The therapeutical portion of the work might perhaps have been somewhat extended with advantage, but the writer's remarks are judicious, and to the purpose. Of the tincture of sesquichloride of iron, extolled of late in the treatment of erysipelas, Mr. Bird says that his experience "is not at all in its favour, when compared with alcoholic stimulants, to which it may, in some cases, be a useful adjunct." He adds: "It is especially indicated in albuminuria coincident with, or consequent on, general erysipelas, of which I have met with three cases." (p. 14.)

On the whole, we can recommend Mr. Bird's work, diminutive as it is in bulk, as affording the greatest amount of accurate information on the subject of erysipelas that has ever been brought together in one view; and the very limited compass within which this laborious task has been accomplished, should be considered, in such a book-making age as the present, as enhancing the merit of the writer.

ART. IV. The Treatment of Obstinate Ulcers and Cutaneous Eruptions on the Leg without confinement. By HENRY T. CHAPMAN, F.R.C.S. Third Edition.-London, 1859. pp. 161.

THE fact of this little work having reached a third edition is sufficient evidence that it has supplied a want felt by the profession. The objects of the treatise are thus stated by the author:

"Firstly, to place in as strong a light as possible the greater efficiency and expediency of the treatment by bandaging; secondly, by the suggestion of a substitute for Baynton's strapping, exempt from its inconveniences, the extension of the principle of support to cases in which it had hitherto been considered as totally inadmissible; and thirdly, the advocacy of aqueous dressings, that is to say, watery solutions and preparations, in preference to topical applications of an unctuous kind." (p. 1.)

The following is Mr. Chapman's description of the peculiar method which he recommends for general use:

"Construction of the Bandage.-The sore being dressed with a piece of lint or soft linen, cut to its shape and dimensions, and dipped in cold water, or in one of the lotions just specified, the limb is to be strapped with wet bands of linen or calico, precisely in the same manner as Messrs. Baynton and Scott applied adhesive plaster."

The method of applying the bandage is then more particularly described:

"That part of the bandage over the ulcer should be moistened from time to time with cold water containing glycerine, or with Goulard's lotion. . . . . No one who has not tried this mode of bandaging can form an estimate of the powers of adhesion possessed by the wet strapping, or the amount of equable support it is capable of affording." (pp. 80, 81, 83.)

We cordially commend Mr. Chapman's little book to the attention of surgeons of dispensaries and hospitals, being satisfied that the easy and apparently efficient plan of treatment which he recommends will be found well worthy of a more extended trial than it has yet received.

Several other ingenious suggestions for the amended treatment of ulcers and eruptions on the legs will be found in it, which our space will not allow of our noticing more particularly.

ART. V.-Phthisis and the Stethoscope, or the Physical Signs of Consumption. By RICHARD PAYNE COTTON, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Physician to the Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest, Brompton. Second Edition.-London, 1859. pp. 80.

We have pleasure in again recommending this practical little volume to young stethoscopists. It contains all that is essential for the physical diagnosis of pulmonary consumption, while its statements are clear and to the point. When a third edition appears, we would suggest the addition of a ninth chapter, devoted to the physical symptoms, indicating the arrest and involution-not to say the cure-of tuberculosis; a point equally interesting to the patient and to his medical adviser.

ART. VI. Die Elephantiasis oder Lepra Arabica. Von CARL FR. HECKER, Professor der Chirurgie und Augenheilkunde, und Director der Chirurgisch-Ophthalmologischen Klinik an der Universität Freiburg im Breisgau. Mit fünf lithographirten Tafeln. -Lahr, 1858.

Elephantiasis or Lepra Arabica.

By CARL HECKER, Professor of Surgery, &c., in the University of Freiburg. With Five lithographed Plates. Fol. pp. 15.

