6^o 



NATURE 



[August 21, 1913 



tions in half-tone and line. The photographs are 

 of very unequal value, and it would have been 

 better if the author had given some indication in 

 cases where they had been retouched. The line- 

 drawing's are better, except those of the tribal 

 marks, the value of which is impaired by over- 

 reduction. The principal criticism, however, that 

 may be brought against the illustrations as a 

 whole is that they have very little organic con- 

 nection with the text. 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PA THOLOGY. 

 A Text-book of Pathology for Students of Medi- 

 cine. By Dr. J. George Adami and Dr. John 

 Macrae. Pp. x + 759+ plates. (London: Mac- 

 millan and Co., Ltd., 1912.) Price 255. net. 



THE appearance of a text-book of pathology 

 which is intended for the use of medical 

 students, and comprises so many of the admirable 

 features of Prof. Adami's larger work, is a very 

 welcome event. " The Principles of Pathology " has 

 taken its place as the standard work on pathology 

 in the English language, but a system of patho- 

 logy occupying two large volumes is inevitably 

 beyond the powers of the average student, who is 

 obliged, within a limited space of time, to acquire 

 a reasonable knowledge of the numerous subjects 

 of the final examination. The full and detailed 

 treatment which is accorded to the subject in the 

 larger work is, moreover, unsuited to the student 

 at the outset of his studies in pathology. In spite 

 of the authors' claim that the new book is no 

 mere epitome, we are glad to recognise in an 

 abbreviated form many of the best features of 

 the larger work. The articles on inflammation 

 and on the general pathology of tumours are 

 instances in point. 



To the student who has received a sound train- 

 ing in the general principles of the biological 

 sciences this book will make a direct appeal. To 

 the medical student the study of pathology should 

 form the natural sequence to the study of 

 chemistry, of physics, of physiology, and anatomy. 

 A work in pathology should be no mere catalogue 

 of the morbid changes in various organs. The 

 student who has been taught to base his views 

 on conclusions to be drawn from experimental 

 facts will find this method of teaching continued 

 and exemplified in this text-book of pathology. 

 The sections which deal with general pathology 

 are written in a most attractive manner, and afford 

 a delightful introduction to the subject. The 

 portion of the work devoted to special pathology 

 is of necessity somewhat brief. Such omissions 

 as occur will, however, be readily filled by the 

 knowledge derived from a practical experience of 

 the subject. 



NO. 2286, VOL. 91] 



The essential object of this work is, we imagine, 

 to afford an introduction to the subject. This 

 object has been successfully attained. To those 

 who merely seek a compressed epitome of morbid 

 anatomy this book is entirely unsuitable. 



H. R. Dean. 



VEGETABLE ALKALOIDS. 

 The Plant Alkaloids. By Dr. T. A. Henry. 

 Pp. vii + 466. (London: J. and A. Churchill, 

 1913.) Price 185. net. 



THE alkaloids of plants have long offered a 

 most interesting and attractive, if always 

 difficult, field of research to both chemists and 

 physiologists. The subtle chemistry of the vege- 

 table cell evolves no objects more fascinating to 

 study than these "vegetable alkalis," as Sertiirner 

 first termed them ; bodies usually of highly com- 

 plex chemical structure, and often of appalling 

 potency in their physiological effects. Of the 

 problems which they offer, one in particular — 

 that of their chemical constitution — has received 

 a large amount of attention during the last two 

 or three decades, and much progress has been 

 made with it. How much is perhaps scarcely 

 realised until the results are collected and collated, 

 as in the book under notice, in such fashion that 

 a bird's-eye view of the whole field can be readily 

 obtained. Then the reader notes that "alkaloids 

 of unknown constitution " form only one group 

 out of nine, and that group not a remarkably 

 large one ; whilst in the case of several members 

 even of this group — for example, the aconites, 

 colchicum, and ergot — knowledge of their struc- 

 ture is beginning to accumulate. 



When, however, the chemical structure of an 

 alkaloid has been elucidated, there yet remains 

 a problem of great general importance, namely, 

 how its chemical constitution is correlated with 

 its action on the animal system. What is the deft 

 arrangement of atoms which confers upon strych- 

 nine its tetanising action, convulsing all the 

 muscles of the body ; and what, on the other hand, 

 is the arrangement in curare, a drug which para- 

 lyses the motor nerve endings without affecting 

 the excitability of muscle? Many useful observa- 

 tions have been made on this question, but the 

 difficulties are great, and progress slow. A com- 

 paratively simple case is quoted where two in- 

 vestigators, after studving the relation between 

 the mydriatic action and the chemical constitution 

 of the tropeines, were forced to the conclusion 

 that no generalisation could be made which would 

 explain all the results they obtained. 



Another question which has been much debated 

 is the mode of formation of the alkaloids in the 

 plants. The view mostly favoured is that they. 



