February 



?•] 



SCIENCE 



53 



Having seen, then, that in the aggregate more civilized males 

 than females die of pulmonary consumption ; that the costal respi- 

 ration of the civilized female is developed through the constricting 

 influence of dress around the abdomen ; that the lungs possess an 

 excessive breathing surface which by sedentary occupations, etc., 

 can be, and is frequently, reduced in a great degree ; that the bane- 

 ful results of such a reduction, consisting of hypersemia, etc., fall 

 with the greatest force on the apex of the lung ; that all those who 

 suffer from consumption also show a decided tendency to immo- 

 bility of the upper part of the chest, — are we not, therefore, justi- 

 fied in believing that a defective costal respiration and the begin- 

 ning of pulmonary consumption stand in relation to each other as 

 cause and effect ? And, going one step further, is it not clear that 

 the civilized female owes her greater immunity from this disease in 

 a great measure to the fact that she possesses a more highly devel- 

 oped costal expansion? If these relations exist, it is quite obvious 

 that her manner of dress is a direct factor in bringing about this 

 result. She has, by force of necessity, been led to clothe herself 

 after a method which demands a restriction of the abdominal and 

 diaphragmatic movements, and which cultivates a greater develop- 

 ment of the costal portion of the breathing-organs, and thereby 

 she unconsciously protects herself to a greater degree against this 

 disease ; while the male, on the other hand, dresses himself after a 

 fashion which secures perfect fredom of motion to the diaphragm 

 and to the abdominal muscles, but which also attracts and tends to 

 confine the respiratory function to the lower portion of the chest. 

 Moreover, it must not be forgotten that the same fashion also de- 

 mands that his clothing should be suspended from the shoulders, 

 which of itself restricts the movements of the upper portion of the 

 chest ; making it evident, therefore, that his clothing renders him, 

 both indirectly and directly, more liable to the disease under con- 

 sideration. To this conclusion, and to no other, do our facts and 

 reasoning lead. 



The evidence which has thus far been gathered from statistical, 

 experimental, and inductive grounds, all tends to demonstrate that 

 impairment of the respiratory movements of the upper portion of 

 the lungs is one of the principal direct causes of pulmonary con- 

 sumption. Indeed, all the proof goes to show that in many condi- 

 tions of life, especially in many of those to which the male sex is 

 exposed, the apices of the lungs become superfluous parts of the 

 body, and on this account possess a strong tendency to that prema- 

 ture waste which is characteristic of all organs when they fall into 

 a state of inactivity. The practical solution of the problem of the 

 prevention of pulmonary consumption, as well as of the cure in 

 many cases, therefore consists in the adoption of measures which 

 tend to increase the chest capacity, and which maintain the general 

 and local health of the individual. 



The treatment, so far as prevention is concerned, resolves itself 

 into a proper exercise of the chest muscles, into systematic breath- 

 ing, and into the rational employment of compressed and rarefied 

 air. First, then, as to a proper training of the chest muscles. This 

 is accomplished by raising the shoulders, and by swinging the arms 

 backward, forward, and upward, either with or without dumb- 

 bells, or by exercising on parallel bars, care being taken that a full 

 inspiration is taken every time that the arms are thrown backward 

 and upward, or the body forward, and that a complete expiration 

 occurs when the arms are brought together in front, or when 

 the body is thrown backward. These movements should be per- 

 formed regularly, and from sixteen to twenty times in a minute. 

 There are a number of appliances in the market which are worked 

 by means of ropes, weights, and pulleys, and which are admirably 

 adapted for the enhancement of the above-described movements. 

 They are very simple, and can be attached to the wall of the 

 nursery or of the sleeping-room, and not only afford a healthful ex- 

 ercise, but a pleasant amusement for both children and adults. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 

 Handbook of Republican Institutions in the United States of 

 America. By DuGALD J. Bannatyne. ■ New York, Scrib- 

 ner & Welford. i6°. 



