When the individual portions of such a work are entrusted to different hands, one is prepared to meet with considerable variety, not only in the manner, but also in the ability with which the subjects are treated. The chronic deep spreading inflammations, scleroderma, and elephantiasis, by Schwimmer, are models of accurate condensation, and the same may be said of ichthyosis and some other anomalies of the epidermis described by Lesser. Schwimmer includes, as many authors now do, morphoea under scleroderma. While admitting that the process may undergo retrogression if it has not reached its acme, he thinks this curative procedure rarely occurs spontaneously, but by the aid of the appropriate remedies which stimulate the process of absorption, and are capable of rendering the rigid skin flexible. Especially does he recommend the constant current. It is particularly in cases which have been recognised early that a favourable result may ensue. We cannot so favourably report on the article on Anomalies of the Epidermis contributed by Weyl, though some portions are much superior to others, and injury has been done by the excision of paragraphs in translating from the German. Thus, while the clinical features of psoriasis are well expressed, the treatment does not include those more recent, elegant, and effective methods which have come into use within the last few years. The illustration of the histology of psoriasis is a copy of one which appeared in this Journal in 1880. Lichen planus is imperfectly described; the acute form is not even alluded to, the verrucose only very cursorily, and not by name; and from the translation. one would not suppose that it was identical with lichen ruber. Lichen circinatus, by implication, includes lichen scrofulosorum. Pityriasis rubra and rosea are separately described, and a contagious form of acute pemphigus in children, which Weyl believes to be, in many cases, what is called impetigo contagiosa. The whole article conveys the impression that it is more a compilation than the outcome of well considered and mature observation; and if we are to judge from this, the teaching at Berlin must be very different from that in Vienna. From this we turn to the thoroughly masterly treatise on the chronic infectious diseases of the skin by Neisser. What are included under this term will be best understood from the statement "that those comprise a group of affections the origin and course of which are dependent upon organized infectious matters which reproduce themselves within the body." The idea of infections, therefore, does not here coincide with contagious diseases in general. Thus there are presented to us tuberculosis of the skin, including lupus vulgaris, leprosy, syphilis, mycosis fungoides, framboesia, glanders, actinomycosis, trachoma, rhinoscleroma. The interest of these centres round lupus and syphilis, but Neisser's studies of leprosy have given him a peculiar grasp of the whole class, and the essay must be regarded as one of the most interesting, as it is one of the

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most profound, in the volume. Whether we agree with him as to a proved or implied bacterial origin of these diseases or not, there can be no question that many obscure points are here presented in a clearer light. This is particularly the case with regard to syphilis, but much the same may be said with respect to tuberculosis. The treatment which is preferred in lupus is that by mild caustics, as pyrogallic acid, and antiseptics, as iodoform, in preference to the methods by erosion and scarification. In this direction the influence of the doctrines of Besnier is perceptible.

An excellent résumé of our knowledge of the neuroses of the skin is contributed by Schwimmer. The only cutaneous neurosis described by Hebra-Kaposi was pruritus, though it was indicated that the class might be largely augmented. This has taken place, and in addition erythema multiforme, and nodosum, still-we think erroneously-separated, urticaria, prurigo, herpes, and malum perforans pedis, with some others, are so classified. The only practical note we would make is, that Schwimmer has found much benefit in chronic urticaria from a nightly pill of 1-150th grain of atropia, when other remedies have failed. Michelson gives a very complete account of the anomalies in the growth and colour of the hair. Among other remedies he recommends chloride of sodium as a local application in alopecia, associated with pityriasis. This will comfort those visitors to the seaside who find their loss of hair temporarily increased. He accepts as fully proved the occurrence of sudden blanching of the hair, though unable to explain it.

Lesser, under Anomalies in the Colour of the Skin, fully describes those peculiar reddish-blue macules to which attention has of late been directed, as occurring in connexion with the pediculus pubis, and which, though caused by the parasite, are produced only in certain individuals. The pigmentary syphilide he shows to be really a leucoderma. The original pathological element is the occurrence of the whitish spots, while the increased pigmentation is secondary and comparable to the effects of chrysarobin in psoriasis. In acne rosacea and sycosis, which are among the diseases assigned to E. and T. Veiel, a 2 per cent. alcoholic solution of pyrogallic acid is recommended as a very successful mode of treatment in special cases. The affections of the nails receive full justice from Geber, though we think the value of the article would have been enhanced by some reference to the observations of Hutchinson. Racial peculiarities are specially manifested in parasitic diseases, though habits and environment exert an influence on their localization and nature; hence the articles by Weyl and Geber on these are coloured by those circumstances. Thus it is strange to read of pityriasis versicolor being of almost daily occurrence in the inguinal region, and of the extreme rarity of tinea tonsurans of the hairy scalp in Germany. This portion, therefore, loses some of its value for us, but, apart from these distinctive features, will be found full and exhaustive.

The volume is brought to a close with an account or description of the new formations in the skin, by Schwimmer, Babes, and Geber, whose names are a sufficient guarantee for the manner in which these are treated. A connexion of a causal nature between affections of the liver and xanthoma is rejected, after a careful analysis of the cases. Molluscum contagiosum is described under the name of epithelioma molluscum, its origin in the rete, and not from the sebaceous glands, being accepted. This curious disease seems fated to have names attached to it liable to occasion confusion.

The press corrections in the volume are by no means so perfect as they should be; and here and there the translation might have been better worded, though in only one or two passages have we found that the original was misconstrued. As only subscribers to the entire Cyclopædia can obtain this, it is thus beyond the reach of many members of the profession; and we can only hope that the liberal publishers may devise some means whereby a work on skin diseases, which will not be superseded during the next decade, might be to be had separately.

