28 



NA TURE 



[November lo, 1904 



being unlouchcd. This worlv was ncconiplished by 

 eleven Jesuit fatliers, assisted by four converts. In 

 1564 the Dainiio of Omura, the first Christian Daimio, 

 Ivnown as Sumitada, or Omura Risen (Risen was his 

 Buddhist name), was baptised, and adhered to the 

 faith until his death in 1587. It is of this convert that 

 frasset writes : — 



" He went to the chase of the bonzes as to that of 

 wild beasts, and made it his singular pleasure to 

 exterminate them from his states" ("Murdoch," 

 p. 238). 



It would, however, be merely special pleading to take 

 this language literally, otherwise than as expressing 

 the worthy father's admiration of the vigour with which 

 Ihe newly made convert promulgated Christianity 

 within his petty domain. Up to 1570, out of the fifteen 

 iir sixteen millions of Japanese, some twenty thousand 

 had been baptised. This seems a small proportion, 

 but the true measure would be the ratio of the baptised 

 to the population of those parts of Japan where the 

 gospel had been, with some adequacy, preached. As 

 to the quality of their Christianity it is difficult to form 

 a judgment. The steadfastness of large numbers 

 under persecution is some guarantee of the reality of 

 their belief; on the other hand many in becoming 

 Christians followed the example or obeyed the com- 

 mands of their feudal superiors. 



.•\nother much debated point, not easy to determine, 

 is to what extent the native converts " provoked " the 

 immense majority who still adhered to the Way of the 

 Gods and the Way of Buddha. It is certain that the 

 Buddhists were " provoked," but there is little evidence 

 that they had any real cause of complaint during the 

 period now considered — the provocation was of a 

 passive, not of an aggressive character. On the 

 whole, the fathers were far from unpopular with the 

 {■ommon folk. They were looked upon as superior 

 beings, and Froez says of his reception at Yoko- 

 seura : — 



" .\11 the Christian inhabitants came to meet us and 

 were so delighted at our arrival that they would 

 willinglv have taken us on their shoulders and borne 

 us off.'-' 



It was not until 1587 that persecution began, the 

 result of a fit of policy of the cruel, crafty, but capable 

 Taiko, Hideyoshi. 



Dr. Haas writes lucidly, and his pages are full of 

 interesting details; but the narrative is obscured by 

 an over-abundance of matter that might well be rele- 

 gated to notes or appendices. The Germans seem 

 unable to distinguish between books and note-books. 

 F. Victor Dickins. 



OVR BOOK SHELF. 



Lectures on the Diseases of Children. By Robert 

 Hutchison, M.D., F.R.C.P. (London: Edward 

 Arnold.) Price 8i. 6d. net. 

 It is difficult to praise this little volume too highly. It 

 deals with one of the most attractive and satisfactory 

 subjects in medicine, the treatment of children's dis- 

 eases; the style is excellent, and the illustrations, 

 which, with one or two exceptions, are taken from 

 photographs of the author's cases, are unusually good. 



NO. 1828, VOL. 71] 



In some three hundred pages Dr. Hutchison de- 

 scribes aspects of soine of the more common diseases 

 of childhood which, as he says, " are not usually dealt 

 with in systematic lectures." In the first instance, 

 tlie lectures were given at the London Hospital ; sub- 

 sequently they were published serially in the Clinical 

 Journal, while their present appearance in book form 

 is in response to the request of a number of readers who 

 wanted them in a convenient form for reference. 



The early chapters deal with the problems of infant 

 feeding, and the subject, which unfortunately is closely 

 allied, of the various digestive disturbances which occur 

 in hand-fed babies. Upon questions of diet Dr. 

 Hutchison speaks with special authority, and his re- 

 marks on the difficult subject of artificial feeding are 

 concise and practical. 



In the space of a short lecture it is not possible or 

 desirable to deal with all the conceivable methods by 

 which children might be, or have been, fed, but it 

 seems an omission not to mention " laboratory " milk, 

 which, whatever its objections, certainly offers the 

 physician a method of wonderful precision in pre- 

 scribing the exact percentage of fat, proteid, and lactose 

 which he requires for any individual patient. The 

 establishment in London of the Walker Gordon 

 Laboratory, at which this milk can be obtained, and 

 the existence of a farm in connection with it at which 

 every precaution is taken to procure germ-free milk 

 with scientific accuracy, certainly deserve mention in 

 any book which deals with the subject of substitute 

 feeding. The expense of " laboratory " milk puts it 

 beyond the reach of many babies, but it is less expensive 

 than a wet nurse, and avoids all the disadvantages 

 inseparable from employing one. 



In succeeding chapters Dr. Hutchison deals with 

 various common diseases of childhood. They are all 

 delightful reading, full of common sense and helpful 

 suggestion as to diagnosis and treatment. One would 

 like to quote extensively, but the book is one that 

 every student of the subject, whether he be qualified 

 or not, should possess. 



Special interest attaches to the lecture on mental 

 deficiency in childhood, often a subject of great diffi- 

 culty in practice, and one with which the ordinary text- 

 book scarcely deals. The photographs illustrating this 

 chapter are particularly good. 



The concluding chapters are devoted to the diagnostic 

 significance of some common symptoms, such as 

 wasting, cough, fever, &c. It is impossible to do full 

 justice to this delightful book in a short notice. The 

 work forms a valuable adjunct to the good te.xt-books 

 already written on the subject, and it shows to the full 

 the clinical knowledge and the literary ability of the 

 author, whose reputation, already high, will lio doubt 

 be increased by it. 



Elementary Manual for the Chemical Laboratory. By 

 Louis Warner Riggs, Ph.D., Instructor in Chemistry 

 in Cornell University. Pp. vi+138. (New York: 

 John Wiley and Sons; London : Chapman and Hall, 

 Ltd., 1904.) Price 5s. 6d. net. 

 This volume embodies the author's idea of what should 

 be taught during a one-year course of chemistry, the 

 time available being not less than a hundred and 

 twenty hours for laboratory practice, and sixty for 

 " recitation " work. It is arranged in short numbered 

 paragraphs, each containing a direction to the student 

 or an explanation of some point or process, .md is in- 

 tended to be used, under the guidance of an instructor, 

 in conjunction with some general text-book of 

 chemistry and physics. 



About one-third of the work is devoted to pre- 

 liminary experiments in general chemistry. The 

 student is then introduced to simple volumetric 

 I analysis, the principles of which are very well explained 



