1192 REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS.

from severe cramps, pain, sickness, and copious evacuationsof rice-water stools (shown). Temperature in axilla 95 7°; ;pulse 108. Ordered immediate removal to hospital andinjected half a grain of morphia hypodermically. This manmade an uninterrupted recovery and was discharged curedon the 25th. Dr. Sims Woodhead confirmed the diagnosisin his bacteriological report and stated that in this casethere was no evidence of a diminution in virulence of theorganism, as the animals experimented upon reacted to thevirus in the same way as they did to material derived fromacute Asiatic cholera.-Dr. ROBINSON, in discussing the valueof preventive measures, laid particular stress upon efficient drainage, removal of waste material, and good water-supply.

Reviews and Notices of Books. A Guide to the Examination of the Urine. By J. WICKHAM

LEGG, F.R.C.P. Lond. &c. Seventh Edition, Edited andRevised by H. LEWIS JONES, M.A., M.D. London: H. K.Lewis. 1893.

THIS little work does not need any commendation from us,the fact of a seventh edition being called for showing in thebest of all ways its appreciation by the profession. It seems

a model of what such a work should be-concise yet compre-hensive, lucidly written, and well arranged. We are glad to seethat the amhor gives a very necessary caution regarding thehypobromite methods of estimating the amount of urea in theurine. He says "the hypobromite methods give fair resultsfor clinical purposes, but they are not to be regarded as morethan rough approximations." We have found these methods

very disappointir.g and uncertain. The writer stronglyrecommends in preference Liebig’s method, in which the

reagents employed are mercuric nitrate. baryta, andcarbonate of soda. We are disposed to demur some-

what to the author’s remarks on the clinical import ofeasts. The statement that "the presence of casts in

the urine is a sure sign of disease of the kidney, but not,however, necessarily of permanent disease of the kidney,"seems to us rather too dogmatic. We must remember thatCbarcot taught that hyaline casts might occur as a normalconstituent of the urine, and that epithelial casts mightfollow the administration of diuretics, apart from actual

kidney disease. We are also somewhat surprised to find

that in discussing the clinical import of albuminuria theauthor makes no allusion to the controversy which hnsexcited so much attention in recent years-viz., the so-called" functional" or ’’ physiological ’’ albuminuria. The whole

subject of albuminuria is, indeed, dismissed too briefly, andmight with advantage be developed more in proportion to itsgreat importance. Again, the statement that "should the

presence of sugar in the urine be variable and the amountsmall the fact is not of fny known great diagnostic or

therapeutic importance " is too bald. Some hint should be

given regarding the influence of age in these cases, and the

distinction which can be drawn, clinically at least, betweenthe glycosuria of middle life and diabetes florida.

Brown’s South Africa. A Practical and Complete Guide forthe use of Tourists, Sportsmen, Invalids, and Settlers.London : Sampson Low, Marston and Co. Cape Town :J. C. Juta Co. 1893.

THIS is a comprehensive, well-arranged, and accurate hand-book, which we can recommend. It is not specially designedfor invalids, and the information regarding climate and

health resorts forms only a small portion of its contents. The

ordinary tourist will, however, find it well adapted to his needs. As the author says in his preface, "in spite of thefact that South Africa forms the terminus of the pleasantestof voyages, the tourist has so far been rarer than the attrac-

tions of the country warrant, and has either confined hisexplorations to the sea-coast or, in wandering inland, has prac-tically ventured upon what is to him more or less a terra incog- nita. " The neglect of South Africa by the ordinary tourist isintelligible enough, inasmuch as until within quite a recentdate the accommodation for travellers was extremely bad.A great change is, however, taking place in this matter;several great trunk lines of railway pierce inland to theutmost limits of civilised life, and the hotel accommoda-tion, though still defective, is rapidly improving.The topography of South Africa is peculiar and character-

