a short notice, partly by way of due acknowledgment of our obligations to the trustees for transmitting them, and partly to keep them in the remembrance of our readers. It is impossible to review these volumes either analytically or critically. The contents are so multifarious in their nature, consisting in about equal proportions of an index of the work of the Institution, and of original and translated or abstracted papers, mainly on anthropological, physiological, and natural historical subjects, that an analysis such as our space would permit would consist of nothing more than a series of titles, with names of authors. Criticism is also impossible, the scope of the matter is so great and its subject so various. We can only say that as an index for research, especially in anthropology and zoology, there is no series of books which the student will find so valuable and indispensable for reference as these Annual Reports. They contain many original papers of great importance, and they guide to many more, both in the voluminous publications of the Institution, and in the literature of all languages. We may specify as illustrative of the truth of this general expression of opinion, that in the volume for 1880, the last which has come to hand, there is a Record of Scientific Progress, by competent authors, in these departments-Astronomy, Geology, Physics, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Botany, Zoology, and Anthropology. Among the Miscellaneous Papers there are a Bibliography of Anthropology, extending to about forty pages of small type; a Report on the Luray Cavern, Virginia, with several illustrations; a Discussion, with diagrams, of Prof. Snell's twenty-five years' Barometric Observations; an original Investigation of Illuminating Materials, reprinted from the Report of the U.S. Lighthouse Board for 1875; a Synopsis of the Scientific Writings of William Herschell, occupying above one hundred closely printed pages, ending with a "Subject Index" alphabetically arranged, with the date and reference to the original publication in each case; and lastly, Reports of Astronomical Observatories in America and elsewhere, describing the personnel, the instruments, and the character of the observations made. This volume is probably richer in material than any preceding; but all will be found worthy of reference by the student in almost every department of scientific research. The country which possesses an active and liberally managed agency for the collection and generous redistribution of knowledge, such as the Smithsonian Institution, is to be envied and congratulated. When the ample resources from which the great expenditure incidental to a work of such world-wide utility is derived, are, as

in this case, provided, not from the revenue of a nation, but from the beneficent endowment of a humble citizen, our envy is stimulated and our congratulation made all the heartier.

Regional Surgery, including Surgical Diagnosis; A Manual for the Use of Students. Part I-The Head and Neck. By F. A. SOUTHAM, M.A., M.B.Oxon., F.R.C.S.Eng. London: J. & A. Churchill. 1882.

IN describing this work as "including surgical diagnosis," the author fails to give an accurate idea of the limits of it, as in actual fact it "includes surgical diagnosis" and nothing else. A more correct title would have been "The Diagnosis of the Surgical Affections of the Head and Neck," as we have herein no word on the etiology, pathology, or treatment of the diseases mentioned. While it is true that many diseases have a tendency to affect special localities, there are so many others which are liable to occur in any and every part of the body, that a work carried out on a purely regional method must be marked by a great deal of rather wearisome repetition. Mr. Southam has endeavoured to avoid this by the use of reference numbers, which refer the reader to the paragraph wherein the disease is first described. In this way the difficulty has been partly overcome, but with the result of making the work very tedious reading, so as to be adapted only to the peculiar stamp of mind which takes delight in working out the intricacies of Bradshaw's Railway Guide and other similar compilations. Every page, however, bears evidence of wide reading and careful investigation, and we know of no work which contains within small compass so accurate a description of the surgical affections of this region; the rarest as well as the most common receiving their due share of attention. The adoption in so many instances of the tabular form, has enabled the author to place in distinct contrast those diseases having many features in common, and in this way we find the differential diagnosis of rodent ulcer, epithelioma, and lupus, of syphilitic and epitheliomatous ulcers of the tongue, and of the different forms of stricture of the oesophagus, displayed in a manner easy to be understood and remembered.

We think the publication of the book in three volumes, appearing at intervals, will seriously prejudice its sale, as few care to purchase the first volume of a work without some assurance of being able to obtain the last; we suppose the purpose in publishing part of a book in this way is to occupy

the field and so exclude competitors, but it seldom secures this result, and often so limits the sale as to discourage both author and publisher from proceeding further.

The Owens College Course of Elementary Biology. Part I.The Frog: an Introduction to Anatomy and Histology. By A. MILNES MARSHALL, M.D., D.Sc., Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, &c., &c. London Smith, Elder & Co. Manchester: J. E. Cornish. 1882.

