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AN IMPROVED CRUTCH.
538 of publications on the microscopy of vegetable foods may be welcomed as likely to be helpful in the detection of fraud. The pioneer work in this direction was largely done in THE LANCET Analytical Commission, which in the "seventiesexposed, by means oftentimes of the microscope alone, the extent to which the adulteration of foods was then practised. This exposure subsequently led to legislative steps being taken which are now embodied in the present Sale of Food and Drugs Acts in this country. The authors of this large volume have taken considerable pains to produce a work of value, and its text and the illustrations will give assistance to analysts and others in this country as well as in the United States. The chapters on histology and morphology are the best features of the book, but now and again the illustrations are not as well drawn as they might be, and the context here and there is meagre and scrappy. A good deal of ground is, however, covered, and the copious references to literature serve a useful purpose. X Rays. By G. W. C. KAYE, M.A., D.Sc. Second edition. 1917. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. Pp. 285. Price 9.—We welcomed the appearance of this authoritative book when it first appeared three years ago. The present edition has been revised by the author, as far as his military duties permit, up to the middle of 1916. A chapter on X ray equipment and technique has been added by Mr. W. F. Higgins. Accurate in presentation and attractive in style the book will continue to achieve its purpose. Sewerage :The Designing, Construction, and Maintenance of Sewerage Systems. By A. PRESCOTT FOLWELL. Seventh edition, revised and enlarged. London : Chapman and Hall, Limited ; New York : John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 1916. Pp. 540. Price 12s. 6d. net.-This book illustrates with a wealth of detail the way in which the problems of sewage engineering and disposal are being attacked in the United It deals fully with the important question States. of practical sewer construction, and is divided into four parts, the first devoted to designing, the second to construction, the third to maintenance, and the fourth to disposal. The question of utilisation does appear to have come any nearer a practical issue in the United States than it has done in this country. In fact, the writer says, speaking of chemical treatment and precipitation methods, ’’no method has yet been found by which the fertilising values of sludge can be made use of to sufficient advantage to induce farmers to use it even when it is given them tree of cost, except in a few cases." The author then refers to the sludge ships which convey the sludge from the London sewage works 50 miles out to sea and dump it there. The book will be valued by engineers engaged in this important branch of sanitary science and to some extent by chemists, the appendix containing a useful account of the analytical methods employed in testing sewage, and a short bacteriological section on the examination of effluents in regard to bacterial reduction.
important factor in the situation, and he accepts the dictum of Dr. Leonard Hill that the physical effect upon the skin is the supremely important thing, not its chemical effect. This view has now received general acceptance, and so the conditioning of the air as regards its most
physical state-e,g., humidity, movement, equable temperature, freedom from dust, and
so forth-is much more to the than keeping down a carbonic acid gas contamination. As the author observes, ’’ Even more disconcerting to the old school of hygienists must be the growing practice of American engineers to arrange for recirculation of the air many times in succession," and the washing plant is left to maintain the air of the ventilated space in a pure condition. This system, it is added, effects considerable economy in the fuel bill in cold weather, and we may take it that the authorities are satisfied that the air so treated is wholesome. The book contains much useful information on standards of ventilation, design of ducts, selection of fans, washers and heaters, specifications, test-forms, and specimen schedules for designers, which will be consulted with advantage by those approaching these questions from a practical and rational point of view.
point
A Hausa Botanical
Vocabulary. By JOHN M. DALZIEL, M.D.,
B.Sc. Edin., D.T.M.
London: T. Fisher Unwin, Limited.
Pp. 119. Price 6s. 6d. net.-The author of this useful compilation is a member of the West African Medical Staff, and has carefully utilised his opportunities. The book is more than a vocabulary, and many descriptions of plants are given under their native names. Under dawa, Guinea-corn 1917.
great millet, are described some two dozen varieties of a food which the Hausa eats in the form of porridge, and to which he attributes special strength-giving properties. The medicinal plants include a small field herb of the order Polygalaceæ, sct 7tankaki dako, which is used in syphilis on the ground of its local reputation. At the end of the book is given an index of genera and of popular names. or
New Inventions.
not
AN IMPROVED CRUTCH.
