248 



NA TURE 



[December 31, 1908 



solutions of the equations of elasticity for cylinders 

 and solids bounded by planes, and numerous other 

 important problems, selected, however, with a view 

 mainly to practical applications. The volume forms a 

 sequel to the tliird volume of the series, in which the 

 elements of the theory of elasticity are dealt with. 



Problems are every day occurring in engineering and 

 naval architecture which require for their solution a 

 knowledge of the subject-matter contained in this 

 book. Very often such problems lead to differential 

 equations, the solution of which, subject to the given 

 boundary conditions, would keep a pure mathematician 

 occupied for years. It is gratifying to learn from the 

 preface that in Germany, at any rate, the larger in- 

 dustrial works are attaching importance to including on 

 their .engineering staffs specialists possessing theor- 

 etical knowledge of the kind here treated. 



A further stimulus in the same direction has been 

 afforded by the somewhat recently instituted degree of 

 Doctor of Engineering. In these circumstances en- 

 gineering science is bound to progress in Germany, 

 and important new developments and improvements 

 may be anticipated. In England not one man in a 

 hundred who graduates at our universities in mathe- 

 matics attains the standard of this book, and the 

 majority of engineering students consider that their 

 education in mathematics has reached a very high 

 standard if they really understand the meaning of a 

 differential coefficient and a moment of inertia. They 

 practically never get beyond EI divided by Ro. 



Fads and Feeding. By Or. C". .Stanford Read. Pp. 

 viii-l-163. (I-ondon : .\Iethuen and Co., n.d.) Price 

 2s. 6d. net. 

 This is an admirably clear, well reasoned, and sen- 

 sible little book. One can only hope that it may be 

 widely read and may do something to counteract the 

 ridiculous views on diet which are the result of the 

 cogitation of that dangerous class of people who, 

 having a little knowledge, supply the remainder from 

 their own imagination. In spite of the importance 

 of a suitable diet for health, there is perhaps no other 

 subject which breeds so many fads. These are dis- 

 seminated without discrimination by the cheap Press, 

 and are assimilated by certain sections of the public 

 who are always on the look-out for the latest new 

 thing in the way of being different from their neigh- 

 bours. 



The key-word of Dr. Read's book is moderation; 

 moderation in meat-eating, in tea-drinking, in the use 

 of alcoholic drinks and the like. lie is also moderate 

 i 1 the way he deals with the faddists, the vege- 

 tarians, the uric-acid-free dietists, the teetotalers, and 

 the rest. Perhaps this method of dealing with them 

 is the most effectual with the public, who, taken as a 

 whole, are moderate, and temperate too. A reader 

 is always apt to distrust the liammer-and-tongs argu- 

 ment, and to label those who adopt it among the fad- 

 dists also. 



Dr. Read does not concern himself with prescribing 

 diets in disease, that is properly left to the medical 

 .'ittendant ; he deals merely with the underlying scien- 

 tific principles which regulate, or ought to regulate, 

 the diet in health. There are, however, a few useful 

 general hints laid down regarding the foods suitable 

 in dyspepsia and in obesity. The golden rule for 

 diet is to take in moderation the kind of food which 

 experience has shown can be easily digested. The 

 enthusiast who cannot see beyond his one idea is 

 never a safe person to trust in any sphere of life. The 

 accumulated knowledge which is the offspring of ex- 

 perience and physiological experiment is the only sort 

 of knowledge which is trustworthy. It is impossible 

 for every member of the public to wade through 



XO. 2n_14, VOL. 79] 



physiological treatises; the least one can expect thi 

 non-scientific man in the street to do is to studv such 

 a book as the one under review, in which this ma'--- 

 of facts is boiled down and presented in a non- 

 technical and palatable form. W. D. H. 



Uber Nervose Dyspcpsic. By Georges L. Dreyfus. 

 Pp. iv+io2. (Jena: (justav Fischer, igo8). Price 

 2.50 marks. 



.Although this work of loo pages claims to be a col- 

 lection of psychiatric researches from the Medizinische 

 Klinik ;it Heidelberg, it is of the nature rather of .1 

 critical digest than an attempt to add much to our 

 knowledge of the subject with which it deals. Thf 

 researches consist of careful investigation of twelve 

 patients suflfering from nervous dyspepsia, including 

 the chemical analysis of the gastric contents after the 

 administration of test-breakfasts. The cases are care- 

 fully recorded. 



After a historical introduction the author proceeds to 

 consider cases of dyspepsia in which mental disease, 

 nervousness, hysteria and acquired neurasthenia arc lo 

 be regarded as the primary cause and he rightly insist^ 

 that the nervous disorder in these patients is not due 

 to the dyspepsia ; but he does not point out, as lie 

 should have done, that some rare cases of nervous 

 disorder occur as the direct result of chronic dyspepsi.i 

 of stomachic origin, and that in other cases dyspepsi.i 

 and nervous disease h.ave a common cause and arr 

 not dependent on one another. This view ought to be 

 considered in dealing with acquired neurasthenia 

 which is, according to some writers, probably due I" 

 the accumulation of fatigue products. The dyspepsias 

 of Addison's disease and of exophthalmic goitre are 

 mentioned, as well as cases in which degeneration of 

 the plexus of Meissner was found post mortem. 



In his summary Dr. Dreyfus maintains with justice 

 that nervous dyspepsia is a symptom and not a disease, 

 and that, although we are ignorant of the intimate 

 physiology of the condition, we are in a position to 

 assert that local treatment of the stomach by modifi- 

 cations of diet and other means is useless. In other 

 words, the disease, and not the symptom, must be 

 treated. 



The bibliography of 10 pages is very full, so far ;is 

 German work on the subject is concerned, and conl;iin> 

 some references to papers in other tongues. 



The volume, which is well written and easy of re- 

 ference, will be welcomed by future workers fi'i 

 dyspepsia due to disease of the nervous system. 



The Metaphysics of Nature. By Prof. Carveth Read. 

 Second edition, with appendices. Pp. xiii-l-372 

 (London : .\. and C. Black. iqoS.) Price ys. (ni. 

 net. 

 Among the ways in which this edition differs fron; 

 the first issue may be mentioned the fact that .1 

 preface has now been provided, and this introduction 

 is of special interest as revealing the way in whicli 

 Prof. Read himself regards his book, and his opinion 

 of the reviews of the first edition. Referring to the 

 nature of the work, the preface states : — " It is not ,1 

 deductive system from principles, advancing from the 

 simple to the complex, from the general to the par- 

 ticular, or according to some such formula ; but is 

 everywhere a reflection upon experience in the light 

 of common-sense. It starts everywhere from the 

 facts, and these may not have a necessary order." 

 To elucidate further the more important doctrines of 

 the book, the author has added in this edition ap- 

 pendices on truth, consciousness, transcendent being, 

 and moral freedom. Unfortunately, no index is 

 provided. 



