Reviews. 
Quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non.—H or. 
Die Echinococcen-KranJcheit. By Von Dr. Albert Neisser. 
Berlin, 1877. 
This brochure of 228 pages forms a veritable treatise in which 
the author has sought to give an exhaustive resume of the facts 
of hydatid disease as it occurs in man. It is divided into three 
parts, treating of the subject generally, specially, and clinically. 
In the first part the history of the development of hydatids from 
the eggs of Taenia echinococcus , as made known by the experi¬ 
mental researches of Von Siebold, Naunyn, Leuckart, Krabbe, 
and others, is admirably recorded, but the author has overlooked 
the verification of their results by Mr. Edward Nettleship in this 
country. His account of the development of the Echinococcus- 
bladders is well stated. 
Eollowing Naunyn, he recognises (1) the acephalocystic stage, 
(2) the formation of the so-called Echinococcus-heads (Scolex- 
produktion), and (3) the development of daughter-vesicles or 
f nurses 5 (Ammenproduktion). The well-known opinions of Kiich- 
enmeister are alluded to, and the controversy between Leuckart 
and Naunyn as to the precise mode in which the scolices and 
secondary vesicles are formed, is carefully reviewed. 
After touching upon the chemical constitution of hydatids the 
author speaks of their distribution throughout the parts and 
organs of the body. In addition to the lists published by Davaine, 
Einsen, and Bocker, Dr. Neisser gives a careful and instructive 
table of 983 cases arranged under sixteen different heads. Thus, 
to afford an instance of the statistical value of these tables, he states 
that 451 of his cases are referable to the liver, which is, we take 
it, 45*765 per cent, of the whole. This, result very closely 
corresponds with that obtained from the tables separately fur¬ 
nished by Davaine and Cobbold. The author does not appear to 
possess any acquaintance with the data supplied by English writers, 
although, to be sure, he makes some display of the titles of 
several English memoirs, amongst which we recognise those of 
Murchison, Barker, Huxley, Fagge, &c. We doubt if he has 
consulted any of these in a direct manner. Speaking of the 
geographical distribution of hydatids, Dr. Neisser supplies a 
table of the proportion of cases of hydatids found in the records 
of post-mortem examinations. If these be accurately stated, the 
Echinococcus disease is comparatively rare in Germany as con- 
