424 



NATURE 



[January 30, 19 19 



and the physician need. To do this efficiently 

 an intimate association between the work oi the 

 omicaJ departmenl and the hospital is neces- 

 nol merelj to bring the teaching oi the 

 former into closer adaptation with the needs "I 

 the clinician, but especially to providi 

 tific anatomist with the opportunity oi investi- 

 gating such problems as Nature's experiments 

 upon living human beings reveal. 



It is essentia] for the progress, not only of 

 anatomy, but also of medicine in the widest sense, 

 that this broader conception of the anatomist's 

 functions should be expressed in practice. One 

 effect of such co-operation of the work of the 

 scientific laboratory with that of the hospital wards 

 would be expressed in systematic anatomical 

 treatises informed b) the sort of knowledge the 

 physician and surgeon really need. 



Excellent as Prof. Davis's work is, it. is impos- 

 sible to repress the feeling- that if the same amount 

 of energv had been devoted to the task by an 

 anatomist who was in touch with the needs of the 

 clinician, a treatise more generally useful to the 

 average practitioner might have been produced. 

 In every branch of applied science what the prac- 

 titioner needs as the essential equipment for suc- 

 cessful work is a real knowledge of the pure 

 science which he has to apply in practice. 



G. Elliot Smith. 



FRUIT CULTURE. 



Modem Fruit Growing. By W. P. Seabrook. 

 Pp. xliii+17-:. (London: The Lockwood Press 

 (Harvey H. Mason), 1918.) Price 4s. 6d. net. 



AT a time when many at present in the Army 

 and Navy are turning their thoughts to 

 fruit culture this manual appears opportunely. 

 The practical advice given will do much to correct 

 the somewhat unduly optimistic ideas as to the 

 profits to be derived from this branch of agri- 

 culture, and the careful records of capital required 

 and its subsequent profits are a feature of prime 

 importance. 



A chapter is devoted to the various soils on 

 which success may be obtained, and with its 

 general tenor we are entirely in accord. We 

 cannot, however, agree with the opinion that a 

 thin soil on chalk is "practically hopeless," as 

 much good fruit is grown on such land in Kent ; 

 in fact, one of the most successful growers of that 

 "difficult" apple, Cox's Orange Pippin, 

 possi soil of this character, about a 



foot of "loam with Hints" on the chalk downs, 

 and in thi se conditions finds it one of the best- 

 paying 



The authoi is a whole-hearted advocate of the 

 bush-tree 01 dwarfing "Paradise" stock-, and 



we think ra ei estimates the value of the 



standard trees which are grown in the grass 

 orchards, and, in conji n tion with sheep-farming, 

 form so large a pari of the fruit culture in East 

 Kent. The labour diffii ulties of the past few years 

 have driven opinion rathet against the dwarf 

 NO. 2570, VOL. I02] 



plantation with its need for constant cultivation, 

 and experienced growers are interplanting their 

 bush-trei s with standards with the \ iew of laying 

 the land down to grass in a few years. For the 

 beginner, however, who must have a quick return 

 for his outlay, thi- dwarf tree will be always pre- 

 ferred. 



Some space is devoted to modern methods of 

 packing which are now spreading, and it will 

 undoubtedly be in this direction that foreign com- 

 petition will be met in future, rather than the 

 embargo on foreign imports, which the author 

 hopes will be in some measure maintained. The 



list ot profitable varieties given is good, but 

 we regret that the author has included two new- 

 soils as yet untested beyond his own grounds, 

 a matter which may be misleading- to the begin 

 for whom this work is written. It would be well 

 in a future edition to explain certain technical 

 terms which the same reader cannot be expected 

 to apprei i.ile. 



With these reservations the work can be 

 thoroughly recommended. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



The Future Citizen and his Mother. By Dr. 

 Charles Porter, with a Foreword by Sir James 

 Criehton-Browne. Pp. xvi + 144. (London: 

 Constable and Co., Ltd., 1918.) Price 3s. 6d. 

 net. 

 With a falling birth-rate and the loss of life occa- 

 sioned by the great war, the subjects of maternity 

 and child welfare have assumed enhanced import- 

 ance, and the Chadwiek Trustees were well 

 advised to institute a series of lectures on these 

 subjects. Needless to say, Dr. Porter has dealt 

 with the question in an entirely satisfactory 

 manner. In the introductory chapter attention is 

 directed to the falling birth-rate and to the wast- 

 age ol infant life that goes on. Whereas more 

 than 1,000,000 babies should be provided every 

 year, as a matter of fact only some 800,000 or 

 900,000 are forthcoming ! In the next chapter 

 the care of motherhood is considered. In the 

 worst districts nearly nine, and in the best three 

 or four, mothers die for every 1000 babies born, 

 and it is important to note that maternal death- 

 rate from child-bearing and infant morlalitv go 

 hand in hand". Valuable suggestions are given 

 for In tilling this state of affairs — by the institu- 

 tion of maternity centres and ante-natal clinics, 

 the circulation of instructional leaflets, etc. In 

 tin third chapter the infant and infant-mortality, 

 and in the fourth the young child and child- 

 mortality, are discussed at some length. In an 

 appendix specimen leaflets relating to the matters 

 discussed for distribution from infant consulta- 

 tions ami by health visitors are reproduced. A 

 number of tables and charts are included, and 

 Sir J imes Crichton-Brow ne contributes a char- 

 acteristic Foreword. The book is one which should 

 have a large circulation, and we hope that it will 

 be widelv read. R. T. H. 



