June 25, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



943 



education which are to he upheld in China can 

 surely be settled if the experiences of this 

 country are taken into account. It is clear 

 from American experience with low-grade 

 medical schools catering to students with in- 

 adequate preliminary training that inestimable 

 damage may be done, both to the medical pro- 

 fession and to the public, by a policy which 

 permits of such a condition, even though it is 

 proposed with the best of motives. The only 

 rational view, looking ahead into the future, is 

 that those responsible for medical education in 

 China must demand an adequate medical 

 training based upon a suiEcient preliminary 

 education, including the fundamental sciences. 

 There is little question that education in China 

 is changing with great rapidity. It seems clear 

 that the social status of the physician is grow- 

 ing in popular respect. It is probable that the 

 number of well-trained young men who are 

 anxious to study medicine is constantly on the 

 increase. Further than this, some of the 

 great obstacles to satisfactory education in 

 medicine, notably the Chinese objection to dis- 

 section, are gradi^ally being overcome, and 

 there is evidence that the attitude of the Chi- 

 nese authorities towards western medicine is 

 rapidly becoming more and more favorable. 



The question of the language to be used as 

 a medium for the instruction of the Chinese 

 in medicine is also a matter of dispute even 

 among those who have spent years in China. 

 The most potent argument in favor of a for- 

 eign language, such as English, seems to be the 

 lack of literature in the Chinese language. 

 The day has gone by when medicine can be 

 studied by means of text-books alone. Further 

 than this, the medical man must be a student 

 all his life and a student of current litera- 

 ture. There are doubtless many weighty rea- 

 sons against the use of the English language 

 in Chinese medical education. Few of them, 

 we believe, can have the importance of this one 

 in favor of it. 



The recommendations of the commission 

 seem to be founded on a fair estimate of the 

 needs of the situation based on an impartial 

 review of the facts obtained. They suggest the 

 financial support of certain medical schools 



wliich are well situated and are capable of re- 

 quiring and enforcing high standards of med- 

 ical education. They provide for the establish- 

 ment of model tuberculosis hospitals and aid in 

 developing the general hospitals which serve 

 the medical schools. They suggest the crea- 

 tion of scholarships for Chinese medical stu- 

 dents and nurses, and fellowships for Chinese 

 graduates and western medical workers in 

 China who may wish to refresh their knowl- 

 edge. They encourage the development of one 

 or two well-equipped medical libraries and the 

 advancement of laboratory and research work. 

 All of the activities are to be carried on under 

 the general supervision of a resident commis- 

 sioner and an advisory committee. 



It would be unfair to conclude this review 

 without mentioning one fact that the report 

 clearly indicates, viz., that an enormous 

 amount of unselfish work has been performed 

 under the most adverse and discouraging con- 

 ditions by the western medical men and nurses 

 now in the Chinese Empire. It is clear that 

 there are practically no medical institutions in 

 China where ideal conditions are to be met 

 with. The lack of funds, the lack of physicians 

 and nurses, the lack of proper buildings and 

 equipment, the traditions of the people; all of 

 them combine to make medical life in China 

 anything but a bed of roses. But after all, 

 these very deficiencies can not fail to appeal 

 to the imagination of medical men and of 

 nurses who are imbued with the desire for 

 service coupled with the spirit of the pioneer. 

 For to the pioneer, more than to all others, 

 comes the joy of the struggle with the crude 

 and the unfinished, and the satisfaction of 

 leaving in its place a finished product stamped 

 with the individuality of the worker. 



George Blumer 



Yale XJniveesitt 



Die Lichtelehtrizitdt. Von Wilhelm Hall- 

 WACHS. Akademische Verlagsgesellshaft 

 Leipzig, Germany. Mit 19 Figuren in Text. 

 Pp. xi-f 1-343. 



This is, in all respects, the most compendious 

 and complete treatise on photo-electricity which 

 has yet appeared. Being written by one who is 

 credited by Hertz himself with the discovery 



