454 



NA TURE 



[October 14, 1909 



scenery and scenes, e.g. Yaruro Indians between the 

 Apure and Araura rivers. Although the travellers do 

 not profess to be naturalists, they mention a good 

 many birds and beasts which they came across. There 

 are also some most interesting pictures of labiru 

 storks on their nest, and of half-a-dozen Capybaras 

 on the bank of a stream. 



The reader will get a very good idea of the kind 

 of country and its inhabitants. 



A STUDY OF CHILD-LIFE. 

 Children in Health and Disease. A Study of Child- 

 life. By Dr. David Forsyth. Pp. xix-t-362. 

 (London : John Murray, 1909.) Price 10s. 6d. net. 

 ' I 'HIS volume should appeal to a large number of 

 -'- readers, medical and lay, and its publication at 

 the present time is opportune, for it brings a sane 

 and experienced judgment to the assistance of those 

 who in a public or private capacity are striving to 

 solve the problems with which it deals. The vitalitv 

 of the country depends on the health and training of 

 the children, and while the duty of supervision rests 

 with the physician, success can only be obtained 

 through intelligent cooperation of parents and 

 teachers. 



The early chapters deal with the phvsiologv of 

 childhood. The food consumption of the infant, rela- 

 tively to body weight, is considcrablv greater than 

 that of the adult, but only one-fifth of the ingesta is 

 used for purposes of growth, while the rest serves to 

 maintain the temperature of the body. In proportion 

 to bulk, the surface area is greater in a small child 

 than in a man, hence increased loss of heat and more 

 need for heat production. In early life appetite waits 

 on surface area, and in the recognition of this fact 

 lies the clue to the proper feeding of children. The 

 amount of food should be determined by the weighing- 

 machine rather than the calendar, and it should con- 

 tain plenty of carbohydrate, the heat-producing in- 

 gredient in diet. 



By the end of the second year a child's mind has 

 acquired, in an elementary form, most of its principal 

 faculties, so that its further progress consists in per- 

 fecting them rather than in the acquisition of new 

 ones. Habit clusters round the lines of least resist- 

 ance, and education is an attack on natural indolence. 

 From the medical point of view school-life stands by 

 itself. Opportunities for the transmission of infec- 

 tious and contagious diseases are greatly increased, 

 and the problem of class-room hygiene offers special 

 difficulties. The evils of the examination system, de- 

 fective ventilation, bad feeding arrangements, and 

 insufficient hours of sleep exist in many higher-grade 

 schools, as they do in elementary schools. The 

 hygiene and curriculum of both require supervision. 

 Medical inspection of schools is now recognised as a 

 branch of public-health work. It has shown the 

 prevalence of ill-health, much of which is preventable. 

 The author notes with approval the value of invalid 

 and " open-air " schools, and he also discusses the 

 difficult question of the training and care of the 

 mentally deficient. 



Not the least interesting section of the book is that 

 NO. 2085, VOL. 81] 



which deals with the causes of infant mortality. Most 

 diseases of childhood are preventable, and )-et 20 per 

 cent, of children die before their fifth birthday. In- 

 fancy must always remain a critical period of life, but 

 it should be relieved of many dangers which now 

 decimate it. The statistical value of death certificates 

 will not be great until they become confidential and 

 cease to be framed so as to meet the susceptibilities of 

 parents. Syphilis is scarcely mentioned in death cer- 

 tificates, although it is recognised as a potent cause of 

 premature birth and death in early childhood. 



The value of the volume is enhanced by the index, 

 which is well arranged and adequate. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Leh.rhtich der Pharmakognosic. By Dr. George 

 Karsten and Dr. Friedrich Oltmanns. Second 

 edition. Pp. vi + 358. (Jena : Gustav Fischer, 1909.) 

 Price 9 marks. 



!>; the first edition of this worli, published in 1903, 

 Prof. Karsten explained his object to be the provision 

 of a te.xt-book that should treat pliarmacognosy from 

 a botanical point of view, and, considered in this 

 light, it must be admitted that his object was success- 

 fully attained. But the second edition has more 

 ambitious pretensions; it is intended to present a 

 " clear survey of pharmacognosy and to introduce the 

 young pharmacist to the varied provinces of that 

 science." 



The arrangement and treatment of the subject- 

 matter are similar to those that were adopted in the 

 first edition. The classification is on strictly botanical 

 lines. Each drug is separately described, the descrip- 

 tion including the botanical and geographical sources, 

 the morphology, anatomy, and constituents. In 

 almost all instances the lion's share has fallen to the 

 morphology and anatomy, these usually occupying 

 some three-fourths of the entire description, but occa- 

 sionally more, as with white hellebore rhizome, where 

 only twenty lines out of six pages are devoted to the 

 other points. This part of the descriptions is excellent, 

 and doubtless many pharmacognosists will frequently 

 refer to the very complete, detailed, and well-illus- 

 trated accounts of the morphology and anatomy of the 

 drugs. 



This, however, is all that can be said in favour of 

 the work. The constituents of the drugs, for the 

 young pharmacist a most important branch, are dis- 

 missed in three or four lines, in which sins of omission 

 and commission are frequent and great. Take, for 

 instance, gentian root and chamomile flowers, in 

 whicli tlie bitter principles are entirely forgotten ; 

 opium, ipecacuanha, aconite, hydrastis, colchicum, and 

 conium, all of them most important drugs, 

 in which the proportion of the constituents is 

 sadly inaccurate; ergot, liquorice, senna, euphorbium, 

 in which they are not brought up to date. Indian 

 and Turkey opiums are said to be made into balls 

 about the size of the fist, and covered with Rumex 

 fruits, while Persian opium is usually made into 

 sticks! Seldom is any sufficient account given of the 

 diagnostic characters of the genuine drug, of the 

 adulterants, changes on keeping, preservation, pre- 

 paration for the market, commerce, &c. Such a work 

 fails to give a " clear survey of pharmacognosy," and 

 cannot be recommended as a means of introducing 

 the young pharmacist " to the varied provinces of 

 pharmacognosy." It relegates that science to the 

 position of a subordinate department of botany, and 

 show-s once more that the author of a worl-c on 



