School-Books on Physiology and Hygiene. By Stanford E. Chaillé, of the University of Louisiana.
Having received many requests for advice respecting the best school text-books on hygiene, Dr. Chaillé examined the various books in the market, for comparison with one another and with his own standard of merit, which was that they should give predominance to teaching the care and proper use of the organs and the preservation of health. Of twenty books regarded as living candidates for favor, three were found fairly suitable for children ten or twelve years of age, while the others were more or less adapted to the comprehension of youth of different greater ages. Of the more advanced works, Draper's, Dalton's, and Huxley and Youmans's "are excellent," and the two latter and Foster's primer (primary) "bear the unmistakable stamp of the master's hand," and illustrate the rule "that even the most elementary books can be better written by distinguished experts." The pervading fault of most of the books is that they pay too little attention to hygiene.
The Evolution of the American Trotting-Horse, pp. 5; and The American Trotting-Horse: why he is and what he is, pp. 28. By Professor William H. Brewer, of Yale College.
Professor Brewer regards the trotting horse as essentially a development of the present century, and as still in process of evolution. His training has been stimulated by a combination of influences. The ancients did not have "trotters," and did not want them, because, not possessing light spring-wagons, they knew nothing of driving for pleasure, and for riding they preferred animals of more even gait. A little attention seems to have begun to be paid to trotting at about the time of the close of the Revolutionary War; the first mention of a "trotting-stallion" is found in 1788. The first definite notice of trotting on the course is in 1806, when Yankee trotted a mile in two minutes and fifty-nine seconds. At about this time a prejudice, resulting in the enactment of prohibitory laws, was developed against horse-racing (competitive running), and trotting-matches against time were introduced. A demand for trotters sprang up in the French West Indies; and light spring-wagons were invented, and, as they became fashionable, the taste for fast driving increased. These and kindred circumstances favored the development of the trotting-horse, and it has gone on speedily. In 1806, 2·59 was the fastest time that had been made by trotting; 2·40 became the synonym for speed in 1824. In 1843, one horse, Lady Suffolk, had trotted a mile in less than 2·30; in 1882, 1,654 horses had made that record, and the fastest time had been reduced by Maud S. to 2·1014.
Natural Cure of Consumption, Constipation, Bright's Disease, Neuralgia, Rheumatism, Colds (Fevers), etc. The Origin, Prevention, and Removal of Disease. By C. E. Page, M. D. New York: Fowler & Wells. Pp. 278. Price, $1.
The author maintains that bad living is the primary cause of the diseases named; that no mere accident of exposure, like those to which they are commonly ascribed, is competent to produce them unless the system has already been made peculiarly sensitive to them by habitual overloading of the stomach, living in bad air, or indolence; and that they are susceptible of being cured by adopting and adhering to a "natural" treatment and régime. In all this Dr. Page agrees fully with Dr. Oswald, and quotes him freely. He gives several remarkable examples of wonderful cures which he knows of having been effected by following the principles he lays down. Whether the course he recommends will be quite as effective, in all cases, as he seems to believe it will be, or not, he has laid down principles which may be followed with profit, and the following of which may relieve many cases regarded as desperate; and he has given the public a most valuable manual of hygiene.
"The Medico-Legal Journal." Vol. I, No. 1, June, 1883. Published under the Auspices of the Medico-Legal Society of New York. Pp. 118. Price, $3 a year.
This is claimed to be the only journal in any part of the world devoted exclusively to the science of medical jurisprudence. It will publish the leading papers of the Medico-Legal Society, and a summary of its transactions and contributions from all
