leading drugs, their incompatibilities and synergists, a comprehensive account of poisons, including combative methods, and a treatise on prescription writing. The volume is well illustrated, and has many points which should continue to win for it popular favor.

A Textbook of Histology, Including Microscopic Technic. By A. A. Böhm, M.D., and M. Von Davidoff, M.D., of the Anatomical Institute in Munich. Edited, with extensive additions to both text and illustrations, by G. Carl Huber, M.D., Junior Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Histology Laboratory, University of Michigan. Authorized translation from the second revised German edition, by Herbert H. Cushing, M.D., Demonstrator of Histology and Embryology, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. With 251 illustrations. Price, $3.50, net. W. B. Saunders & Co., Philadelphia and London.

With so many good works on histology already published, it would seem that there would not be room for further contributions to the textbook literature of this subject, but the authors of this work have no apology to make for the publication of a book so well prepared as is this.

The translation of this work has been made from the second revised German edition, and in this American edition the editor has retained substantially all the subject matter and illustrations of the second German edition. Additions to the German text have also been freely made. Some of the sections have been greatly expanded, and more than one hundred illustrations, the majority of them from original drawings, have been added.

The technique of the study of histology is clearly and fully set forth in this work, and its various sections have been so comprehensively considered that it is one of the most complete books of its kind of which we have knowledge. The illustrations, which are an indispensable feature to a work of this kind, are of superior quality and abundantly supplied. The volume closes with a carefully arranged reference list to the literature referred to in the text.

International Clinics. A Quarterly of Clinical Lectures and especially prepared Articles on Medicine, Neurology, Surgery, Therapeutics, Obstetrics, Pediatrics, Pathology, Dermatology, Diseases of the Eye, Ear Nose and Throat, and Other Topics of Interest to Students and Practitioners. By Leading Members of the Medical Profession Throughout the World. Edited by Henry W. Chattell, A.M., M.D., Philadelphia, Pa., U. S. A., with the collaboration of John B. Murphy, M.D., of Chicago; H. C. Wood, M.D., of Philadelphia; Thomas G. Morton, M.D., and Charles H. Reed, M.D., of Philadelphia; Alexander D. Blackader, M.D., of Montreal; T. M. Rotch, M.D., of Boston; E. Landolt, M.D., of Paris, with regular correspondents in Montreal, London, Paris, Leipsic and Vienna. Volume III, tenth series, 1900. J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia.

One of the chief reasons for the great popularity of "International Clinics" is, as its name implies, the direct method that it has of imparting its information. We are, through this work, brought in almost direct relationship with the leading teachers of medicine in this country and Europe, and the reader feels as though he were being coached at the bedside.

This volume (Vol. III, tenth series) contains twenty-nine able articles on a variety of everyday subjects. The symposium on genito-urinary diseases is especially deserving of commendation. The illustrations, as usual, form a not to be overlooked feature of this volume.

The Care of the Consumptive. A Consideration of the Scientific Use of Natural Therapeutic Agencies in the Prevention and Cure of Consumption, together with a Chapter on Colorado as a Resort for Invalids. By Charles Fox Gardiner, M.D., Nonresident Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, Member of the American Climatological Association. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London.

That consumption can be prevented is now an accepted fact, and that many cases of this disease are amenable to treatment and cure is also established beyond peradventure, but in order to attain such ends it is necessary to have the co-operation of the patient. To obtain this it is requisite that they should be schooled in the requirements of their case, and this can best be obtained through the medium of carefully prepared literature. Dr. Gardiner has written a little work that should prove useful not only to physicians but likewise to patients, for its language is clear and quite to the point.

Disinfection and Disinfectants. A Treatise upon the best known Disinfectants, their use in the Destruction of Disease Germs, with Special Instructions for their Application in the Commonly Recognized Infectious and Contagious Diseases. By H. M. Bracken, M.D., Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, University of Minnesota; Secretary and Executive Officer Minnesota State Board of Health. Published by The Trade Periodical Company, Chicago, Ill.

The proper use of disinfection and disinfectants is a matter that is not as thoroughly understood as it should be. The attention that is given to this subject is usually of a superficial nature, but in order to secure results thoroughness is essential.

The author of this little book has given in detail modern methods of disinfection, with especial reference to the use of formaldehyde gas for this purpose.

A Compend of Diseases of the Skin. By Jay F. Schamberg, A.B., M.D., Professor of Diseases of the Skin, Philadelphia Polyclinic and College for Graduates in Medicine; Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Second edition, revised and enlarged. With 105 illustrations. Price, 80c. P. Blakiston's Son & Co., 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia.

While this little work comes in a compend series, it possesses some characteristics which would contribute to place it among commendable textbooks on the subject of diseases of the skin. Concise though its language be, it is a very thorough exposition of its subject. Considerable space is accorded to treatment, and it abounds in excellent illustrations.

A Familiar Calendar.

The 1901 edition of the Columbia desk calendar is being distributed by the American Bicycle Co., Columbia sales department, Hartford, Conn. It will be sent to any address upon receipt of five 2-cent stamps. This unique and useful compilation has been issued annually for the last sixteen years and it has come to be regarded as an indispensable article in many business offices and homes.

The Medical News Visiting List for 1901. Weekly (dated, for 30 patients); Monthly (undated, for 120 patients per month); Perpetual (undated, for 30 patients weekly per year); and Perpetual (undated, for 60 patients weekly per year). The first three styles contain 32 pages of data and 160 pages of blanks. The 60-patient Perpetual consists of 256 pages of blanks. Each style in one wallet-shaped book, with pocket, pencil and rubber. Seal grain leather, $1.25; thumb-letter index, 25c extra. Lea Brothers & Co., Philadelphia and New York.

