A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors.-Edited by WM. PEPPER, M.D., LL.D., Provost and Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine and Clinical Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania ; assisted by Lours STARR, M.D., Clinical Professor of Diseases of Children in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Vols. IV and V. Vols. IV and V. Philadelphia: Lea

Brothers & Co.

Vol. IV: Diseases of the Genito-Urinary and Cutaneous Systems; Medical Ophthalmology and Otology. The fourth volume, which forms an addition of 877 pages to this important standard work, contains many valuable articles. Those upon the affections of the kidney are contributed by Drs. Edes, Delafield and Tyson. The diseases of the female genital organs are treated of at considerable length, there being found amongst the contributors to this department the following well-known names: Drs. T. Gaillard Thomas, W. H. Byford, Wm. Goodell, Jenks, and Engelman. The diseases of the skin are treated of by Drs. Duhring and Stelwagon; medical ophthalmology by Dr. Morris, and medical otology by Dr. Strawbridge. The character of the articles is of a high grade, fully expressing the actual state of American teaching upon the various subjects. The volume maintains in every way the reputation gained by its predecessors, and with reference to it we can but repeat the strong expressions of very earnest admiration which we have already employed towards the earlier numbers of the series.

Vol. V.: The Diseases of the Nervous System.-That department which is, in many respects, of all the most interesting -the nervous system -occupies the whole of the fifth and last volume. It occupies no less than 1326 pages, wherein the various portions of the nervous system are carefully divided and their various functional and organic derangements exhaus tively treated. A large number of writers contribute separate articles; amongst them we may specially mention the follow. ing: Drs. E. C. Seguin, C. K. Mills, H. C. Woods, Wharton Sinkler, McLane Hamilton, Morris Lewis, J. C. Wilson, F. Minot, E. C. Spitzka and others. This concludes the most

complete American Practice of Medicine extant. It takes its place as the standard work of reference for that country, and is in every respect highly creditable to the various authors who have taken part, to the learned editor who has arranged and superintended its entire contents, and to the publishers who have so promptly placed the successive volumes in the hands of the subscribers. In conclusion, we would merely quote the following sentence from the editor's "valedictory," for the information of those who may not have seen the early prospectus. "The number of articles is 185, written by 99 authors, covering, with indexes, about 5000 pages, and throughout its whole extent the original purpose has been kept constantly in view, that the practical character of the work should adapt it specially to the needs of the general practitioner."

Diseases of the Stomach and Intestines. A Manual of Clinical Therapeutics. - By PROF. DUJARDIN-BEAUMETZ, Physician to the Cochin Hospital, Member of the Academy of Medicine, &c. Translated from the fourth French edition by E. P. HURD, M.D., President of the Essex District Medical Society, &c. With illustrations and chromo-lithograph. New York: Wm. Wood & Co. The above is a very valuable and original work, being the product of one of the ablest minds in the profession. The author is well known by his numerous contributions to scientific medicine. He has been engaged in the publication of an important and exhaustive series of "Leçons de Clinique Therapeutique," and the present volume is the third and last portion of the whole number. It is, as stated, a manual of clinical therapeutics; all the functional and organic diseases of the digestive organs being grouped together; and the special therapeusis of these being carefully considered. The subject is treated of in a masterly way, and one peculiarly his own. "I know," says the author, "of no study more fascinating than that of diseases of the digestive tube, and it is one to which I have directed particular attention." Certainly the study is one upon which considerable light has recently been thrown by re

searches into physiological chemistry. We are called upon daily to treat these derangements of the primæ viæ, and our success will mainly depend upon the degree to which we have mastered the essential points in the conditions likely to disturb the normal processes taking place therein. The sphere of Dr. Dujardin-Beaumetz's book and its claims to attention are well expressed by the translator, who says: "In this, much that in ordinary text-books on Materia Medica and Practice is rather embarrassing than helpful to the practitioner is omitted, while the important data, set forth in strong light and grouped in a few masterly generalities, indicate to him where he can be truly useful, where his intervention is demanded, as well as the limits of that intervention."

