134 REVIEWS.

Milk and the Public Health. By William G. Savage, B.Sc., M.D. (Lond.), D.P.H. London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1912. Price lOS. net .

. THAT a certain amount of disease in human beings is caused by the consump­tion of abnormal or impure milk has for a considerable number of years been generally recognised, and the scattered literature on the subject is already very extensive. The numerous researches which have been carried out in this and other countries regarding milk-borne diseases, . more particularly during the last twenty years, have gradually substituted more or less precise knowledge for what was little better than loose speculation or pasty general­isation. The subject has therefore now reached the stage at which there is room for a concise text-book, wherein those who are specially concerned with public health may find trustworthy information regarding the role of milk in the causation of disease, and the methods by which infection through the agency of milk may be prevented or traced. There must be few, if any, persons better qualified for the task of producing such a book than Dr Savage, who, as is well known, has to a large extent specialised in that branch of preventive medicine, and it may at once be said that the present work deserves hearty commendation as a concise, clearly-written, and temperate exposition of the subject with which it deals. Although knowledge gained within recent years has tended to a greater unanimity of opinion regarding the danger of impure milk in certain directions, there still remain important points regarding which opinions are markedly conflicting, and in his examination of the evidence bearing on such disputed questions the author displays sound critical judgment.

The work, inclusive of appendices, extends to 454 octavo pages, and there are thirty-five illustrations, mostly of apparatus, in the text. The first section deals with the chemical and cellular content of cows' milk, the SOUlces of bacteria in milk, the different species of bacteria commonly found in milk, and the connection between milk and acute infectious diseases. "It also contains chapters specially devoted to tuberculosis of the cow in relation to human disease, and milk and child mortality.

The second section deals with the methods of milk examination for ' the detection of bacteria and other impurities, and the third with the public control of the milk supply.

The work of the publishers has been well done. We strongly recommend the text-book to medical and veterinary officers of health, and indeed to all those whose duties require them to have a precise knowledge of the connection between impure milk and human disease.

A Manual of Veterinary Physiology. By Major-General F. Smith, c.B., C.M.G., late Director-General, Army Veterinary Service. Fourth Edition. London : Bailliere, Tindall & Cox, 1912. Price 18s. net.

A NEW edition of such a standard text-book as Smith's Veterinary Physiology hardly calls for any lengthened criticism. It might suffice to say that a comparison with the preceding edition shows that the author has taken much pains to bring the text quite up to date, and to improve the work by devoting increased space to the consideration of certain subjects. The author of

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every book mainly intended for students has when preparing a new edition to balance against each other the advantage of expanding the work by the addition of whatever new matter appears to be necessary, and the dis­advantage which such an expamion may entail from .the student's point of view. The previous edition, which appeared five years ago, ran to 666 pages, and the present one contains exactly 100 pages more, but it ought to be noted the new matter is greater than this statement would indicate, as in the fourth edition more extensive use has been made of small type. The two chapters which have been most expanded are those dealing with the nervous system and the locomotor apparatus. The illustrations now number 259, or nearly roo more than in the preceding edition.

The main merit of Smith's Veterinary Physiology always has been that it was written by one who had studied physiology from the veterinary point of view, and who was therefore able to present the facts in a truer per,pective than is possible for one who is naturally disposed to regard every fact of physiology from its estimated importance for the human subject. This special feature of the work is still more apparent in the new edition, which may confidently be recommended as the best text-book on physiology for English-speaking veterinary students at the present time.

Diseases of the Dog and their Treatment. By Dr Georg MUller, Professor at the Veterinary High School, Dresden, and Alexander Glass, A.M., V.S., Lecturer on Canine Pathology, Veterinary Department, University of Pennsylvania. Third Illustrated Edition, Revised and Enlarged. London: BaiIW:re, Tindall & Cox, 1912.

ALTHOUGH the title-page of this volume bears two names as authors, the preface indicates that it has been entirely re-written and brought up to the present­day standard by Professor Glass, of Philadelphia. Having reached a third edition it may be presumed to have attained some popularity, though possibly the first and second issues were better than the third; they could hardly be less satisfactory. It is a comprehensive work, well set out, with considerable pretensions to completeness, and at first view might be regarded as a worthy addition to veterinary literature, which is not alarmingly over­stocked with instructive books on the diseases of the dog. Examination of its pages soon leads to modification of this early estimate, and discovers a very indifferent production. Like the curate's egg, it may be said to be good in parts, though the meritorious portions have to be sought amongst much verbiage of questionable value. One noteworthy feature, which wculd have been highly commendable had it been better sustained, is represented by the attention given to pathological anatomy, a subject that seldom figures prominently in books on canine diseases. Of the various sections, perhaps the best are those devoted to diseases of the circulatory apparatus and uri no­generative organs. Other sections contain much useful information, especially on treatment; but altogether the work conveys the impression of having been written by' someone not wanting in knowledge of the diseases of dogs yet lacking the power of clear expression. Errors and inconsistencies due to looseness of thought run through the whole book, and where accurate description, as of lesions and morbid processes, is essential, the text is often obscure, misleading, or unintelligible.

While no useful purpose could be served by an extensive analysis of this work, the following extracts (verbatim et litttratim) may be permitted in order to show its prevailing character--a curious mixing of fact, erroneous con­ception, and crude statement :-