It is useless to make further mention of this well-known visiting list than merely to announce its publication. It has been before the medical profession for a number of years, and has been thoroughly tried and found wanting in no respect whatsoever.

Physician's Visiting List for 1901. P. Blakiston's Son & Company, 112 Walnut St., Philadelphia.

For fifty years this excellent visiting list has been published, and judging from the present aspect as to its popularity, it is destined to an unlimited future of usefulness. Each year improvements are made in this visiting list, and the test of time and experience has shown that it has no superior in the market.

The Treatment of Fractures. By W. L. Estes, A. M., M.D., Director and Physician and Surgeon-in-Chief of St. Luke's Hospital, South Bethlehem, Pa. With numerous original illustrations. New York: International Journal of Surgery Co. 1900. Price, $2.00.

The series of articles presented under this heading was contributed to the International Journal of Surgery during the past few months. They are of a practical nature, and will contribute no little to the acquainting of practitioners with a knowledge of the methods involved in obtaining results in the treatment of fractures that are always desired but frequently are wanting. Dr. Estes has had an extensive experience in the field that he now discusses, and the result of his observations has been concisely stated in a work that should find much favor among general practitioners.

Pro

A Manual of Hygiene and Sanitation. By Seneca Egbert, A.M, M.D., fessor of Hygiene in the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia. New (2d) and revised edition. In one handsome 12mo. volume of 427 pages with 77 engravings. Cloth, $2.25, net. Lea Brothers & Co., publishers, Philadelphia and New York.

We live in an age essentially of hygiene and sanitation, and methods of prophylaxis receive just as much, and perhaps more attention than do those of treating disease. It is but natural then that the evolution of this subject should occasion the production of much literature pertaining thereto.

Of works on hygiene and sanitation, none is better known than Dr. Egbert's. This book is modern in every detail, and presents the accepted principles of the prevention of disease by sanitation. It is of a very pertinent subject that this subject treats, and we can commend its perusal by every practitioner and student of medicine.

Practical Diagnosis. The Use of Symptoms in the Diagnosis of Disease. By Hobart Amory Hare, M.D., B.Sc., Professor of Therapeutics and Materia Medica in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. Fourth edition, enlarged and thoroughly revised. In one octavo volume of 623 pages, with 205 engravings and 14 full-page colored plates. Cloth, $5.00, net. Lea Brothers & Co., Philadelphia and New York.

Diagnostic science has gained so much in the last few years, as the result of the close attention given to this subject and methods of precision which obtain in its practice, that it has resulted in the production of a number of scientific treatises devoted thereto. Among these numerous works, Hare's Practical Diagnosis has won a prominent position, as is evidenced in the fact that it has already gone to its fourth edition. From a clinical standpoint the book at once appeals to the physician, for symptoms are treated of first and foremost in arriving at a diagnosis.

By combining the author's work on Practical Therepeutics with the one on Practical Diagnosis, we have a complete and up-to-date work on the practice of medicine.

Progressive Medicine. A Quarterly Digest of Advances, Discoveries and Improvements in the Medical and Surgical Sciences. Edited by Hobart Amory Hare, M.D., Professor of Therapeutics and Materia Medica in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. Vol. IV, 1900. Octavo, handsomely bound in cloth, 428 pages, 69 illustrations. Per annum, in four cloth-bound volumes, $10.00. Lea Brothers & Co., Philadelphia and New York.

The excellent characteristics of the previous volumes of this valuable work are preserved in the volume before us. The articles therein contained are all of scientific and yet at the same time practical worth.

Prominent among the many interesting articles to be found in this volume is one by Einhorn which deals with the diseases of the stomach and allied organs, another discussing the fractures about the elbow joint, tuberculosis of the bone and joints and coxa vera, by Bloodgood. The therapeutic referendum has been increased in size and scope, and therefore in value. Other important articles are those on genito-urinary diseases by Belfield, diseases of the kidney by Bradford, physiology by Brubaker, and hygiene by Baker.

DOCTOR, MAY WE EXPECT YOU?

We have a brilliant array of new goods. We wish you to see them. Not now nor when you come will we ask you to buy. You will enjoy seeing; we'll enjoy showing.

BRODNAX, The Doctors' Jeweler,

Peabody Hotel Building, Memphis.

Clinical Professor of Proctology, Medical Department Vanderbilt University; President of the Nashville Academy of Medicine; Fellow of the American Proctologic Society, of the Tennessee State Medical Society, etc.

IN ORDER that we may have our subject properly before us, preliminary definition of the term obstipation is essential. Obstipation is that form of constipation due to mechanical obstruction. Constipation is the generic term embracing all forms of fecal retention which may be regarded pathologic. Obstipation is merely one of these varieties. Yet, while thus limited, it is a somewhat comprehensive term in that the condition it represents may be produced in a number of ways. Thus, the mechanical obstruction which gives rise to the obstipation may be either extra-rectal or intra-rectal; pelvic neoplasms, the pregnant uterus, etc., are familiar examples of the former. To the consideration of the intra-rectal variety this paper is addressed.

In the discussion of intra-rectal obstipation we shall ignore that form which may be said to be due to accidental causes, e. g., fecal impaction and the presence of foreign bodies in the rectum. Thus, further limited, our subject has reference only to organic obstruction due to pathogenic conditions in the gut itself.

* Read before West Tenn. Med. & Surg. Assn., Martin, Dec. 7, 1900. VOL. XXI-5

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