634 



NA TURE 



[October 24, 1907 



" (i) That the material universe is infinite in three- 

 dimensional space, and eternal both in the past and 

 the future. 



" (2) That the law of gravitation holds good 

 throughout infinite space and time. 



" (3) That the luminiferous ether has the same pro- 

 perties throughout space." 



The Infra-world, our own universe, and the Supra- 

 world are represented as three links in a chain of 

 indefinite extent. 



VVe learn from the preface that this book contains 

 " an attempt to penetrate the mystery of space and 

 time with the help of the most modern resources of 

 scientific research." Mr. Fournier's success in achiev- 

 ing this object must depend upon what is required 

 of one who penetrates a mystery. Certainly, the 

 relativity of space and time could scarcely be more 

 clearly and forcibly brought home than is done in these 

 pages. 



The limits of this notice do not permit a discussion 

 of the author's speculations regarding the interrelation 

 of " personality " in universes of different orders. 

 The chief value of this work undoubtedly consists in 

 the point of view which is here presented — a point of 

 view which is valid for anyone who accepts the 

 author's proof of the existence of universes of the 

 next lower and higher orders to our own, whether he 

 prefer to interpret conscious or subconscious activity 

 in terms of motion, or matter in terms of conscious- 

 ness. 



Though necessarily incapable of verification, these 

 speculations, which are well and clearly expressed, will 

 hardly fail to evoke something more than a passing 

 interest. F. L. Usher. 



CHEMICAL METHODS IN MEDICINE. 

 The Chemical Investigation of Gastric and Intestinal 

 Diseases by the Aid of Test Meals. By Dr. 

 Vaughan Harley and Dr. Francis W. Goodbody. 

 Pp. viii + 261. (I.ondon : Edward Arnold, 1906.) 

 Price 8x. 6d. net. 



' I ""HE continual increase in our knowledge of the 

 -•- physical mechanisms of the body necessitates a 

 corresponding increase in the complexity of the 

 methods which the physician has to employ in his 

 endeavour to locate the seat of disease and to deter- 

 mine its character. Every year the medical man has 

 therefore to start his career with expert knowledge 

 of instruments and methods that were not dreamed of 

 by his predecessors, and every year the extent of his 

 armamentarium is added to by the growth of our 

 knowledge of diseases. Many of these methods 

 which the present-day practitioner has to acquire are 

 physical, such as the use of the thermometer, of the 

 stethoscope, the ophthalmoscope, and the various other 

 instruments which have been devised for throwing 

 light into the cavities of the body. 



Until recently his chemical methods were prac- 

 tically limited to the testing of the urine for sugar 

 and for coagulable protein. Disorders of digestion 

 were, and in many cases still are, treated purely 

 NO. 1982, VOL. 76] 



empirically. Yet it cannot be a matter of indifference 

 whether any given derangement of digestion has its 

 primary seat in the stomach, the bowel, or the 

 nervous system, whether it is accompanied with in- 

 crease or diminution of the acid secretion of the 

 stomach, or whether it is attended by an absolute 

 failure on the part of the alimentary canal to assimi- 

 late in proper proportion to the food which is pre- 

 sented to it. It is of no use to label a series of 

 drugs as good for indigestion, to administer them one 

 after another, in default of knowledge on such im- 

 portant points as these. It is to aid the practitioner 

 in his investigation of gastric and intestinal diseases 

 by the latest methods that this book has been 

 written. 



Prof. Harley and Dr. Goodbody confine themselves 

 entirely to the chemical methods, and even here are 

 eclectic in treatment, mentioning only the methods 

 which they have found during twelve years' trial of 

 practical value. 



It is to be hoped that the publication of this book 

 may help to render more general the application of 

 science to practice in the treatment of this important 

 class of disease, since the book contains records of 

 a number of analyses made by the authors on dif- 

 ferent patients, which furnish a useful guide to the 

 results which may be expected in practice. 



It is impossible to avoid the impression that the in- 

 creased technical knowledge required for the diagnosis 

 and treatment of disease must tend more and more 

 to specialism along certain lines, and must handicap 

 the private patient as compared with his poorer 

 brother who is treated in a hospital. Without the 

 resources of skilled assistance and a well-equipped 

 laborator)', it is impossible for a busy practitioner to 

 make all the investigations which are necessary to 

 determine the diagnosis and to control the treatment 

 of a number of cases of diseases. It is possible that 

 irr future years every consulting physician will regard 

 a hospital for observation, and a private laboratory 

 with skilled assistants, as necessary adjuncts to his 

 consulting-room. At the present time, if the disease 

 be one of doubt or difficulty, the pauper in the hos- 

 pital has a better chance of enjoying the benefit 

 of the latest discoveries than has the private 

 patient. 



We have no doubt that practitioners, whose time 

 is not already entirely .absorbed by the round of 

 visits, will find this book of considerable value. It 

 will not have failed of its object if it teaches such 

 men to carry out a proper investigation of the gastric 

 contents in cases of disordered digestion instead of 

 simpl)' guessing at the causation of the disorder. In 

 one or two places the authors are hardly explicit 

 enough for the purposes of those men who are work- 

 ing out the methods by themselves. Thus, on p. 31, 

 no idea is given of what the colour-changes on titra- 

 tion of the gastric juice consist when dimethyl-amido- 

 azo-benzol is used as an indicator, nor is the rationale 

 of Topfer's method for determining the acidity of 

 gastric juice made sufficiently clear. These and a 

 few other slight drawbacks can easily be amended in 

 a subsequent edition. 



