REVIEWS. 
301 
SHORT NOTICES. 
Conversations on Natural Philosophy. By Mrs. Marcet : revised and 
edited by her son, Francis Marcet, F.R.S. 14th edition. London : Long- 
mans, 1872. Those who like this hook — and we believe it can number its 
admirers by thousands — will be pleased to find a new edition of it. It is, 
so far as we have examined it, tolerably accurate, and it is fuller than 
many text-books on the subject. The illustrations are both numerous and 
good, and the chapter on spectrum analysis is singularly excellent. 
On the Antagonism between the Actions of Physostigma and Atropia. By 
Thomas R. Fraser, M.D., Lecturer on Therapeutics at Surgeons’ Hall, 
Edinburgh. Edinburgh : Neil & Co., 1872. This is a work reprinted 
from the “ Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.” It con- 
tains nearly 200 pages, accompanied by numerous charts, and is certainly 
the most voluminous account which has ever been published upon the action 
of two drugs. It has an interest of the highest kind, not for the general 
reader, but for the medical man j and we hope there are few who are 
interested in the opposite action of drugs who will not carefully study 
Dr. Fraser’s important results. The general conclusion at which the author 
has arrived from hundreds of experiments, though not exactly novel, is 
nevertheless of importance. He says (page 617) that “ the conditions of the 
experiments, and the symptoms that were observed, render it certain that 
atropia prevents the fatal effect of a lethal dose of physostigma, by so 
influencing the functions of certain structures as to prevent such mortifica- 
tion being produced in them by physostigma as would result in death.” 
The Sun : Ruler, Fire , Fight, and Fife of the Planetary System. By 
R. A. Proctor, B.A. 2nd edition. London : Longmans, 1872. We need 
only say that this volume has gone to a second edition, and has sold more 
than 2,000 copies in the year. The present issue contains several new 
illustrations and some important additions. 
Popular Physiology. By E. D. Mapother, M.D. London : Longmans, 
1871. This book was not noticed, through some omission, in our recent 
number. It is a very small book of over 100 pages. Contains a good 
many illustrations. It is only intended for the most elementary possible of 
classes. 
The Earth's Crust : a Handy Outline of Geology. By David Page, LL.D., 
F.G-.S. Blackwood & Sons, 1872. This is the sixth edition of a good 
elementary outline of the science. It is just the sort of book for a class- 
book in school-rooms. 
The Year Pooh of Facts in Science and Art. By John Timbs. Lockwood 
& Co., 1872. This contains just the usual amount of matter, with the usual 
degree of printer’s blunders or other erroneous matter. We cannot at all 
approve of so badly edited a volume. 
