286 



NA TURE 



[January 25. 1894 



requirements, duties, and routine work appertaining to 

 that office. 



All those interested in public health can but be grateful 

 for the opportunity, which this valuable and well-bound 

 volume affords, of gaining an excellent and reliable 

 knowledge of the many subjects which it embraces. 



The second volume, of which the title is given at the 

 head of this notice, is a third edition, considerably 

 enlarged and improved, of the " Principles of Hygiene," 

 — a small handbook written by Dr. Willoughby, for the 

 special use of the students of hygiene in the Science and 

 Art Department, South Kensington. 



The author very justly infers that with a material 

 increase in its bulk, the scope of its utility has been 

 extended, and that it will now meet the requirements of 

 the medical man, the student, and the teacher. We do 

 not, however, quite agree with the author in his assertion 

 that the contents will be found almost if not quite 

 sufficient for most examinations in public health. The 

 book undoubtedly deals fully enough with the principles 

 of hygiene, but the student for diplomas in public health 

 will find it necessary to consult other works upon special 

 subjects— such as Water, Air, and Food Analysis, 

 Offensive Trades, and Sanitary Legislation. We 

 do not wish it to be inferred, however, that Dr. Wil- 

 loughby's book is inferior in any way to most of the other 

 small manuals dealing with the same subject, neither of 

 which is sufficient in itself to meet the requirements of 

 those seeking public health diplomas. The present 

 volume is well adapted to rank with others of its kind as 

 a very useful manual, and its appearance adds to the 

 difficulty which teachers already experience of concluding 

 as to which is the best all-round book for students bent 

 upon securing a degree in hygiene. This difficulty ex- 

 perienced by teachers arises from the fact that all such 

 manuals are, of necessity from their small bulk, somewhat 

 unequal ; in all it is easy to lay one's finger upon some 

 important points which are dismissed far too cursorily. 

 The present volume is no exception in this respect ; the 

 chapters on food, school hygiene, and demography are 

 excellent, and probably the best that have yet found 

 their way into any of the smaller public health pub- 

 lications ; but, on the other hand, there is practically 

 nothing about offensive trades, with reference to the 

 nature and source of the various nuisances which each 

 gives rise to, and the means by which these can be abated ; 

 the subject of the collection, storage, and distribution 

 of water for town supplies might be amplified with ad- 

 vantage ; and if it is necessary to introduce the examin- 

 ation of air, surely its importance justifies the author in 

 giving at least two full pages to it. 



The manual suffers somewhat from a dearth of illus- 

 trations ; these are prized highly by the student who 

 comes green to the subject, and Dr. Willoughby would 

 have done well to give more than thirty-nine illustrations 

 in his manual of nearly 500 pages. 



In the preface the author writes : " Some of my state- 

 ments, especially as to cholera, diphtheria, and the 

 influence of small-pox hospitals, may appear somewhat 

 dogmatic and opposed to traditional teaching." But we 

 do not think that the bulk of sanitarians will differ from 

 Dr. Willoughby in the] views which he holds upon either 

 NO. 1265, VOL. 49] 



of these subjects, and we commend his opposition ta 

 traditional teaching when this teaching is not in accord- \ 

 ance with more recently acquired knowledge. The work: ■ 

 is for the most part very well done, and those interested ■ 

 in the study of public health matters will do well to 

 read it. 



Mr. Crookes can be congratulated in so far as he has 

 well translated a work which serves to give us an insight 

 into the German methods of practical hygiene. These 

 methods are for the most part similar to those in vogue 

 in this country, but in many important respects we differ 

 from our neighbours ; and it is mainly on this account 

 that the work will not become the text-book for English 

 students of practical hygiene, valuable as it undoubtedly 

 must be to German students. 



The book is characterised by what appears to be 

 almost a studied ostracism of everything British. The 

 methods selected and advocated are almost exclusively 

 German, and with very rare exceptions (possibly half a 

 dozen m the two volumes) continental views and opinions 

 are alone given. 



In view of the fact that in the preface the author 

 writes : " Thus I handover my book to the nation which 

 has taken the lead of all modern civilised peoples in the 

 sphere of practical hygiene," it is strange that he should 

 have so persistently ignored everything English in the 

 work. Surely in water-analysis we might reasonably 

 expect to find some mention made of Wanklyn's, Frank- 

 land's, or Tidy's processes ; and a perusal of the section 

 upon the hygienic examination of dwelling-houses dis- 

 closes several discrepancies which exist between English 

 and German views on house sanitation Such a sentence, 

 for instance, as " The overflow pipes of cisterns should 

 not open into the soil-pipe of a w.c. without the inter- 

 vention of a siphon," would certainly not find its way 

 into our sanitary literature. The use throughout the 

 work of the term "typhus " for " typhoid " or " enteric," 

 and the fact that the " degrees " of hardness are always i 

 German degrees, will certainly create a little confusion \ 

 among English readers ; and here and there are instances 

 where the information is either imperfect or misleading 

 when viewed from the English standpoint. One such 

 instance has already been given, and we now furnish a 

 few others : — 



The author writes : " The danger of chronic poison- 

 ing by drinking water has probably never existed." He I 

 estimates the ammonia by adding the Nessler reagent 

 to the original water, and does not appear to attach 

 sufficient importance to its presence ; the indigo process 

 is the only one given for estimating the nitric acid in 

 water ; the organic matter in water is alone determined 

 by the amount of oxygen which it will consume, accord- 

 ing to Kubel-Tiemann. The microscopical examination 

 of foreign matter in water occupies about a page, and no 

 illustrations are given save of the ova of the more common 

 intestinal parasites. Organic matter in the air is dealt 

 with very cursorily and unsatisfactorily, and the only 

 means of estimating it is by the oxygen which it will 

 absorb from permanganate, which, the writer is at pains 

 to point out, suffers from grave defects. The micro- 

 scopical characters of the dift'erent starch grains are 

 treated in a very poor and insufficient manner. The 



