March 24, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



431 



penditirre during rapid walking is largely due 

 to tlie swinging of the arms. In running they 

 find that a great part of the energy is con- 

 sumed in the up-and-down motion of the body. 

 They point out that the elimination of these 

 factors is the line along which economy of 

 energy is to be obtained. 



In the "Physiology of the ISTew-Born In- 

 fant " Benedict and Talbot include a transla- 

 tion of an important paper by Hasselbalch 

 hitherto not generally accessible. Hasselbalch 

 concludes that a well-nourished infant born 

 at full term has a store of carbohydrates upon 

 which it draws during the first few hours of 

 life with a respiratory quotient well up toward 

 unity. Thereafter for a time the respiratory 

 quotient is lower and the metabolism ap- 

 proaches a fasting character. These striking 

 results are not fully confirmed by Benedict 

 and Talbot. Although in some cases they also 

 find a decidedly high respiratory quotient, they 

 suggest that it is due to an excessive blowing 

 off of carbon dioxide during crying. They 

 demonstrate the relatively great amount of 

 ■energy which an infant expends in this exer- 

 cise, and point out that even under normal 

 •conditions the mother never supplies sufficient 

 nutriment to balance the infant's output dur- 

 ing the first few days after birth. They em- 

 phasize the importance of keeping the new- 

 born infant from crying, and so far as possible 

 from any muscular exertion, in order to con- 

 serve its initial store of energy. 



In the introduction to this work the authors 

 •complain of " a disposition on the part of some 

 investigators to relieve us of the responsibility 

 of interpreting certain of our results." The 

 reviewer has not ascertained who these cul- 

 prits are, or the extent of their fault. He is 

 inclined to offer as a defense for them, how- 

 ever, that the one defect of the splendid pub- 

 lications which come from the Carnegie Nu- 

 trition Laboratory is that they are confined in 

 most cases too largely to a statement of the 

 methods and experimental results, without 

 simimaries or even emphatic textual indica- 

 tions of the opinions which the investigators 

 themselves have reached. Most authors who 

 ■write thus receive the just punishment of 



being imread. It is only for work of the high- 

 est order that the sentence is commuted to 

 mere misinterpretation. 



Tandell Henderson 



physiolcgicaii laboratory, 

 Tale Medical School 



An Introduction to Neurology. By Ohaelbs 



JuDSON Heeeick. Philadelphia, The W. B. 



Saunders Company, 1915. Pp. 355, 13Y figs. 



This work is an example of marked success 

 in the accomplishment of a difficult task. In 

 dealing with such a subject as the nervous 

 system it is probably easier to write a small 

 book or a very large one than to produce a 

 valuable one of medium size. One can write 

 a short account of the mechanism, shirking 

 the intricacies of its structure, and empha- 

 sizing what is picturesque and entertaining. 

 Or, by taking more time, one can prepare a 

 voluminous and impersonal account of it 

 which shall serve for reference rather than 

 consecutive reading. To write a book which 

 shall be quite minute as to detail and yet con- 

 cise and readable is a severer test of a man's 

 scholarship and power. 



The book in hand meets the requirement. 

 The material is arranged with unusual skill 

 and the presentation is masterly. The dis- 

 tinction is less in the freshness of the facts 

 than in the selection made and the clarity of 

 exposition displayed. Without indulging in 

 digression or sacrificing accuracy the author 

 has given his work a literary quality which is 

 refreshing. There is a geniality about it all 

 which to an exceptional degree establishes a 

 rapport between writer and reader. 



Without offering any objection to the au- 

 thor's choice of terms it may be in order to 

 express regret that biologists can not agree 

 upon the significance of the " sympathetic sys- 

 tem." Professor Herrick makes it as inclu- 

 sive as possible, that is to say, equivalent to 

 the autonomic system of Langley. It seems 

 clear that physiologists generally hold to the 

 other conception, making the sympathetic the 

 thoraoico-lumbar autonomic. We commonly 

 say that the heart is inhibited by the vagus 

 and accelerated by the sympathetic fibers, yet 



