CURRENT LITERATURE. 
BOOK REVIEWS. 
Pfeffer’s Physiology. 
ALMOST as soon as the German edition of this great work appeared, 
announcement was made that it would be translated into English by Professor 
Ewart. The two years that have elapsed since the German edition was pub- 
lished have only whetted the desire of English-speaking students to have the 
work in a more familiar tongue, because they have found out how intricate 
and obscure the style of the original is. There is no need to speak again of 
the contents or value of the work itself. Use of it has amply justified the 
enthusiastic reception with which it was greeted by students everywhere. 
Doubly welcome, therefore, is the elegant volume now before us, faultless 
from the bookmaker’s point of view. One must pay for such elegance, how- 
ever, and we would that the English edition had been kept down to the price 
of the German, instead of the almost prohibitive $7.00. The necessity of 
having both —German for what Pfeffer says and English for what Ewart 
Says he says — makes the high price the greater burden. ae 
For when one compares the English text with the original he is immedi- 
ately impressed by the fact that this is not a translation in the usual sense- 
Indeed, the translator Says in his preface: “The difficulty of the original 
German has necessitated the exercise of a certain freedom in the process of 
translation, but an exact interpretation of the original has been given through- 
” 
not a given passage is “an exact interpre- 
tation of the original.” Forewarned of this freedom of interpretation, it will 
be necessary for one to refer to the German text to 
cisely what Pfeffer Says, 
color his statements, 
ber, were it not easy 
determine for himself pre- 
for it is these very qualifications which restrict or 
Specific cases might be cited in almost unlimited num- 
for anyone who cates to verify the statement to find 
*See Bor. Gaz. 25: 132. 1898. 
442 [JUNE 
Pe ee eS Ce eg a ae 
