September j<>. i<)iS 



NATURE 



corned and powers of adaptation dis] iyed 

 by the authorities which had scarcely ieen 

 anticipated. This volume contains many arti les 

 which demonstrate the encouragement given to 

 new ideas and new methods. A public which w s 

 shocked by the revelations from Mesopotamia 

 liirn with relief and satisfaction to this story ol 

 constant improvements in treating wounds and 

 dealing with disease, Perhaps barely sufficient 

 < e is done to the administrative officers of the 

 medical services, upon whom falls the ultimate 

 burden of almost daily reorganisation in order to 

 give effect to improvements and discoveries 

 brought under- their notice. 



I Ik remodelling of casualty clearing; stations 

 first-rate surgical units is an outstanding 

 example ol the revolutions necessary and possible 

 during the war. An admirable description of this 

 development is given in chap. vi. ("The Develop- 

 ment iif British Surgery at the Front") by Major- 

 Gens. Sir A. Bowlby and C. Wallace. 



In i hap. v. ("Medicine and the Sea Affair") 

 graphic accounts are given of how the sick and 

 wounded are handled in the Navy. The illustra- 

 tions in this chapter are particularly good, and 

 help the reader to appreciate a side of the war 

 which few have seen. Fleet-Surg-eon R. C. 

 Munday, R.X., has contributed a most readable 

 paper on hygiene, dealing, inter alia, with that 

 un.st difficult problem, the ventilation of warships. 



i hap. iv. (" Bio-chemistry and War Problems ") 

 lilts for us a corner of the curtain, revealing a 

 wonderland of science and infinite fields of experi- 

 ment and research beyond. Dr. H. D. Dakin can 

 only touch on the fringe of his subject, but on all 

 sides it is admitted that through bio-chemistry 

 lies the- mad to further progress. In no branch of 

 warfare have chemists, physicists, and physiolo- 

 gists played a more valuable part than in that 

 connected with poisonous gases. At present, for 

 obvious reasons, "Gas Warfare" cannot be dis- 

 cussed in detail. Hence the very high grade of 

 scientific work that is being done in this direction 

 must cil necessity be almost unknown to the 

 public. 



Chap. \iii. ("Military < >rthopaedic Hospitals "), 

 by Dr. \Y. Colin Mackenzie, reminds us of one 

 ol the principal needs of the wounded soldier. 

 Brilliant operations at the front which save lives 

 and limbs tire invested with a glamour of their 

 own. There is, however, an immense branch of 

 surgery carried on out of the limelight which is 

 worthy of the increasing attention it is now 

 recei\ ing. 



The name "orthopaedic" is unfortunate in itself. 

 Few medical readers and fewer still amongst non- 

 medical readers realise all that the term implies. 

 Briefly, "orthopaedic surger) " includes every 

 possibli operative and other device which is 

 designed to restore function in injured parts. This 

 chapter is well worth reading, none the less so 

 be< ause the history of orthopaedic surgery is the 

 history of a branch of surgery entirely British 

 in its origan. The importance of " orthopaedics " 

 will continue long- after the war, when "war- 

 No. 2552, VOL. I02] 



urgery," properly so-called, is being forgotten 

 yithout regrets. 



Chap. xiii. ("Th( Part Played by British 

 iledii al Women in tl War ") may be remarkable 

 to some readers who have not had the opportunity 

 uf witnessing at lirst I a teasing import- 



ance of women in medii ine at fery. Gradu- 



ally, as it becomes obvious that a man's proper 

 place is in the fighting- line, the anomaly of a 

 woman taking charge of the sick and wounded is, 

 in fact, less striking than the anomaly of a man 



ipied thus instead of in fighting. The chapter 



on the R.A.M.C. and its work (including a short 

 paper on the Canadian Army Medical Si is 



graphically written and well illustrated. With the 

 increase in air activity, and especially sini 

 bombing of medical units and hospitals seem j 

 have become an integral part in the German 

 of war, the illustrations and descriptions already 

 require modification in many details. , 



One outstanding omission there is in this 

 volume — namely, the dental services. The dental 

 services of the C.A.M.C. are shortly described, 

 and their immense value in saving sick wastage 

 rightly insisted upon. Is all mention of the 

 R.A.M.C. dental services omitted because they 

 have not been developed and their potentialities 

 recognised ? 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 

 Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony: A Hand- 

 booh of Formulae, Data, and Information. By 

 Dr. W. H. Eccles. Second edition, revised and 

 enlarged. Pp. xxiv+514. (London: Benn 

 Bros., Ltd., 1918.) Price 22s. 

 Tins book is written mainly for the technical 

 expert, but the amateur who dips into it will find 

 much to interest him. The theories hitherto ad- 

 vanced to explain the transmission of "wireless " 

 signals are by no means complete, and some of 

 them are very far from convincing. It is satis- 

 factory,, therefore, to notice that the author 

 adopts generally a neutral attitude. In few 

 industries is there greater scope for theoretical 

 speculation, or a more crying need for it. The 

 Operator listening to the mysterious sounds 

 sometimes heard in the telephone of his receiving 

 apparatus, due often to cosmical influences, has 

 every incitement to find out their causes. 



In the second edition of his book the author has 

 made some interesting additions. We have noticed 

 descriptions of Heyland's alternator, of the oscil- 

 Iion telephone anil telegraph transmitter for aero- 

 planes, and of the Darien system of the United 

 States Navy. The author acknowledges his debt 

 to the Proceedings of the American Institute of 

 Radio Engineers, to which societv practii 



1 I :ss expert belongs. We have 

 noticed an interesting account of the upper atmo- 

 sphere \ useful glossary of technical terms is 

 included. We learn, for example, that "radio- 

 phare" is a radio-telegraphic lighth which 

 ivigation by emitting characteristic signals, 

 timating the bearings of two charted radio- 