Handbook of Practical Medicine.-By HERMANN EICHHORST, Professor of Special Pathology and Therapeutics, and Director of the University Medical Clinic in Zurich. Vol. I. Diseases of the Circulatory and Respiratory Apparatus. Illustrated. New York: Wm. Wood & Co. A good handbook, written by one of the well-known German authors, which has been recently added to "Wood's Library." The various subjects coming under the separate chapters on pulmonary and cardiac disorders are treated of in a concise manner necessitated by the limits of the volume, and yet few important omissions will be found. Amongst the diseases of the circulatory system, we find very excellent chapters upon the neuroses of the heart, disorders which are not so carefully studied as the coarser and more obvious organic affections, and yet an acquaintance with which is fully as valuable to the practising physician. This section concludes with a short account of thoracic aneurism, and the other rarer conditions—stenosis, rupture, &c., of the aorta. The diseases of the larynx are carefully treated, and well illustrated. The trachea, bronchi, larynx, pleuræ, mediastinum, &c., all receive due attention. The book will be useful to all desirous of having at hand a reliable guide to the teaching of the German school on this important class of diseases.

Surgical Diseases of the Kidney.-By HENRY MORRIS, M.A., M.B., F.R.C.S., Surgeon to and Lecturer on Surgery at the Middlesex Hospital, London. With 6 chromolithographic plates and 40 engravings. Philadelphia: Lea Brothers & Co.

A very complete account of the various so-called surgical affections of the kidney and the structures immediately adjacent. The growing importance of the subject, in view of the frequency with which the operations of nephrotomy and nephrectomy are performed, and the brilliant results very often obtained, is sufficient to ensure a cordial reception to Mr. Henry Morris' book. Although such interesting matters as those concerning malformations, fusions, movable and floating kidney, &c., are discussed, yet the pièce de resistance consists in the account of pyo and hydronephrosis, scrofulous and calculous kidney, together with the means for their accurate diagnosis and successful treatment. The whole is ably handled, and forms an excellent addition to the "clinical manuals."

Books and Pamphlets Received.

THE RETROSPECT OF MEDICINE. A half-yearly journal containing a retrospective view of every discovery and practical improvement in the medical sciences. Edited by Jas. Braithwaite, M.D., Lond. Vol. XCIII, January-June, 1886. London, Simpkin, Marshall & Co.

ANALYSIS OF THE URINE, with special reference to the Diseases of the Genito-Urinary Organs. By K. B. Hofmann and R. Ultzman. Second edition; revised and enlarged. New York, D. Appleton & Co.

HANDBOOK OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE. By Dr. Hermann Eichhorst. Vol. II-Diseases of the Digestive, Urinary, and Sexual Apparatus. New York, Wm. Wood & Co.

THE GENUINE WORKS OF HIPPOCRATES. Translated from the Greek with a preliminary discourse and annotations by Francis Adams, LL.D. Vol. II. New York, Wm. Wood & Co.

BRIGHT'S DISEASE AND ALLIED AFFECTIONS OF THE KIDNEYS. By Charles W. Purdy, M.D. Philadelphia, Lea Brothers & Co.

Society Proceedings.

MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY OF MONTREAL. Stated Meeting, May 14th, 1886.

J. C. CAMERON, M.D., 1ST VICE-PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR. DR. A. L. SMITH, for the author, read a paper entitled Notes on Phthiriasis.

By P. W. P. MATHEWS, LL.D., M.R.C.S. E., Etc.,

Dominion Coroner for the North-West Territories and Medical Officer of the Hudson Bay Company, etc.

as follows:

A case of somewhat unusual occurrence came under my notice here some short while since-one of phthiriasis. It is the second only that I have personally known, and I trust that it will be of sufficient interest to justify me in offering you a few notes, both in connection with the case itself and the disease.

George "Beardy," an Indian, aged 30, was admitted to the York Hospital suffering from capillary bronchitis. In ordinary cases, and in cases other than the one I am about to describe, it would be, or ought to be, unnecessary to touch upon cleanliness, both as regards the patient and his surroundings, even in an Indian cottage hospital; but the nature of the case requires my emphasizing the fact that every rational and judicious precaution was taken to ensure cleanliness, both in the washing of the patient and in the changing of the body and bed clothes. The condition of the patient varied for several days, and on the evening of the tenth, symptoms of pulmonary congestion set in. I was in attendance for the greater part of the night, and on again visiting him at about 10 o'clock in the morning, found him in a comatose condition. Giving a few directions, and re-covering his chest, which he kept constantly exposed, I left, and in two hours time was hastily called by the nurse, who stated that "he was being eaten up." Upon arriving, to my astonishment, and, I must say, to my interest, I found the man one literal mass of lice, creeping over the bed-clothes, crawling on the body-one slow-moving, disgusting mass, but a living, suggestive "precursor of the grave." He was as carefully cleansed as he