advanced further than others. The factors referred to are hunting and polygamy.

Fighting Foes Too Small to See. By Joseph McFarland, M.D., Sc.D., Professor of Pathology in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. Illustrated with sixty-four engravings. Philadelphia: The F. A. Davis Company, publishers. 1924. Price, $2.50 net. The rapid progress made during the last century in what is now the field of bacteriology is one of the most inspiring and stimulating pages in the history of the race. It is a story richly adorned by the lives of a noble army of workers, of whom we may mention Pasteur, Lister, Koch, and Ross. It is obvious that nothing but good can result from any intelligent effort to place this knowledge at the disposal of the general public. The author of this work calls our attention to the fact that the laws of every civilized community bristle with regulations designed to safeguard the general health. Do we desire a community which is in a state of constant rebellion against these apparently arbitrary decrees, or at most, one which obeys in a luke-warm and unintelligent manner, or rather are we striving to obtain the active and intelligent co-operation of every citizen? This volume is based upon a series of public lectures given by the author in Philadelphia with this object in view. It is to be regretted that in such a work he has informed his reader, presumably a layman, that "Doctors are prone to be full of conceit. Many of them seem to feel that they have some monopoly of intellect and information. . ." Is not a great deal of stubborn resistance to health regulations based on precisely this assumption?

The early chapters of the book give an interesting historical survey of the opinions of scientists with regard to the nature and causes of fermentation and putrefaction. We are then informed in simple language what is the nature of the harmful effects produced by pathogenic types, followed by a description of the methods by which infection is usually brought about. In his treatment of this subject the author endeavors to justify the steps taken to safeguard the general public from carriers, of whom Typhoid Mary is the type. The dangers from, and the efforts made to destroy insect carriers in different parts of the world are fully discussed.

Geriatrics. A Treatise on the Prevention and Treatment of Diseases of Old Age and the Care of the Aged by Malford W. Thewlis, M.D., Editor, "Medical Review of Reviews;" Associate Editor, "The Therapeutic and Dietetic Age." With introductions by A. Jacobi, M.D., LL.D., and I. L. Nascher, M.D. Second edition, revised and enlarged. St. Louis, Mo.: The C. V. Mosby Company. Canadian Agents: McAinsh & Co., Toronto.

1924.

This work contains a clinical discussion of cases of senile disorders a series of monographs. The author pleads for special attention to geriatry. There is a geriatric society in New York. These specialists not only advise as to treatment of senile diseases, but also as to the care of the aged, the causes of ageing and the measures for prolonging life. Subjects treated are electrotherapy, opotherapy, senile heart disease, asthma, emphysema, influenza, rheumatism, pruritis, and cirrhosis of the liver. The author maintains--and rightlythat we must detect nephritis, diabetes, cancer, etc., when they first develop if we wish to secure the best results.

Medical and Veterinary Entomology. A Textbook for use in Schools and Colleges, as well as a Handbook for the use of Physicians, Veterinarians and Public Health Officials, by William B. Herms, Professor of Parasitology in the University of California. Second edition, completely revised. New York and Toronto: The Macmillan Company. 1923. Price, $6.50.

During the last thirty years the patient and persistent efforts of numerous workers in the field of medical entomology have produced an abundant harvest of useful knowledge regarding diseases of men and animals. A great deal of this knowledge is scattered through numerous journals, many of them obscure and inaccessible to the student or general practitioner. The author of this textbook has, in a most successful manner, condensed and systematized the work, and made the essentials available to those who are not specialists in the field.

The opening chapter deals with the comparatively brief history of the subject. It is but forty-six years ago that Manson made his classical discoveries in connection with the role the mosquito plays in the growth and dispersal of Filaria bancrofti. The writer gives the essential features of each new discovery. Although the more human, and perhaps more interesting, details of particular investigations are omitted, this

section can without much trouble be enlarged upon by the lecturer, by means of the references to the original literature which are given. The following chapters are devoted to a description and discussion of insect anatomy and classification in general. They are not complete, but should provide an adequate basis for the more detailed study of special groups. Directions are given for the investigation of the internal and external anatomy of typical forms. This leads up to a discussion of the methods by which insects in general cause and carry disease.

The larger portion of the book is devoted to the study of special groups and the diseases with which they are associated: Cockroaches, lice, bedbugs, mosquitoes, horseflies, houseflies, muscids, fleas, ticks, mites, and venomous insects and arachnids. The life history and anatomy of these pests are given, and also the characteristic features of the particular disease, often illuminated by useful extracts from actual histories. In addition to its being a descriptive science, the author rightly includes in his text a full treatment of the methods by which these diseases can be prevented rather than cured. Methods are given by which these insect pests can be controlled, and it is hoped eventually eliminated from the community. Most of these measures are based on simple commonsense, and involve little expense or specialized knowledge. With the assistance of this book it should not be difficult to convince farmers, housekeepers, and business men that such work is justified even from the point of view of dollars and cents. The book is printed with clear type on good paper, and the numerous photographs and line-drawings have been splendidly reproduced.