286  Reviews  and  Bibliographical  Notices.  jine'.sj"''"'- 
heavy  look,  his  eyes  are  clear  and  bright,  and  his  skin  presents  its  natural  appear- 
ance. He  is  very  reticent  about  the  causes  for  his  habit,  and  merely  tells  that  lie 
commenced  the  use  of  strychnia  in  1856/' 
Dr.  Morey  has  experimented  with  strychnia  and  nux  vomica  as  an  antidote  to  the 
effects  of  alcohol,  and  invariably  v^'ith  beneficial  results. 
Bogus  Diploma. — The  "  Pharmaceutische  Centralhalle,"  1875,  No.  12,  relates 
that  in  Berlin,  Germany,  a  man  by  the  nanie  of  Helmsen  was  recently  convicted  of 
fraud,  in  representing  himself  as  a  physician,  and  was  sentenced  to  one  year's  im- 
prisonment. He  had  procured  a  diploma  from  the  University  of  Philadelphia,  and, 
by  advertising,  offering  reliable  advice  to  ladies  in  delicate  circumstances,  attracted 
the  notice  of  the  police.  To  his  patients  who  were  intent  upon  producing  abortion, 
he  sold  an  ineffectual  iron  preparation  for  25  thalers  ;  his  cunningness  saved  him 
from  the  severer  penalty  of  the  abortionist. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
A  Manual  of  Diet  in  Health  and  Disease.    By  Thomas  King  Chambers,  M.  D.,  etc. 
Philadelphia:  Henry  C.Lea.     1875.    8vo,  pp.  310. 
The  author  states  in  the  preface  that  "  the  aims  of  this  hand-book  are  purely 
practical,  and  therefore  it  has  not  been  thought  right  to  increase  its  size  by  the 
addition  of  the  chemical,  botanical  and  industrial  learning  which  rapidly  collects 
round  the  nucleus  of  every  article  interesting  as  an  eatable.  Space  has  been  thus 
gained  for  a  full  discussion  of  many  matters  connecting  food  and  drink  with  the 
daily  current  of  social  life,  which  the  position  of  the  author  as  a  practising  physician 
has  led  him  to  believe  highly  important  to  the  present  and  future  of  our  race." 
In  a  work  of  this  kind,  the  temptation  was  very  great  to  enlarge  its  bulk  by  intro- 
ducing matter  more  or  less  intimately  connected  with  the  different  articles  treated 
of.  By  carefully  avoiding  this,  the  author  has  very  materially  enhanced  the  value 
of  his  work.  The  accessory  scientific  information,  if  necessary,  is  easily  obtainable 
by  every  physician  from  works  treating  specially  on  those  branches  of  knowledge ; 
by  omitting  it,  the  author  has  been  enabled  to  present  a  work  which  may  well  be 
recommended  to  every  person  of  intelligence,  who  will  find  in  it  much  directly  ap- 
plicable to  himself,  and  a  great  deal  more  worthy  of  careful  perusal. 
Part  I,  on  "  General  Dietetics,"  and  Part  II,  on  "  Special  Dietetics  of  Health," 
are  particularly  to  be  recommended  to  the  intelligent  reader,  who  values  his  own 
health  and  that  of  his  kin.  They  give  so  much  sound  information,  frequently  Illus- 
trated by  familiar  examples,  and  so  much  advice  under  the  most  varied  circum- 
stances, that  perhaps  nobody  will  lay  it  aside  without  discovering  some  plain  truth 
frequently  disregarded,  or  good  reasons  for  acknowledged  facts,  dogmatic  teachings 
being  entirely  omitted.  This  feature  makes  the  work  the  more  valuable  to  the 
physician,  for  whom  it  was  perhaps  more  directly  intended.  We  give  the  headings 
of  a  few  chapters,  to  show  to  the  reader  the  subjects  specially  treated  of :  On  the 
choice  of  food  5  the  preparation  of  food  j  regimen  of  infancy  and  motherhood  ;  regi- 
