November 8, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



729 



methods of prevention recommended by sani- 

 tarians, including the prompt disinfection of 

 the dejecta of every typhoid fever patient, the 

 expectoration and excretion of diphtheria 

 and tuberculosis patients, for example, were 

 adopted, these diseases would be reduced to a 

 minimum and probably eradicated in the course 

 of a few years. The facts are, these recom- 

 mendations have not been generally adopted, 

 because the knowledge gained by experimental 

 medicine is not sufficiently diffused even among 

 physicians. We hail, therefore, with special de- 

 light the appearance, in 1901, of five American 

 text-books on this important subject. Dr. Louis 

 Parkes's book is the sixth edition of a very pop- 

 ular text-book, in both England and America. 

 It contains 12 chapters on water ; the collectioji, 

 removal and disposal of excretal and other ref- 

 use ; air and ventilation ; warming and light- 

 ing ; soil and building sites ; climate and meteor- 

 ology ; exercise and clothing ; food, beverages 

 and condiments ; communicable diseases and 

 their prevention ; hospitals ; disinfection ; sta- 

 tistics ; sanitary law and administration. The 

 work is authoritative, and until the appearance 

 of the American Text-books, by Robe, Egbert 

 and Coplin, enjoyed great popularity in our 

 medical schools. 



Dr. Munson's royal octavo volumeof 948 pages 

 is the best work in the English language on mili- 

 tary hygiene. He has handled the subject in a 

 masterly style. His literary skill, thoroughness 

 and painstaking research, practical experience 

 and expert knowledge of sanitary chemistry 

 have combined to produce a treatise of rare 

 merit. The work is divided into 27 chapters, 

 and, in addition to the subjects treated of by 

 Parkes and other authors in the general prin- 

 ciples of hygiene, deals, of course, also with the 

 selection and development of the recruit, the 

 march in campaign, camp sites, the sanitary 

 administration of the camp, post barracks and 

 hospitals, diseases of the soldier, military mor- 

 tality and morbidity, the habits of a soldier as 

 affecting his efficiency, the hygiene of hot and 

 cold climates, the hygiene of the troop-ship, etc. 



Every chapter in the book is encyclopedic in 

 character and contains a mine of the latest in- 

 formation of great value not only to the student 

 of military hygiene, but to the general student 



as well. So, for instance, the chapters on the 

 selection and development of the recruit are of 

 equal importance to those interested in personal 

 hygiene and physical training. The chapter on 

 water contains 150 pages, and is in many re- 

 spects superior to the standard works exclu- 

 sively devoted to the cousideration of this 

 important requisite. The chapter on the ration 

 with his article on food in the hygiene of hot 

 and cold climates covers over 160 pages and is 

 practically a comprehensive treatise on food, 

 dietaries, the preparation and preservation of 

 food and its relation to health and disease. It 

 contains facts not to be found in any other work. 



The chapter on camp sites and the sanitary 

 administration of camps is most admirably dis- 

 posed of. Had the knowledge contained there- 

 in been more generally diffused among medical 

 men and especially among the officers of the 

 line, the disgraceful unsanitary scenes of our 

 military camps during the recent Spanish- 

 American war would not have beeu observed. 



Chapter XV., on diseases of the soldier, is of 

 extreme interest, especially the consideration 

 of infective diseases, such as typhoid fever, 

 which the author very properly considers as 

 being the most important disease affecting sol- 

 diers. It is to be regretted that the lessons of 

 the civil war and the note of warning sounded 

 by Surgeon-General Sternberg at the outbreak 

 of the Spanish- American war had made so little 

 impression upon those entrusted with the care 

 of our troops. 



The chapter on excreta, sewage and refuse is 

 very complete. The author's conclusion that 

 typhoid cases are much more numerous in com- 

 munities where fecal matters are collected in 

 pits, pails, earth closets, etc. , than among those 

 provided with water-closets and sewers, was 

 emphasized by the writer in his report on the 

 prevalence of typhoid fever in the District of 

 Columbia in 1895, and a probable explanation 

 was offered by him in stating "these make- 

 shifts, even if there were no wells, are still a 

 source of danger in so far as they favor the 

 transmission of germs by means of infected 

 flies, nor can the possibility be ignored that the 

 germs in leaky or overflowing boxes may reach 

 the upper layer of the soil and with pulverized 

 dust gain access to the system." It is a matter 



