LITERARY NOTICES. 



417 



of industry and abstinence " (the " universal 

 dividend," as it might be called) " is a mass 

 of wealth varying in amount, and divided in 

 varying proportions among the agents to its 

 production." Holding this view, the author 

 obviously can not accept the wage-fund 

 theory nor the theory that labor is the re- 

 sidual claimant to the product of industry, 

 nor the doctrine that " rent does not enter 

 into the expenses of production," and his 

 next three chapters are devoted to criticisms 

 of these doctrines. In his criticism of the 

 first-named theory he comes in conflict with 

 Mill, Fawcett, and Cairns ; he takes Walker 

 as a representative of the second, and Mar- 

 shall and Sorley as supporting the last. In 

 his fifth and final chapter he applies his 

 theory of wages to the eight^hour movement, 

 trades-unionism, profit-sharing, etc. 



How Nature cures, comprising a New- 

 System or Hygiene ; also, The Natural 

 Food of Man. By Emmet Densmore, 

 M. D. London : Swan, Sonnenschein & 

 Co. New York: Stillman & Co. Pp. 

 405. 



In this work Dr. Densmore makes a bold 

 effort to shatter all existing and accepted 

 systems of dietary, and ominously warns 

 his readers of the dangers of seeking the 

 assistance of the medical profession in case ■ 

 of sickness. The book is divided into three 

 parts : How to Doctor, How to Get Well and 

 Keep Well, and The Natural Food of Man. 

 In the first chapter of Part I the author 

 gives an example of the process of natural 

 healing, or, as he terms it, "Nature's en- 

 gineering." He says: "A sliver becomes 

 imbedded in the flesh — a frequent accident. 

 ... If the sliver is permitted to remain, 

 Nature at once sets about a bit of engineer- 

 ing. First, there is pain and inflammation ; 

 then follows a formation of pus ; this in due 

 time breaks down the tissues immediately 

 surrounding the sliver, especially toward the 

 surface of the limb ; the pus increases, breaks 

 through, runs out, and sooner or later carries 

 the sliver with it." And he claims that 

 " these and like processes of Nature are all 

 the healing force there is." 



Further on, he asserts that the deaths of 

 both George Washington and President Gar- 

 field were either hastened or directly caused 

 by the drugs of the physicians in the first in- 

 stance, and in the second by the daily prob- 

 vol. xliii. — 28 



ing for the bullet, which, if left undisturbed, 

 would not have been fatal. All through the 

 early part of the work the author advances 

 argument after argument against the uses of 

 drugs for healing purposes, and in the fifth 

 chapter he makes the announcement that, 

 although surgery can be classed as a science, 

 " medicine is not a science ; it is empiricism 

 founded on a network of blunders." 



The second -part of the book treats of 

 How to Get Well and Keep Well, and em- 

 braces a series of chapters upon the uses 

 and abuses of certain foods and their relative 

 values for promoting health. In the first 

 chapter of this part, while admitting that 

 " bread, cereals, pulses, and vegetables are 

 the bases of the food of civilization," he 

 denies the urgency of their forming the bases 

 of food, and in fact distinctly states that 

 these and all other starch foods are not bene- 

 ficial to the system ; and he urges the use of 

 ripe sweet fruits in their place. This con- 

 tention he bases upon the fact that starchy 

 foods such as bread, cereals, etc., are not 

 digested in the first stomach, but have to 

 pass into the intestines, which they overtax 

 during the process of digestion. 



Considerable space is devoted to argu- 

 ments against the use of tea, coffee, tobacco, 

 and alcoholic beverages ; and the author 

 scathingly attacks the use, or rather the 

 abuse of the use of opium by " orthodox 

 physicians." In the third part are repeated 

 his ideas upon the curative powers of Nature, 

 and the evils of using starchy foods. In this 

 part, also, he attacks the accepted theory 

 that varying the diet is beneficial to the 

 digestive organs, and advises a similar meal 

 of meat and fruit every day. The book con- 

 cludes with a number of " Conformatory 

 Chapters," in which Dr. Densmore seeks to 

 defend his theories. 



Speeches of Sir Henry Maine. With a 

 Memoir of his Life, by the Right Hon. Sir 

 M. E. Grant Duff. New York: Henry 

 Holt & Co. Pp. 451. Price, $3.50. 



The man who is here portrayed in his 

 public utterances and official writings was 

 one of the leading lights of the century in the 

 field of jurisprudence. In 1847, at the early 

 age of twenty-five, he was made Regius Pro- 

 fessor of Civil Law at Trinity College, Cam 

 bridge. Three years after he betook himself 



