io6 
Notices of Books. 
[January, 
the common badger a “ badger-dog.” Porcupine and hedgehog 
are not synonymes for one and the same animal. The wren 
and the hedgesparrow, again, are two distinCt birds. There is 
also a difference between the misteltoe, or missel thrush, and 
the fieldfare : the former is the Turdus viscivorus, and the latter 
the T. pilaris (Linn.). The common European viper is never 
known in England as ‘‘crossed adder” or “copper snake.” 
Lampyris noctiluca , the glow-worm, is not called “John’s 
beetle,” nor did we ever hear it spoken of in Germany as 
“ Johanniskafer,” a name we always knew to be applied to 
Rhisotrogus solstitialis . “ Purple emperor ” is the English name 
not of Argynnis Paphia , but of Apatura Iris. Many more mis- 
takes of a similar kind might be enumerated if it were neces- 
sary. Accuracy is of course the one thing needful in a work of 
this class, and if found wanting it will only serve to promote 
misunderstanding and confusion. 
Statistics, Medical and Anthropological, af the Provost-Marshal- 
General's Bureau, derived from Records of the Examination 
for Military Service in the Armies of the United States, 
during the late War of the Rebellion, of over a Million 
Recruits, Drafted Men, Substitutes, and Enrolled Men. By 
J. H. Baxter, M.D. In two volumes. Washington : 
Government Printing-Office. 
The work before us consists of two goodly quartos, of about 
600 pages each, profusely illustrated with diagrams. The Intro- 
duction gives an account of the working of the conscription 
system during the American civil war, and of the difficulties en- 
countered by the medical officers in judging of the physical fitness 
of a recruit. The methods adopted for examining the soundness 
of the men are next described. Then follows a comparative 
view of the instructions issued by the United States Government 
and by the principal Governments of Europe for the guidance of 
the medical officer in the examination of recruits, every parti- 
cular being given in detail. A great part of the work is devoted 
to a comparison among the men of different nationalities who 
enlisted in the United States Army, as regards height, weight, 
girth of chest, and liability to various diseases. The value of 
the results thus obtained entirely depends on the question 
whether the recruits examined can be considered as fair average 
representatives of their respective nationalities — a point on 
which, in some cases, very grave doubts may be entertained. 
The work, however, will be of very great value to the medical 
authorities of every army. 
