extraordinary longevity. Idiosyncrasies with 

 regard to sound, vision, smell, taste, touch, 

 foods, drugs, etc., endurance of fasting, power 

 of contorting the body, endurance of pain, 

 supernormal strength, etc., make up a long 

 list. Many cases of recovery from unusual 

 forms of injury to various parts of the body 

 are recorded here, and there is much inter- 

 esting material under the head of anomalous 

 types of disease. The concluding chapter is 

 a record of historic epidemics. A full gen- 

 eral index and a bibliographic index are ap- 



* Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine. By 

 George M. Gould, M. D., and Walter L. Pyle, M. D. 

 Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. Pp. 968, impe- 

 rial 8vo. Price, cloth, $6} half morocco, $7. 



