THE DEGENERATION OF RACE.

65 Hanwell there are only four medical officers ! What chance has any patient of individual attention amongst such a crowd ? The author pays a just tribute to the method in which the better class of private asylums of the country are conducted. The Lodging, Food, and Dress of Soldiers, is another article, which gives a vivid picture of the hygienic condition of the army The last, and one of the most a.s it is and as it ought to be. of the is that on the Mortality in series, however, interesting Trades and Professions, an article which is exhaustive of the subject, and which is sure to open the eyes of the community to a fact which has been long neglected-namely, that too much of the luxury of civilization is purchased at the price of the life-blood of the working population, not from inevitable causes, but from carelessness and bad arrangements, which public opinion, once thoroughly aroused upon the matter, can most assuredly remedy. The vital interest of the subjects discussed must commend them to the serious attention of our readers, and for masterly expositions upon these we must refer to the volume itself, being assured that no one will rise from its perusal without feeling that he has been both interested and instructed.

offer some practical remarks on what has taken place since that time in this and other countries. The author begins at once on the subject of metallic sutures, especially advocating the use of silver instead of iron, which has been lately much employed in this country. He states that in such operations as those now under consideration, the silver wire never cuts out. This important fact has been confirmed by the experience of Mr. Baker Brown and others. Dr. Bozeman then goes on to advocate the employment of the button in preference to all other plans yet tried. He still adheres to the position of the hands and knees for the patient. He then proceeds to detail, carefully, twelve cases : the first, cured by two operations; the second, a case of severe complications, such as obliteration of the urethra, cured by two operations ; the third, fourth, and fifth, cured by one operation; the sixth, requiring ten operations; the seventh, at University Hospital, London, one operation and subsequent relapse ; the eighth, at Edinburgh, death from pyssmia, but complete cure of fistula; the ninth, -atEdinburgh, one operation ; the tenth, at Glasgow, one operation; the eleventh, at Paris, one operation; the twelfth, two operations. The metallic sutures were first tried and proved by Mr. Gossett in London, and to him and Bozeman the credit is due and of having pressed them on the notice of European surgeons.

.A7aatom of the

College

A 1>teries of the Human Body, Descriptive with the Descriptive Anatomy of the Heart. By JOHN HATCH PowjCR, ILD.; Fellow, and Member of the Council, of the Royal College of Surgeons; Professor of Descriptive and Practical Anatomy in the Royal College of Surgeons; Surgeon to the -City of Dublin Hospital, &c. With Illustrations by B. WILLS RICHARDSON, F.R.C.S.L, Examiner of the Royal College of Surgeons, Surgeon to the Adelaide Hospital, &e. pp. 374. Dublin: Fannin and Co. London: Longmans and Co.; Simpkin and Co. 1860.

Sw’gical;

Application of the Buttori. Sutw’e to the Treatment of VaJ’icoge Dilatation of Veins. By NATIIA-.N- BOZEMAN, M.D., of New Orleans.

THis is

a

small

pamphlet advocating

the

use

of the button

veins, illustrated by three The plan is simple, and doubtless effectual; still, a cases. simpler plan might be safely used. However, it is a valuable

suture in the treatment of varicose

THIS is a contribution from one of the best teachers of ana- contribution to the surgery of this,subject, and follows well on tomy in the Dublin Schools, already so well known for their the works of Nunn, Henry Lee, Startin, and others. laborious and careful productions on the anatomy of the human body. Dr. Power tells us in his Preface that the book is THE DEGENERATION OF RACE. based upon the work of the late Dr. Flood, and acknowledges To the Edito1’ of THE LANCET. his obligations to the late Dr. Harrison, and other eminent anatomists; the volume may therefore be looked upon as a SIR,-I am glad to see that you are again bringing your imligest of all the views, which those eminent men have enter- portant influence to bear on the inquiry into the results of tained. The author has added materially to the interest and marriages of blood-relations; and considering it one of -vast I take the liberty of enclosing you a copy of the prousefulness of -the work by not merely describing the anatomy import, I made at the International Statistical Congress held last posal -of the various operations to be performed upon the several summer at Somerset House; and although unfortunately too late arteries, but by recording the instances in which the operations to be brought under discussion, I have met with sufficient encouhave been performed, and sometimes giving detailed cases. To ragement to be assured of the value of the proposal. I trust that the student these additions will no doubt be of service, but to you will continue to give-the full weight of your valuable journal towards promoting an inquiry into the causes of effects of the practitioner who may contemplate an important operation such serious importance to the human race, and which, surely, they will be invaluable. The only special novelty that struck to be conclusive, can only be brought about by such means as us

in

reading through the

the arch of the aorta

work was, that the author makes opposite the fourtlc costal

commence

instead of the third, as given otherwise the descriptions tally very

cartilage,

common use.

by English anatomists; closely with those in

the various Statistical Societies over the world have at their command. I enclose my card, and am, Sir, yours obedienti’.’, A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT OF THE HOSPITAL FOR PARALYSIS AND EPILEPSY. Spa, Belginm, Jan. 1861.

The illustrations are numerous, and are partly original, and [COPY.] I partly from Tiedeman and Maclise. Some of them are of great ’, " Section 2.—Hospitals. beauty; but those from Tiedeman present in an exaggerated In addition to the adopted proposal of Sir James Clark, degree the confusion which the original plates unfortunately ’to notify the diseases og, icabits of pa2,c-.,its,’ I beg to recomtoo ofcen exhibited. When the French anatomists have given mend the noticing the degrees of consanguinity, if any, ofthe us such beautiful lithographic illustrations of anatomy, it is a parents to each other, aimportant in obtaining the special alliances on the diseases of their children. pity that our authors should reproduce the stiff copper-plate bearings of such 1860." 21st, " July (Signed) "— engravings of a past generation. COAL-TAR SOAP AS A DISINFECTANT. - M. Demeaux recommends this soap as an efficacious disinfectant. It is made ?7r/M’o- Fcft’Ke, Vesico- Vctgii2al, and Recto - Vaginal Pistules. by mixing equal parts of coal-tar, soap, and rectified spirits, A Reprint from the New 0o.?M l1fedical and S?,t2-!jicctl heated on the water-bath to complete solution. On cooling, a Joul’Iwl for January, March, and May, 1&60. By NATHAN soap is obtained which is perfectly soluble in warm or cold water, and which may be sold as low as ten pence a pound. BozEMAN, M.D. New Orleans, 1860. may be made more THE object of the author in the present pamphlet is to con- As a disinfectant in wounds, the solution or less strong; and it may be used in a variety of ways in hostinue a narration of cases, illustrative of a mode of treatment The Academy of Sciences pital wards, prisons, factories, &o. for the cure of these troublesome lesions, which he published of Paris have appointed a committee to report on this coal-tar and freely circulated more than two years ago; and also to

soap.