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essays, four in number, with an introduction, is The l2oad to a Healthy Old Age (London : H. K. Lewis. 1914.Pp. 104. Price 2s. 6d. net), by THOMAS BODLEY SCOTT. Thelast essay is a brief outline of the preparation and action ofvaccines ; the other three are more discursive, discussingfatigue and cheese and wine and galvanism and variousaspects of the metabolic class of diseases which are mainlythe results of deficiencies in personal hygiene.

JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES.

Annales de Medecine.—Our French confri;res havegrasped one of the inconveniences of the modern tendencyto specialisation-that is, the increasing segregation ofimportant original communications in special journals,whereby the difficulty of keeping pace with at least thebroad outline of evolution in medicine is greatly augmented.The proportion of these special medical journals to generalones is perhaps more excessive in France than elsewhere.To help in remedying this position a new monthly journalfor readers in the French tongue has recently been

published under the auspices of Professeur Agrege LeonBernard, Dr. Fernand Bezançon, Dr. Georges Guillain,Dr. Marcel Labbe, Dr. Edouard Rist, and Dr. Gustave

Roussy. It is called the Annales de Médecine, and the firstissue, dated January, 1914, lies before us. It will embraceall fields of medicine, both clinical .7and experimental, andwhile it particularly aims to represent the progress of Frenchmedicine, its pages will not be closed to foreign writers.Besides original communications it will contain the now

customary review of current progress, not merely confiningitself to presenting an abstract of the work published else-where, but rather critically appreciating, at the handsof a competent reviewer, the value of the communica-tion. The present number contains original communicationsby Professor A. Chauffard on the pathogeny of congenitalhæmolytic icterus ; Professor Pierre Marie and Dr. J.Lhermitte on the lesions of chronic progressive chorea;Dr. Paul Ravaut on the detection of the preclinical mani-festations of nerve syphilis ; and M. Rubens Daval on thehistologic method of defence of the organism againstcancer. The critical review concerns itself with a con-sideration by Dr. Fernand Bezançon and Dr. S. I. deJong of recent communications bearing on infectiouspleuro-pulmonary congestions. The journal, which is

published by Masson et Cie, Paris, the subscription tocountries within the Postal Union being 23 franco isof convenient size, well printed, and is illustrated withadmirable coloured plates and half tones. It promisesto form a welcome addition to serious medical periodicalliterature.

Jahreskurse für ärztliche Fortbildung. Munich : Lehmann.Price 18 marks.-In the January number of this useful

summary of the modern point of view in Germanmedical literature Professor Schwarz writes on theNature of Eosinophilia. He points out that under this

heading we must include eosinophilia of the blood andalso of the tissues. The condition is a specific reactionof the blood-forming elements in the sense that the eosino-phile cells may rise or fall independently of the other leuco-cytes. It is probably the reaction to a special chemicalstimulus. The various clinical conditions giving rise to eosino-philia are then passed in review, beginning with bronchialasthma, in which there is eosinophilia both of the blood andof the bronchial connective tissues, due probably to ana-phylaxis. Other causes are worm-infections, skin diseases,and after acute infections; the relation to the secre-

tions of the ductless glands is also reviewed. ProfessorLubarsch follows with a discourse on what modernGerman literature calls Nachkrankheiten, which we mighttranslate as 11 Afterwards-diseases," including tabes or

general paralysis following upon syphilis, or gall-stones aftertyphoid fever. He then writes of some of the problems ofcancer, such as precarcinomatous conditions and metastases,pointing out how in the skin cancer supervenes upon a scar,in the stomach upon an ulcer, in the liver upon cirrhosis, inthe gall-bladder upon gall-stones. The rôle played byparasites is briefly discussed-for instance, certain nematodesof the rat’s stomach produce an epithelial proliferation likecancer. The tissues of the body have a variable resistanceto secondary infection, but the writer does not seem to know

Sampson Handley’s important researches on cancer dis-semination. The article concludes with a few remarks onregeneration and transplantation of tissues.

Dental Record.-The March issue contains a paper byDr. A. A. Mumford on the Oro-nasal Cavities during-Adolescence, in which the author gives the results of his-investigations into the oro-nasal cavities and acuity of sense-organs in 1000 boys at the Manchester Grammar School.Mr. Spiller, in a note on the Movement of the Premolars,states that the maxillary teeth tend to rotate, the internalcusp in the case of the first premolar moving forwards, andin the case of the second premolar backwards. In the-mandible the premolars tend to tilt backwards. Some-amount of rotation is, however, often present, and is usuallyin the opposite direction from that seen in the maxillary-teeth. A paper on A Public Dental Service is communicated

by Mr. T. Mansell, and there is a short note on the Nerves ofthe Hard Substance of the Teeth by Mr. G. W. Watson.

New Inventions.AN INTRA-UTERINE DOUCHE.

THE accompanying diagram represents a douche which Ihave found very satisfactory in maternity work. The large-size of the channels permits of a copious flow of lotion andan easy unobstructed return. I have frequently given acouple of gallons of lotion in a few minutes. If the return

should be _partially blocked by a large clot (I have neverfound it completely blocked) the inner portion of the instru-ment can be easily withdrawn without removing the doucheas a whole from the uterus. The blunt end is an ample-safeguard against perforating the wall of the uterus.The instrument is manufactured for me by Messrs. Allen

and Hanburys, 48, Wigmore-street, W.Derby. R. DOUGLAS LAURIE, M.B., Ch. B. Edin.

THE GENERAL HOSPITAL, BIRMINGHAM.—Theannual meeting of the governors was held on March 18th,under the presidency of Lord Hampton. The board of

management reports that the number of in-patients undertreatment last year was 5908, an increase of 411, the dailyaverage of patients being 319-5, an increase of 5-25 daily.Of the in-patients 1079 were children under 12 years of age,of whom 272 were under 2 years. During the past yearthere have generally been over 180 cases on the list waiting:admission. The number of out-patients was 58,815, a,

decrease of 8502. 4317 operations were performed, as com-pared with 3899 in 1912. The total income during 1913was £31,990 2s. 9d. The amount from subscriptions wasE7210 2s. 9d., or .E224 less than in 1912. Ordinary dona-tions were S404 3s. 3d. £12,995 were placed to the credit of’the current account as the moiety of legacies received during-the year. The total expenditure was R30.482 10s. 3d. The-deficit at the end of 1912, £7745 9s. 4d., has been dis-charged, and there remains a balance in hand of JS132 8s. 7d.Attention was called to the urgent need of increasedaccommodation. Before the Insurance Act came in a waitinglist of 90 patients was regarded as large; now it was usualto have 180 to 200. It has been decided to open a wardwhich has been kept fallow for use in case of a seriousdisaster. The board reports with regret that no single sub-scription has been given to the hospital by the InsuranceCommittees or by Approved Societies under Clause 21, andonly ten contributions have been received from societiestowards the maintenance of in-patients who had no de-pendents. The total sum received has been £13 7s. lld.towards the cost of maintenance of about £77 for the-patients in question. The work of the X ray department.has increased greatly ; 3850 radiographs were taken in theyear and many more patients were ’’ screened," and 285 were:treated with 2808 applications by X rays and radium.

R. DOUGLAS LAURIE, M.B., Ch.B. Edin.