October 4, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



439 



The book contains too little theory and about 

 three times too many examples. The work de- 

 mands too much finger work and too little 

 thought. 



The algebras by Professor Schultze and by 

 Messrs. Ashton and Marsh cover the material 

 usually presented to high school pupils and 

 college freshmen. Both works are well suited 

 to prepare the student for the examinations 

 held by the College Entrance Examination 

 Board. Messrs. Ashton and Marsh's book 

 begins with the theory of radicals, the preced- 

 ing matter being presented for review by 

 numerous well-chosen examples. Both works 

 deal admirably with graphs, determinants and 

 the theory of equations. Neither one aspires 

 to the rigor of the superb work of Professor 

 Fine, but both of them are likely to be re- 

 garded, whether correctly or not, as more 

 teachable. 



0. J. Keyser • 



COLtJMBIA UNIVERSITT 



Metabolism and Practical Medicine. By Carl 

 VON Noorden; Anglo-American issue under 

 the editorship of Walker Hall. Vols. I. 

 and II. Chicago, W. T. Keener & Com- 

 pany. 



This work is a translation of the first vol- 

 ume of V. Noorden's " Handbueh der Pathol- 

 ogic des Staffwechsels," the most exhaustive 

 treatise that has yet appeared on the subject 

 of metabolism. The German original (two 

 volumes) is the joint product of the following 

 contributors : v. Noorden, A. Czemy, C. Dap- 

 per, Er. Kraus, O. Loewi, Magnus-Levy, M. 

 Mathes, L. Mohr, C. Neuberg, H. Solomon, 

 Ad. Schmidt, Fr. Steinitz, H. Strauss, and W. 

 Weintraud. 



The original of the first volume of the 

 translation comprises 479 pages written by 

 Magnus-Levy. It treats of norfiial metabolism 

 in all its different phases, and is a very read- 

 able piece of metabolism literature. In addi- 

 tion it is a veritable mine of numberless de- 

 tailed facts and corresponding references to 

 the original literature. It should prove ex- 

 ceedingly valuable to the investigator who 

 wishes to look up definite facts with the mini- 

 mum waste of time. In some important par- 



ticulars, as, for example, with regard to the 

 factors which determine the percentage com- 

 position of human urine the volume is already 

 more or less obsolete. This is, however, not 

 the fault of the author. His manuscript must 

 have been finished in 1904, and as he says 

 in another connection : " Die Eragen, deren 

 Losung wir dank der eifrigen Arbeit der 

 verschiedenen Schulen in wohl nicht zu ferner 

 zeit erhoffen diirfen, sind eigentlich zahl- 

 reicher, wie die bereits gewonnenen Auf- 

 schliisse und Ergebnisse." 



The second volume (of the translation) 

 deals with metabolism in starvation, in over- 

 feeding, in fevers, and in diseases of the 

 digestive tract, respiration, the liver, the blood 

 and the kidneys. 



Three of these chapters, namely the fiirst 

 two and the last one, are v. Noorden's, and are 

 written in his usual clear, critical, yet some- 

 what dogmatic style. These chapters con- 

 stitute excellent resumes of what is yet knowm 

 concerning the subjects treated. They abound 

 in concrete instances drawn from the author's 

 experience as a clinician — instances which 

 show how a mastery of even the present 

 limited knowledge of the laws of metabolism 

 is indispensable for the correct diagnosis and 

 the dietetic treatment of many cases coming 

 under the care of every physician. 



Of the other chapters in this volume those 

 on fevers (Kraus) and on diseases of the liver 

 (Weintraud) are the most interesting. A part 

 of the matter here introduced, as, for example, 

 Ehrlich's " parallelism " between the process of 

 assimilation and the action of toxins, is per- 

 haps of too hypothetical a nature to merit the 

 extensive discussion it has received. Some of 

 the data presented, notably with regard to the 

 urinary constituents, are of very doubtful 

 value. But taken as a whole these chapters 

 are instructive and suggestive alike to phy- 

 siologists and to pathologists who are inter- 

 ested in the problems of metabolism. 



It is to be regretted that the scholarly char- 

 acter of this valuable work should have suf- 

 fered at the hands of the translators. They 

 have evidently done their part in great haste, 

 with little regard for English style, and some- 

 times without even bringing out the correct 



