»3° 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



those which the experience of mankind has 

 found serviceable; nor are they such as a 

 scientific man would have thought of devis- 

 ing." 



Mr. Lodge pays reverent tribute to the 

 genius of Sir Isaac Newton, and claims for 

 him the palm-wreath among all other phi- 

 losophers — ancient or modern. His treat- 

 ment of the biographical sketch of Newton 

 and of his discoveries and the preparation 

 of his laws of gravitation, motion, etc., as 

 contained in the Principia, are most interest- 

 ing as well as valuable. 



The second part of the work (eight lec- 

 tures) is rather condensed. Laplace's mathe- 

 matical genius is briefly described, while the 

 birth of stellar astronomy and the works 

 of Sir William and Caroline Herschel are 

 excellently portrayed. The volume closes 

 with chapters upon Comets and Meteors, and 

 Tides and Planetary Evolution. It is pro- 

 fusely illustrated. 



Hygienic Measures in Relation to Infec- 

 tious Diseases. By George H. F. Nut- 

 tall, M. D., Ph. D. (Gottingen). New 

 York : G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1893. Pp. 

 112. Price, 75 cents. 



This is a very useful little work and 

 should have a place in every home library. 

 There seems to be an almost general ignorance 

 of both the causes of infectious diseases and 

 how to prevent their spread ; and Dr. Nut- 

 tall has produced this little handbook in a 

 form that is so simple and instructive that 

 even the least scientific reader can, without 

 any difficulty, prepare and use ample means 

 for the disinfection of persons, houses, fur- 

 niture, etc. — no matter from what cause the 

 infectious material may exist. 



The author warns people against using 

 " made and patent disinfectants " ; for, as 

 he says, "the term disinfection means the 

 absolute destruction of infectious material," 

 and "many preparations sold as disinfect- 

 ants are nothing of the kind," but belong 

 to the antiseptic and deodorant classes. He 

 gives, as the best and most certain methods, 

 those by fire, dry heat, steam, and chemicals, 

 and in a foot-note to the paragraph " Disin- 

 fection by Boiling," he quotes Pliigge most 

 instructively : " The ordinary treatment to 

 which soiled linen and clothes are subjected 

 in the laundry (one half-hour's boiling) would 



be quite sufficient for their disinfection were 

 it not for the fact that the process of boiling 

 is preceded by the processes of sorting, soak- 

 ing, and rinsing in cold water" 



The volume contains practical directions 

 for the treatment of infectious diseases in 

 private houses and other places; and the 

 second part is devoted to excellent " infor- 

 mation as to the causes and mode of spread- 

 ing of certain infectious diseases and the pre- 

 ventive measures that should be resorted to." 



Rest and Pain. By the late John Hilton, 

 F. R. S. London and New York : George 

 Bell & Sons. Pp. 514. Price, $2. 



This work, which its editor speaks of as 

 " acknowledged to be one of our few surgical 

 classics," has reached its fifth edition in Eng- 

 land, and is now offered to medical students 

 and practitioners in America. Its special 

 claim to attention is that it presents certain 

 facts in a different grouping from that of 

 the usual treatises, thus throwing a new light 

 upon the bearing of much that may seem use- 

 less or abstruse to the student. It has the 

 two objects of preaching to physicians a let- 

 alone gospel, designed to secure greater reli- 

 ance upon the work of Nature, and of point- 

 ing out how much can be learned in regard 

 to various disorders from the pains ihat ac- 

 company them. The volume consists of a 

 course of lectures delivered by the author as 

 consulting surgeon to Guy's Hospital, under 

 the title, The Therapeutic Influence of Rest 

 and the Diagnostic Value of Pain in Acci- 

 dents and Surgical Diseases. It deals with 

 injuries and diseases of the brain, spinal col- 

 umn, the joints, the sacro-iliac region, with 

 abscesses, and miscellaneous other disorders. 

 A large number of cases are quoted in this 

 treatise, and the text is illustrated with 105 

 cuts. 



Domestic Science. By James E. Talmage. 

 Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & 

 Sons. Pp. 389. 



The field of this book embraces the ap- 

 plications of science to the affairs of domes- 

 tic life — a field concerning which there has 

 always been a great amount of ignorance. 

 The dispelling of this ignorance was one of 

 the tasks that enlisted the efforts of the 

 founder of this magazine, who published his 

 Handbook of Household Science over thirtv 