THIS monograph is, by virtue of its excellent illustrations, large type, and river of margin, what the Germans would term a Prachtausgabe. It owes its production to the rare occurrence of an indigenous case of German elephantiasis, which came under the author's treatment, and proving fatal, enabled him to make an accurate inquiry into the morbid anatomy of the disease. The patient was a young woman, aged thirty-two, a native of the Black Forest, who was admitted into one of the surgical wards of the Freiburg Hospital on the 15th Jan., 1852, on account of an enormous tumour occupying her back, besides which there were sixty smaller tumours scattered over the body, not gene. rally exceeding the size of a cherry. The tumour existed in early childhood, but it was only during the last six to eight years that the great increase had been observed in the largest one. This extended from the seventh cervical vertebra downwards, occupying the whole back, covering the nates, and being attached by a peduncle, which was sixteen inches broad and extended from the last cervical to the first lumbar vertebra. The grandfather, the father, and the child of the patient were affected with similar but smaller tumours.

It is unnecessary for us to go into the argument, in favour of or against the operation. It was urgently desired by the patient, and the surgeons of the hospital thought it called for. An attempt at

passing a ligature through the peduncle failed, owing to an artery being wounded; so simple amputation was had recourse to, which exposed a bleeding surface of two feet in circumference. A large number of gaping arteries and veins had to be tied, which was done with all expedition, still the patient lost a large quantity of blood; and though she rallied from the immediate effects of the operation, she sank in the evening of the same day.

The enlargement of the vessels, as seen on the surface of the wound and within the thoracic cavity, is admirably represented, the size of life; besides these views, there are microscopic representations of the intimate structure and drawings of a few cases observed by other authors. The work contains nothing that is novel, but it will be acceptable to those who wish to have the most recent pathological investigation of the parts involved in the disease, together with illustrations that, besides having considerable artistic merit, possess the best quality that can characterize a scientific work-truthfulness.

ART. VII.-Annales de la Société Anatomo-Pathologique de Bruxelles. Bulletin Nos. 1 and 2.-Bruxelles, 1859.

Annals of the Pathological Society of Brussels. Nos. 1 and 2.

UNDER the presidency of the well-known morbid anatomist, Professor Gluge, a Pathological Society was formed in Brussels in 1857, destined to promote the study of pathological anatomy by an examination of specimens exhibited by the members, and by the formation of collections. The Society meets weekly, under the auspices of the University of Brussels; and it has been endowed with special privileges with regard to the pathological specimens that may occur in the different hospitals of the town. The reports are published in the form of pamphlets, as often as sufficient material has accumulated. In the two that are before us we meet with some interesting cases, accompanied in part by scientific disquisitions, which show that the writers are fully alive to the progress of science in other countries besides their own. We notice especially a carefully detailed instance of rupture of the chordæ tendineæ of the mitral valve in a young woman, aged twentyfive, occurring under excitement, and resulting from old endocardial inflammation and degeneration of the tendons, by M. Allix; an article on acute fatty degeneration of the liver, by the Secretary of the Society, M. Marcq; and another, by M. Roger, on malformations of the pelvis.

We should add that the Bulletins' are illustrated; nor may we deny ourselves the pleasure of offering to this young Society our cordial good wishes that it may prosper and extend its researches, to the benefit of science and humanity. Considering the constant, the daily intercourse between this country and Belgium, we would also express a hope that a definite relation and active interchange of good offices may be soon established between the Pathological Society of London and the one which we now have introduced to the notice of our readers.

ART. VIII.-The Climate of Brighton. By WILLIAM KEBBELL, M.D., Physician to the County Hospital.-London, 1859. pp. 187. THE days are fast disappearing in the mist of antiquity when to sit behind four spanking bays was one of the great delights of life, and when even baronets did not think it beneath their dignity to handle the ribands and to ask for the coachman's fee. The stage-coach still exists in certain districts into which a traveller but rarely penetrates, as we can testify from recent experience; but the celebrated whips and teams of old have disappeared from the Brighton road, and the only choice now is between an express or a slow train. We will not enter upon the inquiry as to the relative gain and loss accruing from the victory obtained by steam over horseflesh, but one thing is certain, that if Brighton has been brought nearer to London by the enormously increased facility of communication, this change has not been accompanied by a corresponding improvement in the sanitary condition of Brighton itself.