istic. The country has been compared to the half of aninverted saucer, but, as the author remarks, it ratherresembles an irregular flight of four steps. The first stepleads from the coast to the coast plateau, with an elevationof about 500 or 600 feet, the second leads to the SouthernKarroo (elevation, 1200 ft.), the third to the Central Karroo(elevation, 2500 ft.), and the fourth to the Northern Karroo(elevation 4000 ft.). Excluding the coast belt, the greaterpart of South Africa consists of uplands, characterised by awarm and dry climate, a high range of summer heat, amoderate range of winter cold, considerable fluctuations oftemperature within the twenty-four hours, and a very highaverage of bright, bracing, rainless weather. One broad ruleof the meteorology of South Africa is that, if we take the23rd meridian of longitude, which divides the countrynot very unequally into an eastern and a western half,the rainy season in the eastern half is the summer,while in the western half it is the winter. The greatestrainfall in South Africa is on Table Mountain, where theannual precipitation amounts to from 54 to 78 inches perannum. The average of the Cape peninsula proper is 40inches, the Port Elizabeth rainfall is 21 inches, while on

the Great or Central Karroo it averages about 18 inchesin the eastern parts and only 10 inches in the western. As

regards the climate of the Northern Karroo, it would

seem that there is no marked division of the year intospring, summer, autumn, and winter-rather may it bedescribed as a long summer and a short winter. The summer

begins rather suddenly about the month of September,increases in temperature until January, and then decreasesuntil the end of April; while the winter may be said tocontinue from the end of April till the month of September.The climate of the Northern Karroo is extremely dry, someparts in the west averaging as little as 2 inches of rain inthe year, the average for the whole district being 10 inches.We are disposed to rate South Africa highly as a health

resort, especially for scrofula, anæmia, rheumatism, and pul-monary diseases ; bnt care should be taken in the choice ofa locality, and the probable nature of the accommodationshould always be carefully inquired into. Some of the morenoted localities for invalids are Beaufort West, Graaf Reinet,Cradock, Tarkastad, and Aliwal North. South Africa is

not suitable for very delicate patients, nor for those in veryadvanced stages of disease, but for the vigorous patient witha considerable reserve of physical strength, good animalspirits, and the capacity of bearing fatigue and discomfort,it offers very great advantages. Pulmonary cases should, asa general rule, avoid the coast region.

Illustrations of the Nerve Tracts in the Mid and Hind Brain and the Cranial Nerves arising therefrom. By ALEXANDERBRUCE, M.A., M.D., F.R:C.P.Ed., F. R.S. Ed., Lectureron Pathology in the School of Medicine, Assistant Phy-sician (formerly Pathologist) Edinburgh Royal Infirmary,&c. Edinburgh and London: Young J. Pentland. 1892.

Tnis is an excellent monograph on the anatomy of the midand hind brain, and really consists of two parts. The first

part contains a most careful description of the deep origins ofthe cranial nerves and of the tracts of the medulla, pons, and

1193NEW INVENTIONS.

crura, and is illustrated with twenty-seven diagrams showingthe relations of the deep fibres of the nerves to one another andthe connexions of the various tracts of fibres in these partsof the brain. It gives not only the views of the author, buthas also an excellent account of the literature bearing on thesubject, and is particularly valuable for its criticism of theviews expressed by modern observers on the anatomy of theparts described. This part of the work will be a great boonto pathologists and physicians, and even to the student

who is anxious to have an accurate knowledge of the latestresearches on this most difficult subject ; but the second

part is even more important and valuable. This contains

twenty-eight plates-some with two, three, or more figures-illustrating the anatomy of the region extending upwardsfrom the cervical region of the spinal cord to the anteriorcorpora quadrigemina, and each plate is accompanied bya clear and concise description. The plates, which arecoloured, represent sections of the brain of the human foetus,which, after staining by the hæmatoxylin method of Weigert,were placed in the camera lucida, the finer details being sub-sequently filled in from the microscope. The enlargementsvary from three to fourteen times, and the drawings haveevidently been most carefully and accurately executed. Thewhole work is a most valuable addition to the exact

anatomy of a very difficult region, and one of comman3ingimportance to the physician, anatomist, and physiologist,and it must have entailed an enormous amount of labour.The author and the publisher are both to be congratulated onthe manner in which this-one of the best pieces of work ofthe modern Edinburgh school of anatomy and pathology-hasbeen executed.

LIBRARY TABLE.

