January 2, 191 3] 



NATURE 



does not mince matters when she finds fault with 

 the unhygienic practices of the present day ; and 

 the work is full of good, telling sentences, such 

 as, "if women paid as much attention to their teeth 

 as they do to their complexions, they would he 

 50 per cent, healthier and better looking." 



The right provisions for the healthy child are 

 summarised by the writer in her directions to give 

 the child the right sort of food and make him eat 

 it properly ; provide fresh air for him night and 

 day ; teach him how to breathe and how to play ; 

 train his mind .and character; do not "coddle" 

 either in clothing or in diet. 



\z) This volume presents the main features of 

 psychotherapy in a form suitable for the intelligent 

 lay reader, and it forms an interesting and instruc- 

 tive work which should appeal to the physician 

 as well as to the layman. The rationale of hypno- 

 tism and the scope of suggestion in medical 

 practice are clearly defined. The object of 

 h3'pnotism, as taught in this book, is to render 

 the mind receptive and capable of influencing 

 function ; and a merit of Dr. Miller's exposition 

 is its moderation in statement. 



With the enlarged understanding of the subject 

 it seems likely that we shall in the future 

 see an increased evidence of the suitable 

 employment of psychotherapeutics ; for our 

 highest medicnl authorities recognise that 

 mental healing has a firm basis cf trutii and fact, 

 and that it may be properly and safely employed 

 by skilled doctors who have the gift and power 

 to use it, for every mentally healthy individual 

 can be brought under its influence. It is the 

 absence of this power and the failure to cultivate 

 it which has often led to the easier expedient of 

 administering bromides, massage, &c., to neuras- 

 thenics, when hypnotic suggestion would consti- 

 tute a better treatment of the patient. 



This treatment by mental methods does not 

 necessarily involve hypnosis, and it includes the 

 very important subject of re-education of self- 

 control. The main object of the book is to show 

 that what the "quack" (religious or medical) can 

 do by fraud, delusion, or mystery can be done 

 by the honest physician who works through the 

 mind on the body, without descending to deception 

 in any shape or form. 



(3) This book presents a useful statement upon 

 the practical sanitation of the dwelling, in so far 

 as the provisions for drainage are concerned. As 

 would be expected, seeing that the writer has been 

 lecturing upon sanitary engineering at the Royal 

 Technical College, Glasgow, for some twenty 

 years, the facts are well put, clearly expressed and 

 concisely dealt with in a handy, well-illustrated 

 volume. 



XO. 2253, VOL. 90] 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



Intcrnaciona BioJogial Lexiko en Ido, Germana, 



Aiigla, Franca, Italiana ed Hispana. By Dr. 



yi. Boubier. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, igii.) 



Pp. vi + 73. Price 1.50 marks. 

 In igoi the Delegation for the Adoption of an 

 Auxiliary International Language was founded. 

 This delegation, while approving generally of 

 Esperanto, decided that certain reforms were 

 needed, and as Esperantists would not agree to 

 these, there have resulted two languages, or 

 rather dialects, namely, Esperanto and Ido, of 

 which the latter possesses the advantage that it 

 can be printed without the use of specially 

 accented letters, besides other advantages in the 

 matter of simplicity. 



In the "Intcrnaciona Biologial Lexiko," Dr. 

 Boubier has drawn up a vocabulary, for the pur- 

 poses of this language, of the principal terms used 

 in biology, with their equivalents in German, 

 English, French, Italian, and Spanish. Most cf 

 these terms are mere modifications of ordinary bio- 

 logical nomenclature adapted to the grammatical 

 requirements of Ido. In many cases an intelligent 

 reader could guess the meaning of these words, 

 though he would have difficulty in writing them, 

 and in this respect the present nomenclature is 

 better than that used for some of the words in 

 common use. 



It is to be hop'cd that these attempts to find 

 a satisfactory auxiliary language will not result 

 in chaos, for v^^hile we have already two rivals in 

 Ido and Esperanto, attempts are being made in 

 other quarters to restore Latin in a modified form 

 to its original position as the language of the 

 learned world, and if science students are still 

 to be required to pass examinations in Latin on 

 the ground that it is the fundamental language, 

 they will certainly show some reluctance in learn- 

 ing a second auxiliary language differing greatly 

 from Latin. It will remain to be seen whether 

 Ido is sufficiently near Latin to appeal to the pupils 

 of cur public schools. 



]]'ho's Who, 1913. Pp. XXX + 2226. Price 155. 



nee. 

 Enirlishwonian's Year Booh and Directory, 1913. 



Edited by G. E. Milton. Pp. xxxi-412. Price 



2S. 6d. net. 

 The JVriters' and Artists' Year Book, 1913. 



Pp. viiJ+147. Price IS. net. (London: .\. and 



C. Black.) 

 Some idea of the comprehensive character of the 

 latest issue of "Who's Who" may be gathered 

 from the fact that it contains 25,000 biographies 

 of men and women in some way distinguished. 

 Due prominence is given in the collection to suc- 

 cessful workers in science, and not only are British 

 men of science dealt with, but also tho.se of foreign 

 countries. The editor of this indispensable work 

 of reference may be congratulated upon keeping 

 it up to date and maintaining all its useful 

 characters. 



"The Englishwoman's Year Book" serves ad- 

 mirably to show the increasing share educated 



