;66 



NA TURE 



[October io, 1895 



continent, and led to the erection of laboratories in Eng- 

 land, not in the great universities, to their shame be it 

 said, but at such places as University College, London, 

 and the College of Chemistr>\ 



Liebig's researches in connection with physiology and 

 agriculture were of the utmost importance in their day, 

 but chiefly by reason of the stimulus afforded to 

 inquir>' ; for while the whole, or nearly the whole, of his 

 chemical work remains as firmly established as ever, the 

 greater part of his physiological theories in relation to 

 plant nutrition, to fermentation, and to animal physiology, 

 have been either superseded altogether, or so modified as 

 to be no longer recognisable. 



The author will probably see fit, on further reflection, 

 to alter some of the views expressed in his own remarks ; 

 but enough has been said to show that Mr. Shenstone 

 has made a contribution to the " Centur)' Series '" which 

 will, we venture to think, be by no means the least 

 attractive and interesting of these useful little volumes. 



W. A. T. 



THE SELECTION OF HEALTH RESORTS. 

 Climates and Ballts of Great Rritiiin. \'ol. i. (London: 

 Macmillan and Co., 1895.) \ 



THIS work is the outcome of the report of a committee i 

 appointed by the Royal Medical and Chirurgical | 

 Society of London for the purpose of investigating | 

 questions of importance with reference to the climatology 

 and balneology of Great Britain and Ireland. 



The information contained in the volume- — which deals 

 with the climate of the south of England and with the 

 chief medicinal springs of (".real Hritain — may be sum- 

 marised as follows : — 



(1) Information received from medical practitioners in 

 the districts dealt with. 



(2) The results of personal investigations by members 

 of the committee. 



(3) The analysis of published vital statistics of the 

 localities in question. 



That the treatment of the climatology of very small 

 areas of these islands is a difficult and comple.x matter, 

 is a fact patent to every one ; it is every one's experience, 

 for instance, that one side of a bay or headland, owing 

 to its exposure, may be tonic and bracing, whereas the 

 other side, owing to a different aspect, or to protection 

 by high cliffs and woodland, may be warm and relaxing. 

 But since meteorological data are of undouljtcd value in 

 determining the suitability of an area for the residence 

 of those suffering from various diseases, it is certain that 

 some measure of the utility of the present work should be 

 gauged from the detail and precision of these data ; and 

 the book will be found lacking in this respect. Little 

 blame is attachable, however, to the ccmlributors, who 

 have in the majority of cases made the most of their 

 available information ; the fact is, we have not yet at 

 hand sufficient data to enable a scientific work upon the 

 climatic conditions of all the many small areas here 

 dealt with to be penned ; the records are so few, that 

 it is very frequently found necessary to supplement in- 

 strumental observations by personal impressions. Thus 

 wc are constantly told that one place is prolialily colder 

 than another, that it is thought to have more mist and 

 moisture in the atmosphere, and so on ; and one so 



NO. 1351, VOL. 52 



frequently encounters such remarks as " there are no 

 climatic records, but the impression is," &c., that the 

 conviction is more and more borne home that it would 

 have been well if the committee had tirst taken some 

 steps, through medical men and others, to secure more 

 scientific data before publishing the present volume. 

 With rare exceptions, precise meteorological data are 

 confined to towns and their immediate neighbourhood ; 

 and to show the difficulty with which the committee had 

 to contend in the case of one important county {i.e. 

 Somerset), it is sufficient to state that this county pos- 

 sesses at the present lime only one station of the Royal 

 Meteorological Society. 



Then, again, atmospheric conditions and health arc so 

 largely the outcome of geological factors, that in a few 

 instances it is matter for regret that this subject is not 

 treated with a little more fulness : and in such a work 

 one would expect to find some observations upon the 

 mean height, and the extent of variation from the mean, 

 in the ground-water level, knowing as we do the im- 

 portant bearing whicli this has upon health and disease. 



So far as the information relates to the healthiness of 

 the various areas treated of, and their suitability for 

 residence by patients suflTering from various diseases, 

 much will be found of real value ; but here again the 

 contributors have had to face great difficulties— difficulties 

 which in many respects are practically insurmountable ; 

 and here again the work presents some shortcomings. 

 In making deductions from vit.il statistics, it would have 

 been better and safer to have done so from as many 

 returns as possible, and not to have rested satisfied, as 

 in so many instances, with the actual records of just one 

 brief year ; and it would, moreover, have been more 

 serviceable to those who would like to make their own 

 deductions as to the relative advantages of dilTeront 

 areas, if instead of the actual number of deaths being 

 given, the rates of the more important diseases liad been 

 worked out for each locality. .As it is, it would be a 

 matter of no small labour to decide which of the many 

 areas dealt with stands best with regard to relative 

 immunity from any particular disease. 



In the reports of local practitioners there is occasion- 

 ally some evidence of the touch of a loving hand, the 

 attractions and healthiness of the part being enthusi- 

 astically attested to ; and for this reason, .tgain, it will be 

 no easy matter to conclude, from a perusal of the work, 

 as to which is the most desirable spot to select ; but at 

 least one is not likely to fix upon Dartmoor, which an 

 informant asserts has on an average 319 wet days in the 

 year. Most of this local information, however, is very 

 fair and impartial, and the conscientious and judicial 

 manner in which conclusions are drawn by the different 

 authors from the information at their hands is a striking 

 feature of the work. 



The committee points out that in a work comprising 

 information of many sorts and from many sources, it is 

 inevitable that a certain amount of error must have crept 

 in ; but as a matter of fact, the reader will discover 

 scarcely any error of commission ; what blemishes the 

 work possesses are undoubtedly on the score of omission. 

 There is one glaring instance of contradiction which we 

 have noticed, and which will serve to present a good 

 example, to the lay mind, of how doctors disagree. On 