improvement in the construction of crutches will no A crutch made doubt be welcomed at the present time. of the ordinary ash sticks is shown in the diagram fixed at the lower end into a piece of hard wood curved at the base and shod with rubber (which I shall call the roller), and screwed to a block fixed below the handle. The handle is fixed by a bolt and fly-nut and can be adjusted to suit any length of arm. The head is of the bridge type, the webbing stretched across being tubular and stuffed with horse-hair. Attention may be drawn to the use of the roller at the foot, by which Essentials of Physiology. By F. A. BAINBRIDGE and J. the rate of progression is materially inACWORTH MENZIES. Second edition. With 173 illustrations. creased and the pressure on the axilla is 1916. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. Pp. 478. reduced. As compared with the ordinary a edition of coriaPrice 12s. 6d. net.-This is the second type of crutch the pace is increased, at each panion volume to the "Essentials of Histology"(Schafer). step, by the length of the arc of the circle of "Morbid Histology"(Grünbaum), and of"Chemical taken by the roller. This arc has been fixed Physiology(Halliburton), and maintains the high standard at about 11 inches or less as being easily of the series. Although avowedly written with the primary accommodated in railway trains, omnibuses, object of meeting the requirements of the medical student and other places where space is important. preparing for a pass examination, it is in no sense a cramThe most serviceable curve is the arc of a and no one can read it a without book, carefully gaining circle having a radius of 2 or 3 ft. An imuseful insight into the whole field of modern physiology. portant feature is the reduction in the The book is indeed remarkable for its even and adequate tendency to skid on slippery surfaces. treatment of all parts of the subject, and for the average The new crutch has its defects : it cannot high standard of the illustrations which are drawn from be shortened so easily for use by a smaller sources. The is text clear and to read. many interesting man, it is heavier than the ordinary form Some Mordern Methods of Ventilation, with Special Referof crutch, and it is a little more costly to enoe to Public Buildings. The extra weight is probably the By R GRIERSON. With illusproduce. only defect which will .,...E : a:."", be trations, charts, and tables. London : Constable and Co., tm vu vuay Limited. 1916. Pp. 187. Price 8s. 6d. net.-While the remedied, and is bytheimprnveauthor’s point of view is largely the engineering one, it is ment in the balance which renders it more easily controlled. clear that he keeps in mind the physiological consideraMr. George E Healing, 3, Wilton Crescent-mews, Belgravia, tions on which methods of ventilation must be based is the inventor, and the makers are Messrs. Allen and if they are to give satisfactory results. Thus he Hanburys, Wigmore-street, W. C. A. JOLL, F.R.C.S. Eng. speaks of the conditioning"of the air which is the I Wimpole-street, W. ANY
eventhis
’’
largely compensated
important factor in the situation, and he accepts the dictum of Dr. Leonard Hill that the physical effect upon the skin is the supremely important thing, not its chemical effect. This view has now received general acceptance, and so the conditioning of the air as regards its most
physical state-e,g., humidity, movement, equable temperature, freedom from dust, and
so forth-is much more to the than keeping down a carbonic acid gas contamination. As the author observes, ’’ Even more disconcerting to the old school of hygienists must be the growing practice of American engineers to arrange for recirculation of the air many times in succession," and the washing plant is left to maintain the air of the ventilated space in a pure condition. This system, it is added, effects considerable economy in the fuel bill in cold weather, and we may take it that the authorities are satisfied that the air so treated is wholesome. The book contains much useful information on standards of ventilation, design of ducts, selection of fans, washers and heaters, specifications, test-forms, and specimen schedules for designers, which will be consulted with advantage by those approaching these questions from a practical and rational point of view.
point
A Hausa Botanical
Vocabulary. By JOHN M. DALZIEL, M.D.,
B.Sc. Edin., D.T.M.
London: T. Fisher Unwin, Limited.
Pp. 119. Price 6s. 6d. net.-The author of this useful compilation is a member of the West African Medical Staff, and has carefully utilised his opportunities. The book is more than a vocabulary, and many descriptions of plants are given under their native names. Under dawa, Guinea-corn 1917.
great millet, are described some two dozen varieties of a food which the Hausa eats in the form of porridge, and to which he attributes special strength-giving properties. The medicinal plants include a small field herb of the order Polygalaceæ, sct 7tankaki dako, which is used in syphilis on the ground of its local reputation. At the end of the book is given an index of genera and of popular names. or
New Inventions.
not
AN IMPROVED CRUTCH.
improvement in the construction of crutches will no A crutch made doubt be welcomed at the present time. of the ordinary ash sticks is shown in the diagram fixed at the lower end into a piece of hard wood curved at the base and shod with rubber (which I shall call the roller), and screwed to a block fixed below the handle. The handle is fixed by a bolt and fly-nut and can be adjusted to suit any length of arm. The head is of the bridge type, the webbing stretched across being tubular and stuffed with horse-hair. Attention may be drawn to the use of the roller at the foot, by which Essentials of Physiology. By F. A. BAINBRIDGE and J. the rate of progression is materially inACWORTH MENZIES. Second edition. With 173 illustrations. creased and the pressure on the axilla is 1916. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. Pp. 478. reduced. As compared with the ordinary a edition of coriaPrice 12s. 6d. net.-This is the second type of crutch the pace is increased, at each panion volume to the "Essentials of Histology"(Schafer). step, by the length of the arc of the circle of "Morbid Histology"(Grünbaum), and of"Chemical taken by the roller. This arc has been fixed Physiology(Halliburton), and maintains the high standard at about 11 inches or less as being easily of the series. Although avowedly written with the primary accommodated in railway trains, omnibuses, object of meeting the requirements of the medical student and other places where space is important. preparing for a pass examination, it is in no sense a cramThe most serviceable curve is the arc of a and no one can read it a without book, carefully gaining circle having a radius of 2 or 3 ft. An imuseful insight into the whole field of modern physiology. portant feature is the reduction in the The book is indeed remarkable for its even and adequate tendency to skid on slippery surfaces. treatment of all parts of the subject, and for the average The new crutch has its defects : it cannot high standard of the illustrations which are drawn from be shortened so easily for use by a smaller sources. The is text clear and to read. many interesting man, it is heavier than the ordinary form Some Mordern Methods of Ventilation, with Special Referof crutch, and it is a little more costly to enoe to Public Buildings. The extra weight is probably the By R GRIERSON. With illusproduce. only defect which will .,...E : a:."", be trations, charts, and tables. London : Constable and Co., tm vu vuay Limited. 1916. Pp. 187. Price 8s. 6d. net.-While the remedied, and is bytheimprnveauthor’s point of view is largely the engineering one, it is ment in the balance which renders it more easily controlled. clear that he keeps in mind the physiological consideraMr. George E Healing, 3, Wilton Crescent-mews, Belgravia, tions on which methods of ventilation must be based is the inventor, and the makers are Messrs. Allen and if they are to give satisfactory results. Thus he Hanburys, Wigmore-street, W. C. A. JOLL, F.R.C.S. Eng. speaks of the conditioning"of the air which is the I Wimpole-street, W. ANY
eventhis
’’
largely compensated