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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
separate chapter is devoted to descriptions of the various forms of printing 
telegraphs, including those of Morse and Bain, and here also we find an 
explanation of the nature and action of relays. Mr. Culley does not 
appear to approve of the “ Cooke and Wheatstone ” needle telegraph. The 
remainder of the volume is devoted to the question of telegraphic engineering, 
the construction of a line, &c., and will be found exceeding useful by those 
whom it concerns. The “ Handbook of Practical Telegraphy ” is espe- 
cially addressed to telegraph officials, and we can confidently recommend 
it to all who are interested in telegraphic technology. 
PARASITIC FUNGI.* 
W HEN specialists in any branch of knowledge leave for a while their 
pursuit of original investigations, and give us in printed form the 
results of their experiences, these productions are usually valued. The 
author of the present volume is well known to English physicians, as a 
skilled original observer in the department of parasitic skin diseases, and 
he has lately published the work before us. Let us then admit at the 
outset that we have not been disappointed. Dr. Tilbury Fox’s volume is one 
calling for the immediate attention of the dermatologist , and is furthermore 
one from which the student of microscopic fungi may acquire a great deal 
of useful instruction. We cordially approve of the classification of Tineas , 
which the writer has adopted, and we have little doubt that even if further 
pushed, his scheme would prove advantageous to the science of the pro- 
fession. As an instance of how Mr. Fox treats his subject, we may take 
the example of Tinea polonica , that curious and unpleasant disease of the 
hair which occurs so frequently in Poland, Russia, &c. The history of 
the affection is given at length, the views of all the physicians of dis- 
tinction who have studied it are tersely expressed, and finally the treat- 
ment is given in the second portion of the volume, which embodies the 
clinical observations of the author. The comments on the “ Fungus foot” 
of India are of deep interest. When Dr. Fox speaks of the physiology 
and pathology of these parasitic maladies he is evidently in his element, 
and admits us to enlarged views of the subject, which it is to be regretted 
are absent from too many medical treatises in this age of book manufac- 
ture. The chapter on the variation of fungi is of the greatest importance, 
and throws an entirely new light on the diagnosis of skin diseases ; more- 
over it lends, though in an indirect manner, a helping hand to Darwin’s 
theory. There are three stages of treatment which follow in physiological 
sequence from the study of the disease. 1st. To remove the soil or 
pabulum which assists the growth of the fungus. 2nd. To destroy the 
remnants of fungous growths ; and 3rd. To promote the re-growth of the 
hair and other injured tissues. Four plates executed in part by wood 
* “ Skin Diseases of Parasitic Origin, their Nature and Treatment.” By 
W. Tilbury Fox, M.D. London : Robert Hardwicke. 1863. 
