/ 
478  EDITORIAL. 
The  manufacture  of  Vinegar  ;  its  theory  and  practice,  with  especial  reference 
to  the  quick  process.  By  Charles  M.  Wetherill,  Ph.  D.,  M.  D.,  &c. 
Philadelphia,  Lindsay  &  Blakiston,  1850,  pp.  300, 12mo. 
Dr.  Wetherill  has  done  a  good  thing  in  getting  out  this  little  volume. 
The  intrinsic  value  of  acetic  acid  in  its  crude  form,  to  the  welfare  of  a 
nation,  is  a  question  that  rarely  has  presented  itself  bodily  to  the  public 
mind.  The  time  has  long  gone  by  when  our  farmers,  from  the  excess  of 
their  cider,  could  supply  this  demand,  and  long  ago  chemistry  directed 
its  powers  to  develop  from  the  wondrous  processes  of  the  laboratory 
means  to  form  this  useful  substance  quickly,  and  succeeded  perfectly.  The 
volume  of  Dr.  Wetherill  is  based  on  that  of  Prof.  Otto's  "  Lehrbuch  der 
essig  Fabrication,"  (1857,)  and  modified  to  suit  the  demands  of  American 
manufacturers  and  circumstances.  Dr.  Wetherill  claims  for  himself  "a 
practical  experience  of  the  manufacture  of  vinegar,"  and  to  have  added 
much  to  the  book  that  gives  it  a  claim  to  the  attention  of  the  student  and 
the  manufacturer.  We  should  be  glad  to  give  an  extract  from  the  work  as 
a  sample  of  its  style,  but  our  space  is  too  limited  to  permit  it  in  this 
number  ;  we  will  therefore  refer  our  readers  to  the  book  itself,  and  suggest 
that  many  of  our  farmers  who  have  material  fit  for  yielding  vinegar  would 
do  well  to  avail  themselves  of  the  information  it  presents. 
Electro- Physiology  and  Electro- Therapeutics  ;  showing  the  best  methods  for 
the  medical  uses  of  electricity.  By  Alfred  C.  Garratt,  M.  D.,  Fellow 
of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society.  Boston,  Ticknor  &  Fields,  1860, 
pp.  708,  octavo. 
Soon  after  the  appearance  of  our  last  number,  the  handsome  volume,  of 
which  the  above  is  the  title  page,  was  received,  and  we  had  hoped  to  have 
presented  our  readers  with  a  notice  of  it,  but  it  has  been  found  impossible 
to  do  it.  We  therefore  present  a  short  bird's  eye  view  of  its  contents  as  a 
notice  to  attract  attention  to  the  work,  and  leave  for  our  next  number  a 
closer  view  of  the  subject  as  unfolded  by  the  author.  Dr.  Garratt  has 
dedicated  this  book  to  John  Homans,  M.  D.,  President  of  the  Massachusetts 
Medical  Society.  In  the  preface  it  is  especially  addressed  to  medical 
students.  The  work  is  divided  into  ten  chapters ;  1st,  Natural  Electricity; 
2d,  Early  history  of  the  medical  uses  of  electricity  ;  3d,  Electrical  instruments 
and  apparatus  for  medical  purposes  ;  4th,  Electro-physiology  ;  5th,  Methods 
for  the  medical  employment  of  electricity  ;  6th,  Hyperesthesia — exalted 
nerve  actions  and  pains ;  7th,  Anaesthesia — diminished  nerve  action  and 
paralysis  j  8th,  Spastic  diseases— spasms,  &c.  ;  9th,  Midwifery,  abdominal 
viscera,  secretions ;  10th,  Electricity  in  surgery.  The  chapters  are  illustrated 
by  nearly  a  hundred  wood  engravings  of  apparatus  and  anatomical  parts 
concerned  in  the  treatment  by  electricity.  The  book  is  elegantly  printed 
on  good  paper.  The  novelty  of  the  subject  to  many  practitioners,  and  its 
real  interest  as  a  new  and  powerful  adjunct  to  the  Gurative  means  derived 