Atlas of Venereal Diseases. By P. H. MACLAREN, M.D., F.R.C.S.E. Edinburgh: Young J. Pentland.

WE have received the two first fasciculi of this Atlas, and are well pleased with it. The plates of cases of cario-necrosis and ulcerating gummata are especially good. The letterpress description of the plates is clear, condensed, and accurate.

A Complete Pronouncing Medical Dictionary: embracing the Terminology of Medicine and the Kindred Sciences, with their Signification, Etymology, and Pronunciation. With an Appendix comprising an Explanation of the Latin Terms and Phrases occurring in Medicine, Anatomy, Pharmacy, etc.; together with the Necessary Directions for Writing Latin Prescriptions, etc. By JOSEPH THOMAS, M.D., LL.D. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company: 1886.

THE above title is a comprehensive one, and in some respects is fully borne out by the character of the volume. So far as it goes, the book is a monument of patient industry, careful research, and praiseworthy accuracy, while a laudable attempt is made to grapple with the difficulties which beset the pronunciation of scientific terms derived from the Latin, and reduce them to laws of rule and order. The book is a portly octavo of 844 doublecolumned pages; and had the author not been sorely handicapped

by the conditions attending the practice of medicine in America, space might have been available for much which is deficient, and which would have rendered the work more valuable as a book of reference on this side of the Atlantic.

In his preface the author tells us that "in the United States a classical education is not made an indispensable condition for conferring a medical degree;" and "the fact that multitudes of our young men commence the study of medicine without any previous acquaintance with Latin or Greek renders it important that the elementary works intended for the use of students should be adapted to meet this exigency." Herein lies the kernel of most of the shortcomings of this otherwise excellent volume. A goodly portion of it is appropriated to the explanation and elucidation of elementary matters; and when the author, in a valuable appendix, is compelled to expiscate the simplest rules of Latin Grammar, and explain the A B C of pharmacy in a manner suited to the comprehension of the veriest tyro in the science, the value of the Dictionary as a work of reference is curtailed, and its comprehensiveness is necessarily circumscribed. We are not in favour of esotery in connexion with any science, far less in that of medicine. Attempts to invest it with the veil of secrecy are apt to degenerate into charlatanism; but we are not disposed to throw the portals of our science open to a lower qualification, or render the "open sesame" easier of accomplishment than what is implied by the preliminary examinations requisite on the part of those who would cross the threshold of our Esculapian fanes. Medicine, with its cognate sciences, like the unexorcised demon of Eastern fable, is steadily growing into colossal dimensions, and demands a proportionate service from its votaries; and no attempt short of an honest endeavour to fulfil the terms of servitude will meet with countenance or favour.

One marked feature of the work is the inequality of its articles, so far as their relative importance is concerned. When we find the article "Pathogenesis" occupying a space equal to 32 pages of an ordinary octavo volume, one might suppose the intention had been to form a collection of medical treatises; and when we examine the space devoted to Spirits, Syrups, Pills, Tinctures, and Unguents, the work might be taken for a handbook of Materia Medica. Elementary though the work be, it is not lack of space which excludes the notice of such diseases as Aleppo Button, Ainhum, and Chloroma; and while, for example, the unimportant articles "Abstract," "General," and "Park," have upwards of 30 lines devoted to their elucidation, we search in vain for Basilyst, Colpitis, or Sponge-grafting. While, generally speaking, the Dictionary is abreast of the later additions to the American Pharmacopoeia, there are omissions which detract from the value of the work. Not only genera, but also all the species of plants which are officinal, should have a place in a work of this kind. A

reference to "Ailanthus" will illustrate this, while the Ajuga are altogether awanting. The omissions referred to by no means exhaust the catalogue: they form but a few taken at random. Newer discoveries, such as Antipyrin, Kairin, etc., are not to be expected; but indeed no dictionary of the future will be in any sense complete without embracing the newest discoveries in medicine and therapeutics. We trust another edition of the work under review will witness a rectification of these blemishes. In other respects the book is well got up, and is a splendid specimen of typographical skill and correctness.

Morality: An Essay on some Points thereof (addressed to Young Men). By MAURICE CHARLES HIME, M.A., LL.D., Head Master of Royal College, Londonderry. Eighth Edition, revised and enlarged, pp. 175. London: J. & A. Churchill.

It may be truly said that one of the chief features of modern medicine is the rise and progress of that branch of it which deals with prevention. "Prevention is better than cure" is being looked upon not as a common-place proverb, but as a guiding principle in medical science. This is specially true of all that concerns the relations of micro-organisms to disease, and of what may be classed under the head of Hygiene; but another and no less important section is for various reasons still beyond the professional pale. Few classes of diseases involve such varied and extensive suffering as those included under the title of Venereal Diseases, and yet the fountain source of them all the due control of the sexual instinct has not yet been deemed especially worthy of professional care. We have keen enough discussions on the merits of certain restrictive regulations. Could we but go a step further back, we would strike more surely at the root of the evil, and render such discussions unnecessary. The above essay by Mr Hime comes in to guard the portal of health against the great class of diseases we have indicated, and many others besides of a less definite character. We therefore gladly welcome it from a professional point of view no less than for its general moral excellence.

The book is written in excellent taste, although the subject is fairly and openly treated. The seductive fallacies which mislead so many are reviewed and exposed, and the aids to a successful fight on virtue's side are clearly and ably discussed. Frequent quotations from the best English authors are used to back up the arguments of the text. Altogether we can heartily recommend this book. If placed in the hands of young men about to enter on their life of personal responsibility, it is calculated to be of the greatest service.