GLEANINGS AND TRANSLATIONS. -:0: HIGH TEMPERATURE IN INTERMITTENT FEVER.-Dr. Stephen Mackenzie, in the British Medical Journal for Februaty 13th, reports a case of intermittent fever in which twice the temperature was 107° F., once 109°, twice 113°, and once 113-8°. The observations were made with the thermometer in one or the other axilla; sometimes two thermometers are placed in the axilla and found to correspond. On account of rigors the temperature could not be taken in the mouth. The periods of hyperpyrexia were exceedingly brief, sometimes a return to normal temperature occurring in five minutes. The patient recovered. N. Y. Med. Journal. SOME of the most interesting material in the report of the Surgeon-General of the U. S. Army refers to the hospital corps, which had an opportunity to demonstrate its value in active service in the Souix Campaign. Of it the Surgeon-General writes: "On the battlefield at the action on Wounded-Knee Creek two of its members rescued a wounded officer from extreme peril under circumstances which fully entitled them to the certificate of merit which they received as their reward, while the services the remainder rendered were so orderly and well regulated that not only our own wounded men, but wounded Indians were, with great promptness and dispatch, removed and cared for in the field hospitals which were extemporized for their benefit. These wounded Indians, by the way, were not exactly comfortable patients. The simplest handling was met at first with suspicion and resistence. Their wounds were mostly severe and all capital operations were refused, notwithstanding explanations by missionaries, interpreters and friends. In cases of extensive injury to the large bones or joints, septic fever came sooner or later and finally death. -Boston Med. and Surg. Journal OLIVE OIL IN THE TREATMENT OF GALL-STONE COLIC. — A collective investigation in referance to the use of olive oil in biliary colic has recently been made by the Therapeutic Section of the Philadelphia Polyclinic Medical Society. Of fifty-four cases of gall-stone colic in which this method of treatment was used, the result was as follows: two died; in three negative results were obtained; and in fifty, or 98 per cent, positive relief was afforded-results which must be regarded as satisfactory, more especially as one patient who died was suffering from adhesive obstruction of the bile ducts, and two of the observers stated that they had treated forty other cases of biliary colic without a failure, but of which they had kept no record. The rationale of the treatment, according to Dr. Rosenberg's experiments, is that it largely increases the quantity of bile secreted, while at the same time it diminishes its consistency; but it is reasonable to believe that the beneficial influence of oil consists not so much in dissolving the biliary concretions as increasing the biliary excretion, in flushing, and in lubricating and washing out the passages of the liver. The dose of olive oil varied from a dessert-spoonful to a pint. London Lancet. — Am. Prac. and News. REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. -:0: London: A CYCLOPEDIA OF DRUG PATHOGENESY. Edited by Richard With the part now before us, the work on the Cyclopædia is completed. In it the appendix is concluded. In this appendix we find several drugs referred to for the first time. Some of them present claims founded on several provings. Others have but little in the pathogenetic line to offer, though that little may serve as a nucleus for a longer story. Among these drugs we find erechthites, eryngium, erigeron, ferrum phosphoricum album, grindelia, iberis, jatropha, mitchella, natrum nitrosum, natrum phosphoricum, nuphar, onosmodium, paraffinum, piper methysticum, piturinum, polygonum, ratania, spt. nitri dulcis. A Supplement is included, in which we find, among many additions to provings found elsewhere in the Cyclopædia, the pathogenetic record, a short one, of calendula. That this frequently used drug has not had a more thorough proving may excite surprise, and stimulate the earnest workers in the profession to give it more experimental attention. The Preface, the Index to Vol IV., and the General Index conclude the work. The General Index includes over 400 drug preparations. To the general and special excellence and worth of the Cyclopædia it has several times been our privilege to testify, and of the work as now completed we can speak only in terms of fervent praise. THE GREATER DISEASES OF THE LIVER AND THEIR TREATMENT. By J. Compton Burnett, M.D. Philadelphia: Hahnemann Publishing House. 186 pp. Dr. Burnett's breezy, colloquial, optimistic, convincing style is always such a pleasure to chance upon that one may greatly enjoy one of his little books without committing one's self to agreement with all that it contains, by any means. The prompt cure of gall-stone colic, and of cancer of the liver, for instance, by homoeopathic medication, is a hope too seldom justified of experience to waken to very active life, even at Dr. Burnett's brightly-told tales of cures achieved; yet it is inspiriting to read the tales, and he must be prejudiced indeed who is not moved to at least tentative action on the hints they give. Dr. Burnett's manuals, as we have before taken occasion to point out, would be of distinctly more value if he would, in every instance, offer a systematized statement, however brief, of the symptoms his pathogenetic knowledge teaches him are produced, and his clinical knowledge teaches him are relieved by the remedies whose praise he sings. A certain solidity would thus be given to his books which they now much lack; and the cases which he relates so convincingly and clearly would take on a more definite and scientific value. A DICTIONARY OF TREATMENT; OR THERAPEUTIC INDEX: INCLUDING MEDICAL AND SURGICAL THERAPEUTICS. By William Whitla, M.D. Philadelphia: Lea Bros. & Co. 1892. 