Aledical Bookkeeping. Compiled by ROBERT Smrsorr,L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S. Edin. Bristol : John Wright.—Oneof the familiar bugbears of a medical man’s life is the

necessity which compels him, as a rule, and however busilyoccupied in professional work, to act as his own bookkeeper.Usually he has but little spare time that he can depend uponto sit down to this auxiliary duty, hence arises the difficultyin attaining to either convenience or exactitude in the doingof it, and it is the combination of these desirable qualitieswhich confers a special attractiveness upon a modern andpopular simplification of the old method of extended entryin daybooks and ledgers. This timely reform is well exem-plified in the above-named pocket visiting-list. The work,though not unique of its kind, but a variation of others

already in circulation, is arranged with equal simplicity andjudgment. The visiting-list is contrived so as to act as a

ledger in relation to a journal, with memoranda which mightserve as an index of entries. There is also an engagementrecord for the use of consultants, and a convenient sectionset apart for nurses’ addresses, besides the usual allotmentfor obstetric notes &c. The principal advantage connectedwith this convenient pocket-book, and others of its class,is the facility with which the general practitioner can do hisown bookkeeping, unaided if necessary, and at any place ortime.

Elementary -Palvontology for Geological Students. ByHENRY WOODS, B.A., F.G.S. Cambridge : the UniversityPress.-This neatly arranged little book is designed to givean elementary account of the fossilised remains of animalsand plants, especially the remains of such of the invertebrataas are of particular interest to the geologist, although thevarious descriptions impart considerable zoological informa-tion by the way. There are many illustrations, which are alldiagrammatic and serve only to explain the conformationof the parts of the perfect animal or the reasons for its nomen-clature ; for (as the author rightly hints in the preface) thescience of palaeontology can only be practically learned by

such as have access to a collection of fossils, and to thempictures of the various genera would be a superfluousassistance. As an outline merely, this little manual is verycomplete, while a list of more important and comprehensiveworks on the subject is appended for the convenience of thosewho are anxious to undertake a deeper study.

New Inventions.AN IMPROVEMENT IN CYCLE SEATS.

MUCH has been written on the subject of the "cyclist’sstoop, " and many are the suggestions which have been setforth for remedying the evil. This, however, is not the only illwhich the injudicious cyclist may be heir to. There is more

danger from perineal pressure than is generally admitted.Such pressure is not immediately felt by the majority ofriders, but there are a large minority who are inconveniencedby it, and a few of that minority who suffer severely.Instances are not wanting in which physicians and surgeonshave been obliged to forbid bicycle riding altogether in con-sequence of this pressure on the perineum. Any plan,therefore, which, without interfering with the comfortof riders, serves to obviate inconvenience and dangerseems to be well worthy of consideration from every

point of view. A series of bicycle saddles which claim

to possess this quality has been submitted to us for

experiment. They have been put fairly through severe testsand have stood them in the most satisfactory manner.Attempts have been made from time to time to mitigate thisevil by having, as in the case of the "hammock saddle," aslit in the centre of the seat, leaving, however, the fore partsolid and of a convex form, which, when in use, wedges itselfinto the perineum. In the 11 Pattison saddle" this slit iscarried right forward in the manner shown in the illustra-tion, pressure upon it causes the front of the seat to assumea concave form, and this part is never forced up towards theperineum. There are many other points of excellence whichmight be mentioned in connexion with this bicycle seat ; butit is obvious that as far as doing away with pressure on theperineum is concerned the seat is correct in principle andhas been constructed in such a manner as to merit highcommendation. The saddle is the invention of CaptainPattison, of Hereford Mansions, Bayswater.

MIDLAND MEDICAL SOCIETY. - The inauguralmeeting of this Society, which was well attended, took placeon the 2nd inst. at the Medical Institute, Birmingham. Mr.Evans, the President, occupied the chair. At the conver-sazione a number of new medical and surgical instrumentsand appliances were exhibited, as also a new method of

photomicroscopy. After the conversazione the Presidentintroduced Dr. C. J. Cullingworth, who delivered an addresson "Pelvic Abscess " (which was published in THE LANCETlast week), on the conclusion of which a hearty vote of thankswas accorded to him.

u3 3