all the material of the new fourth German edition, with which it simultaneously appeared. Many new illustrations have been added by the editors. The work is indispensable to the practitioner. BLAKISTON'S QUIZ COMPENDS. A Compend of Obstetrics, especially adapted to the use of medical students and physicians, by HENRY G. LANDIS, A. M., M. D., late Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women in Starling Medical College. Revised and edited by Wм. H. Wells, M. D., Demonstrator of Clinical Obstetrics in Jefferson Medical College, etc., etc. 12mo, cloth, pp. 227. Eighth edition, illustrated. Price, $1.00. P. Blakiston's Son & Co., Publishers, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa., 1906. The continued demand for this little compend is evidence of its exceeding value, containing as it does such a large amount of practical instruction in so compact and condensed form, yet withal, being so well arranged, so full of facts and details concisely laid down in a most instructive manner. In the revision of the eighth edition the editor has brought this very popular compend fully up to date in every way. Considerable new matter has been added, and it is an improvement on the preceding editions. ELLIS'S DEMONSTRATIONS OF ANATOMY, being a Guide to the Knowledge of the Human Body by Dissection. Twelfth edition, revised and edited by CHRISTOPHER ADDISON, M. D., B. S. (Lond.), F. R. C. S.; Lecturer on Anatomy, Charing Cross Hospital Medical School; formerly Hunterian Professor, Royal College of Surgeons, England; Examiner in Anatomy, Royal College of Surgeons, England, etc. Illustrated by 306 engravings on wood, of which a large number are in colors. Octavo volume, 851 pages. Price, muslin binding, $3.50, net. William Wood & Company, Publishers, New York, 1906. In preparing this edition of Ellis's "Demonstrations of Anatomy," the author has carefully preserved those features for which the book has been so justly valued in the past, and the general style and character has not been interfered with, although the advances in the knowledge of anatomy and in the methods of its teaching have necessitated many changes. The matter has been rearranged and now follows the ordinary course of dissection as taken by students, beginning with the simple anatomy of the upper and lower limbs and ending with the more complex parts of the head and neck and the organs contained therein. Sixty-two illustrations have been added and a large proportion of the entire number now appear in colors, unsurpassed in accuracy and beauty of execution. A feature has been made of the muscle attachments to the bones. A system of marginal indices facilitates ready reference, and a comprehensive index to the entire volume completes one of the most important additions to anatomical literature of recent years. The publishers, bearing in mind the burden imposed upon beginning medical students in the number and cost of text-books to be purchased, have issued this book at the very low price of $3.50, net, believing that the large sales will offset the small margin of profit to them. INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL ANNUAL FOR 1906. A Year-Book of Treatment and Practitioner's Index. By thirty-one department editors, with added articles by noted specialists. 8vo, cloth, pp. 600. Price, $3.00. Twenty-fourth volume. E. B. Treat & Co., Publishers, 241-243 W. 23rd St., New York, N. Y. vances. This is the most complete and satisfactory year-book published. It is a resumé of the year's medical literature and adWith it the busy practitioner is enabled to keep himself in touch with the most recent advances in knowledge and practice respecting any subject in medicine and surgery. Each year it seems to get better and better. It is fully illustrated in color and black and white with a number of plates. The first 80 pages alone of the book, devoted to the advances in Therapeutics being well worth the price of the volume, to say nothing of the valuable reviews of Treatment, which cover the entire list of diseases to which the human race is liable, these reviews and abstracts having been prepared by able members of the profession. We have had repeated occasion to commend the preceding volumes, but this is unquestionably the very best of the series yet issued. THE EXAMINATION OF THE FUNCTION OF THE INTESTINES BY MEANS OF THE TEST-DIET. Its Application in Medical Practice and Its Diagnostic and Therapeutic Value. By PROF. DR. ADOLF SCHMIDT, Physician-in-Chief of the City Hospital Friedrichstadt in Dresden. Authorized translation from the latest German edition, by CHARLES D. AARON, M. D., Professor of Diseases of the Stomach and Intestines in the Detroit Post-Graduate School of Medicine; Clinical Professor of Gastro-enterology in the Detroit College of Medicine; Consulting Gastro-enterologist to Harper Hospital, etc. With a frontispiece plate in colors. Crown octavo, 91 pages, extra cloth. Price, $1.00, net. F. A. Davis Company, Publishers, 1914 - 16 Cherry Street, Philadelphia. This little monograph is the outcome of a series of lectures delivered by Prof. Adolph Schmidt in the City Hospital in Dresden in the summer of 1903, and comprises the results of his continued investigations for about eight years. While the test-diet has done so much in the way of diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the stomach, it is gratifying to have the results of so careful and painstaking an