921 pp. Dr. Whitla gives concisely, yet with admirable clearness, in this substantial volume, the summarized treatment, from an “oldschool" standpoint, of nearly every ill to which flesh is heir. The book is alphabetically arranged, so that the practitioner can come, without a moment's loss of time, at the section giving information on the special trouble which may, at the moment, be baffling him. The value of such a volume to the student of allopathic methods commends itself at a glance. We must in justice add that the homoeopathic practitioner may secure from Dr. Whitla, with an expedition very grateful to the overworked physician, an amount of very practical and useful information; since in all diseases treated of, the diet, from the latest and most advanced standpoint, is very fully dealt with, and adjuvant measures, commending themselves to the enlightened and practical physicians of all schools, are freely suggested. Whitla's therapeutic attitude is conservative and candid; while in some instances leeching, Dover's powders, "blue mass" and the like are recommended; in others the terse and honest statement is made at the outset, that in this disease drugs are of but little demonstrable value, and hygiene, diet and scientific nursing,detailed suggestions of which follow, must be relied upon to carry the patient through. It is interesting to note Dr. Whitla's repeated warnings to students against over-dosing, and his very frequent remarks that once popular doses of a given drug having been found dangerous are now abandoned in favor of much smaller ones. Such signs are pleasant, as indicating a rapproche Dr. ment in principle, if not in amity, between the warring schools of medicine. The book as a whole, its therapeutic standpoint apart, is sound, practical, and rich in every day usefulness. is issued in handsome and convenient shape. It By R. A. THE MEDICAL STUDENT'S MANUAL OF CHEMISTRY. Wood & Co. 528 pp. Dr. Witthaus' work has attained its present deserved popularity through meriting its title of the Medical Student's Manual of Chemistry. It deals with chemistry from the point of view of medical men, graduate and undergraduate, and excludes much matter, ordinarily included in text-books of its sort, which is not immediately germane to medical work and interests. Though detailed, it is therefore practical. It is issued in handsome and substantial form, and copiously illustrated. FIRST LINES IN MIDWIFERY. By G. Ernest Herman, M.D., F.R.C.P. Philadelphia: Lea Bros. & Co. 191 pp. The object of this compact little manual is to give information on the progress of normal labor, in such wise that the student or midwife in attendance on a first case may feel as little as possible of the awkwardness attendant upon that situation. Its text is direct and clear, its illustrations very numerous and definite; and those making their first start in the study of midwifery, and those,—still more numerous,-who may wish, from time to time, to refresh the memory on elemental facts, will find the little book a welcome and useful counsellor. By A GUIDE TO THE CLINICAL EXAMINATION OF THE URINE. F. H. Whipple, A.B. Boston: Damrell & Upham. 206 pp. The author modestly disclaims originality in the teachings of this small manual, stating that his only aim has been to bring standard information into terse and easily accessible form. This he has excellently succeeded in doing. A feature of special value for quick consultation is the tabular arrangement of the characteristics of the urine in different diseases, thus affording the analyst substantial aid in rapid diagnosis. The book is in exceedingly compact form, and indexed with admirable fitness. POCKET MANUAL OF CHOLERA. By D. N. Banerjee. This highly practical and useful little book, intended primarily for use in India, is published in English and Bengali. It sketches briefly the various epidemics of cholera with which India has been visited; touches but lightly the pathology of the disease, and devotes itself chiefly to directions for diet, sanitation, and therapeutic treatment under the homoeopathic rule. As the work of one familiar with cholera in its native habitat, so to speak, and in its most malignant forms, the little manual has distinct practical value. ESSENTIALS OF MEDICAL PHYSICS. By Fred. J. Brockaway, M.D. ESSENTIALS OF MEDICAL ELECTRICITY. By D. D. Stewart, M.D., and E. S. Lawrence, M.D. ESSENTIALS OF NERVOUS DISEASES AND INSANITY. By John C. Shaw, M.D. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. 1892. The practical value of these little manuals of "Essentials" is now well established in public knowledge. The present volumes, as their titles show, deal with subjects of importance and interest to student and practitioner. All are fully and suggestively illustrated. The authors are authorities each in his chosen field. Dr. Shaw cleverly defines his manual on Nervous Diseases as "a primer for advanced students." The volume in question has a Bibliography of the subject treated, which is exceedingly useful. WITH THE POUSSE CAFÉ. By Wm. Tod Helmuth, M.D. Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel. 1892. 141 pp. This dainty volume, published in édition de lux, brings together in permanent form many pleasant bits of Dr. Helmuth's post-prandial verse. The author's felicitous touch in such light rhyme is well known to the profession; and the reader will have no need, as Dr. Helmuth with dry humor suggests, to get himself into a post-prandial state of mind, or body, in order to appreciate the kindly wit and the smooth and sparkling flow of these agreeable verses. There is good sense in them as well as good rhythm, and good humor in every possible sense of the phrase. More than once we chance on a truly Gilbertian bit of jingle, as, "Through central convolutions we can bore; And complacently can live on as before." THE PRESCRIBERS' PHARMACOPOEIA. Bombay: Kemp & Co. 1892. This little manual is interesting as giving account of many. drugs comparatively little known to the English-speaking world, though in much repute with practitioners in India. These drugs are briefly described according to species, preparation, etc., and their so-called "physiological" action in given doses |