THIS book is the first instalment of a guide to the practical work in the course of elementary biology at Owens College. It consists of a histological introduction and an anatomical description suitable for a handbook on the dissection of the frog. We are not aware what previous training the students of zoology in Owens College have undergone, but certainly any teacher who has students capable of working through the dissections, &c., described in this book is to be envied. Of the anatomical part we can only say that it seems absolutely exhaustive of the subject, and arranged with a precision and method which leave nothing to be desired. Especially is the printing to be commended, as, by a judicious use of various kinds of type, an astonishing amount of lucidity is obtained. Of the histological portion, or rather, the histological methods described, we regret that we cannot express approval. They are not only meagre but confused, and in some instances mistaken. For example, it is advised to stain tissues in mass before cutting sections-a method which we certainly never saw tried, and which, on the face of it, does not seem likely to give good results. If the piece is small enough to stain it must be smaller than is advantageous for cutting. The simple plan of removing air from specimens by immersion in boiled water or salt solution is not given, while other cumbrous methods are. Even in the otherwise excellent anatomical and histological portion microscopic methods seem a stumbling block; e. g., the student is advised to study the circulation of the blood in the web of the frog's foot-no mention being made of the other situations in which it can be more advantageously observed.

The anatomical and histological part of the book is admirable, and leaves practically nothing to be desired. It is a pity that the wholly unnecessary introduction to histological methods was not replaced by a mere reference to some of the numerous excellent textbooks already existing upon this subject.

REPORTS OF HOSPITAL AND PRIVATE

PRACTICE.

WESTERN INFIRMARY.

REPORTS UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF J. LINDSAY STEVEN, M.B.

FROM DR. CAMERON'S WARDS.

COMPOUND COMMINUTED FRACTURE OF SKULL, WITH RIGHT HEMIPLEGIA [Reported by Norman Maclehose, M.B., House Surgeon.] J. L., æt. 18, was admitted to Ward XX, on 18th November, suffering from a severe injury of the skull, caused by a string of iron "washers" falling from a considerable height upon his head. He was stunned by the blow and fell to the ground unconscious; but when admitted to hospital, to which he was brought almost at once, he was clear and coherent though in a state of tolerably deep shock. On examination, it was found that the wound was situated over the left parietal bone, and consisted of a laceration of the scalp, combined with a compound comminuted fracture of the skull. The fracture is in the form of a hole punched out of the bone, so that the pulsations of the brain could be distinctly seen. The rough edges of the fractured bone were felt round the greater part of the aperture, and there did not appear to be any depression, nor, on introducing the finger, were any loose spicules of bone to be felt. The wound was carefully washed out with solution of carbolic acid, and one stitch put in the scalp, free drainage being provided for below. Antiseptic dressings were applied, the head having previously been shaved for a considerable distance round the injured part. As regards the nervous symptoms, it was found that there was profound motor paralysis of the right arm and partial paralysis of the right leg. There appeared, so far as the dull perception of the patient permitted one to judge, to be no sensory paralysis of either arm or leg.

21st November. It is noted that the paralysis of the right arm remains as profound as ever. That of the right leg has in some measure disappeared. On testing the arm with an interrupted galvanic battery, the muscles respond freely to a feeble current.

25th November. The patient is much as before, so far as the power of his limbs is concerned. The wound is not aseptic, there being a discharge of slightly fœtid pus. Frontal

headache is occasionally complained of, but this usually disappears after free purging.

30th November.-About five o'clock P.M., on the day before yesterday, the patient, who since last report has been making satisfactory progress, called the nurse's attention to a twitching of the muscles of the right half of the face. For a day or two previous to this, complaints had been made of slight headache in the left frontal and temporal regions. These contractions of the facial muscles lasted from fifteen to twenty minutes, with one or two short intermissions. Since then, patient has progressed much as before, but there is present an unmistakable, although slight, right facial palsy, there being a distinct deviation of the tongue to the right side, while there is an evident expressionless condition of the right side of the face. He can pucker up his lips sufficiently to whistle, but with difficulty. On dressing the wound one or two long hairs were observed protruding, and pulled out of it; and on further search some small tufts of hair, evidently carried in between the fragments at the time of the injury, and a loose comminution of some size, were removed. In other respects the wound appears to be in a satisfactory state. The right arm remains in statu quo. The temperature keeps normal, and the pulse is regular, though slow, usually numbering about 48 beats per minute.

3rd December.-There has been no return of the twitching movements of the face, and the facial paralysis is gradually passing off, that of the right leg having in great measure disappeared. The right arm is still powerless, and is now beginning to atrophy; so much so, that, at a point three inches below the elbow, the left arm measures half-an-inch more in its circumference than the right.

7th December. The wound is healing slowly, and there is no fresh incident to report in the case.

11th December.-To-day it was noticed that the patient could move his right arm very slightly. The muscles most under his control were those of the upper arm.

14th December. This return of power is gradually increasing, and is evidently travelling from above downwards. He is as yet unable to move his fingers, but he can raise his arm above his head, and very slightly flex and extend the forearm, but is quite unable to exert any pressure with the fingers or thumb.

17th December.-He can now bend his fingers a little, and move his arm generally more than before. The facial paralysis has entirely disappeared, and the wound itself is doing well.