observer in connection with that more complex and less understood portion of the alimentary tract. INTERNATIONAL CLINICS, A Quarterly of Illustrated Clinical Lectures and This volume of the International Clinics contains five " Special Articles" on Treatment; four on Medicine; five on Surgery; two on Obstetrics and Gynecology; and one on Pathology; together with the very excellent articles on "Progress of Medicine during 1905," the first being by A. A. Stevens, M. D., on Treatment; second, by David L. Edsall, M. D., and Verner Nisbet, M. D., on Medicine; and the third, on Surgery, by Jos. C. Bloodgood, M. D., these three sections comprising about one third of the volume. The valuable series of clinical articles is well worthy of the very highest commendation, and the continued success this publication has obtained is a correct criterion of its just merits. This success is unquestionably due to the very practical nature of the work and the high standing and ability of its corps of contribThe price of the volume is only $2.00. utors. A PRIMER OF PSYCHOLOGY AND MENTAL DISEASE, for Use in Training Schools for Attendants and Nurses and in Medical Classes, and as a Ready Reference for the Practitioner. By C. B. BURR, M. D., Medical Director of Oak Grove Hospital (Flint, Mich.) for Mental and Nervous Diseases; formerly Medical Superintendent of the Eastern Michigan Asylum; Member of the American Medico-Psychological Association; of the American Medical Association; Foreign Associate Member Societie Medico-Phychologique of Paris, etc. Third Edition. Thoroughly revised, with illustrations. Pages viii-183. 12mo, bound in extra vellum cloth, $1.25, net. F. A. Davis Company, Publishers, 1914-16 Cherry Street, Philadelphia. This little work of Dr. Burr's is just what its title claims, and to the general practitioner and the medical student who have not time to give to reading the more comprehensive works on Mental Diseases will be especially valuable. In this third edition the section on Psychology has been completely revised, and that on Forms of Disease rewritten in accordance with the newer classification of insanities. The medical treatment of insane conditions is considered in a very practical way, greatly increasing the value of the work to the medical student. PROGRESSIVE MEDICINE, Vol. I, March, 1906. A Quarterly Digest of Advances, Discoveries, and Improvements in the Medical and Surgical Sciences. Edited by HOBART AMORY HARE, M. D., Professor of Therapeutics and Materia Medica in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. Octavo, 304 pages, with 7 engravings. Per annum in four cloth-bound volumes, $9.00; in paper binding, $6.00, carriage paid to any address. Lea Brothers & Co., Publishers, Philadelphia and New York. The subjects considered in this volume are: (1) The Surgery of the Head, Neck, and Thorax, by Charles H. Frazier, M. D. (2) Infectious Diseases, including Acute Rheumatism, Croupous Pneumonia, and Influenza, by Robert B. Preble, M. D.; (3) The Diseases of Children, by Floyd M. Crandall, M. D.; (4) Rhinology and Laryngology, by D. Braden Kyle, M. D., and (5) Otology, by B. Alexander Randall, M. D. Practice makes perfect in the art of assimilating only the very best from a vast amount of material. It follows, therefore, that as all the contributors to Progressive Medicine have profited by their experience in the past, their readers are enabled to learn in an hour what it has taken them months to acquire. The general get-up of the book, the paper, print, and indexing, are of a solid and enduring quality, and make its use not only profitable but pleasurable. Selections THE BLOOD-CLOT DRESSING.-H. O. Reik, Baltimore (Journal A. M. A., March 31), believes that the blood-clot dressing, recommended by Blake of Boston, in the mastoid operation, best meets the needs and offers the best results. Those who have tried it report no unpleasant results, and he thinks that it more nearly restores the natural conditions than do other methods in use. Even if the wound is not absolutely clean, the normal blood possesses certain bactericidal power, which is greater after it is drawn from the vessels than while still in the circulation. It is present only when the blood is alkaline, and he thinks that some of the failures of the blood-clot dressing are perhaps attributable to the use of chemical antiseptics in cleansing the wound. On theoretical grounds, it would seem more rational to rely on dry cleansing with instruments and sterile sponges or by washing out the wound with sterile salt solution, which, if it has any effect on the clot, would increase its alkalinity and power to control septic action. He adds some words on the technic of the blood-clot dressing: First, absolute cleanliness and removal of every particle of infected material; second, the closure of the wound in such a way as to prevent the introduction of new infection and to promote primary union. Chemical sterilization should be avoided and sterile salt solution should be used if irrigation is deemed necessary. Finally, for the closing of the wound the subcutaneous silver wire suture recommended by Halsted may be used. It can easily be disinfected, and is itself antiseptic and can be removed without pain at the proper time. A silver foil covering over the closed wound will add something to the protection. Reik • believes that this will come to be accepted as a standard method in mastoidectomy. |