The gradual extension of the town, and the great increase of permanent residents, together with the means of rapid transit, make it appear, as indeed it is, a suburb of London. The health-giving seabreezes that tempt the weary Londoner to Brighton, or that induce him to send his family there during the autumn, remain the same as ever, but the necessary evils accompanying the growth of the population have not been met in that spirit of advancement which belongs to the present age of sanitary measures. Much as Nature has done for Brighton in respect of soil, of elevation, of air, of sea, competitors for public favour will start up and distance it, unless the authorities recognise the claims which may be duly made upon them, for securing a uniform and complete system of sewerage. Let them follow the excellent example set them by their neighbour, Worthing, which, after a lingering and sickly existence of many years, has started up with new vigour; and having called in a Hercules to cleanse its Augean stable, now offers to the phthisical, and strumous, and cachectic individual a place of recovery and of solace that may soon rival Ventnor and Bournemouth in one sense, as it has already eclipsed Brighton in another.

Dr. Kebbell, in the useful little book before us, admits the defects of Brighton candidly; but of course he dwells chiefly, and justly so, on the grounds that have given to the locality so high a place in public estimation; he shows us the natural advantages which it possesses, and proves them by statistics, as far as statistics can serve that purpose. The book is divided into three parts or chapters. The first treats of the circumstances determining and affecting climate generally; and after a brief summary of the climates of Great Britain, conducts the reader to the second chapter, in which the climates of Brighton in the four seasons are successively treated of. The third part is devoted chiefly to the consideration of the morbid conditions in which the Brighton climate is found beneficial. It contains much that will prove useful to the practitioner, and gives, on the whole, a correct picture of the sanatory and sanitary aspects of Brighton. London physicians would probably ask for more detailed

information as to the different localities of Brighton, for there is probably no town of the same area which presents so many variations of climate, each possessing well-marked characters and influences. Local partialities and jealousies may perhaps interfere with the complete execution of this part of the undertaking. Still, as the book will doubtless reach a second edition, we would suggest the propriety of extending this part of the work; nor can we admit that the range of legitimate subjects is exhausted while ozonometry is excluded. The author is evidently himself a careful meteorologist, and would find no difficulty in adding observations on this point to those already given, and by this means increase our means of judging of the properties of the Brighton atmosphere in different localities. When the second edition appears, the author will doubtless carefully revise the proofs, and see that the proper names are always correctly spelt; we make this remark, because Sir James Clark's name, which occurs more frequently than any other, and is quoted as an authority, is invariably misspelt.

We venture to offer these suggestions because we have perused the book with profit and satisfaction, and think so well of it that we wish to see its value still further increased. In its present form it fully deserves the careful attention of the English practitioner, for it is painstaking and truthful, and does not possess a greater bias than is perfectly excusable in a denizen of a place endowed with such restorative powers as we must fain accord to the breezes that play on the chalk cliffs of Brighthelmstone.

ART. IX.-Geschichte christlicher Krankenpflege und Pflegerschaften. Von Dr. HEINRICH HAESER, Professor zu Greifswald.-Berlin, 1857. pp. 126.

History of Institutions and Associations for the Care of the Sick during the Christian Era. By Dr. H. HAESER, Professor at Greifswald. On the occasion of the fourth centenary jubilee of the University of Greifswald, Professor Haeser wrote, as is customary in Germany on such occasions, the official programm, a sort of congratulatory thesis, in the name of the medical faculty. The orthodox language to be used at such times is Latin; but as the subject of Dr. Haeser's essay excited a wider interest, the author has re-issued it in a larger and more complete form in the German language. We cannot more briefly express our opinion of the character of the book than by saying that we would wish to see it again translated; it merits an English dress, not only because it treats of a subject now exciting a peculiar interest among our countrymen and country women, but because it is handled in a way worthy of the occasion and of the university from which it has issued. The history of any phase of human development is worthy of study; the tendencies displayed in the various branches of the healing art not less instructive when regarded in the historical point of view, than are the political struggles of mankind.

In the work before us Dr. Haeser, whom we introduced to our readers some time ago as the author of an important work on the