This would have been a remarkable book even for an experi- 

 enced public official to have written, and it is doubly so, coming 



from a foreigner. It is the most systematic, the most complete, 

 and the most accurate handbook of our institutions that has ever 

 come to our notice. The author is a Scotch attorney, resident for 

 twenty-two years past in Canada and the United States. In his 

 preface he gives the reason for writing the book. " I have fre- 

 quently heard it said," he writes, " that an immigrant into either 

 of these countries, who brings some capital with him, is not likely 

 to permanently succeed until he has lost all he brought with him 

 and has started afresh." The author's personal experience cor- 

 roborates this saying, and he attributes its truth to the fact that 

 immigrants are ignorant of the country, the people, the customs, the 

 government, to which they have come. To aid such in removing 

 their ignorance, the book before us was written. But its existence 

 can be and should be defended on far broader grounds. It is a mine 

 of information for the American citizen himself, or at least it would 

 be if it had an index. No table of contents, however full, can take 

 the place of a good index. 



The work consists of an introductory chapter and two parts. In 

 the introduction the author gives a cursory view of our political life, 

 its conditions, and its most recent workings. Rather too many 

 statements rely upon the somewhat vivid and always vehement 

 imaginations of the New York World for their foundation ; but 

 this is a minor matter, and may be overlooked. Mr. Ballantyne 

 betrays his foreign extraction by criticising the equal representa- 

 tion of States in the United States Senate. The populations and 

 areas which he cites as evidences of inequality of representation 

 have absolutely no bearing upon the question whatever ; for it is 

 States as such, and not populations or areas, that are represented in 

 the Senate. In these days, when so much ignorant criticism and 

 unintelligent abuse are directed at public officials, it is pleasant to 

 find that a disinterested and presumably non-partisan foreigner can 

 write as follows : " The reader's attention should be attracted by 

 the manner in which the whole population is, through Congress, 

 kept thoroughly posted as to the several executive departments, 

 and the whole United States and state, county, town, village, and 

 city machinery. . . . The writer has on several occasions 

 tested the merits of the federal, state, county, and other public 

 officers, and has always had prompt response and courteous treat- 

 ment. There is no unnecessary red-tapism or flummery, and every 

 respectful application, whatever the form, receives attention " (p. 51). 



Part first contains the great national documents, — the Consti- 

 tution, Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence, and 

 Washington's Farewell Address (which in some places the types 

 make ' Farewell Letter ' ). Then follow careful, painstaking, and 

 accurate descriptions of Congress, the Presidency, the Executive 

 Departments, and their numerous bureaus and divisions. Every 

 branch of the national administration is touched upon. The Terri- 

 tories are described, and the Enabling Act of Colorado given, to 

 show by what process a Territory becomes a State. 



Part second treats of State government and administration. 

 That of New York is taken as a type. This is just as full and com- 

 prehensive as the preceding part, except in the case of cities. They 

 are very scantily treated in two pages, whereas at least twenty-five 

 would be necessary to make clear their organization and relation to 

 the county and State governments. The subject of education and 

 school organization is amply treated. We lay down the book with 

 a feeling of profound satisfaction, and with full appreciation of its 

 value as a book of reference. 



The author's descriptions are impartial, and he rarely presents 

 his own opinions or views. When he varies from this rule, his suc- 

 cess is such that we are tempted to wish he did it oftener. Wit- 

 ness this comment : " There is need for a national bureau of im- 

 migration and naturalization, in which shall be kept a register re- 

 cording the names and full particulars of every immigrant, and also 

 a register of every immigrant naturalized under the laws of the 

 United States, and which shall refer to the entries in the other 

 register." 



We commend the book unreservedly. 



Organic A^iatysis. By ALBERT B. Prescott. New York, Van- 

 Nostrand. 8°. 

 This volume is in a measure an outgrowth of the useful little book 

 put forth by the same author thirteen years ago under the title o£ 



