Vol. 60, 1909 - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Book Notices.
The Popes and Science. By James J . Walsh,
M. D., Professor of the Historj' of Medicine
and of Xervous Diseases at Pordham
University School of Medicine. Cloth,
423 pages. New York: Fordham University
Press, 1908.
The writer wants to prove that the Roman
Catholic Church, in the person of its Popes,
has been misjudged by the general consensus
of historical opinion, that the Romish
Church has fostered Science as well as Art,
and the Science of Medicine in particular.
Dr. Walsh rather rashly takes issue with
"The Warfare of Science with Theologv,"
by Andrew D. White. Dr. Walsh's work
is not without a certain interest but it somehow
fails to carry conviction, as for instance
in his first argument concerning Pope
Boniface X'lH's prohibition of dissection in
1300. He does not succeed in weakening
Dr. White's position in favor of papal prohibition.
It is significant also that he finds
it necessary to go to such elaborate pains
to discredit M. Daunou's contribution to
the Benedictine "Ilistoire Litteraire de la
Prance," a standard authority from which
Dr. White quotes. The final quotation
from Pope Benedict XFV (1740-17.S8) to
prove that the decretal of Boniface V'lII
was not intended to forbid dissections seems
too much like ex parte testimony to have
much weiglit, though why a man living
some four hundred years later should be
authority does not appear.
Even the authorities he approves of do
not come to the same conclusions that he
does. Robert von Toply, in Puschmann's
"Oeschicte der Medizin." p. 214. \'ol. II,
says that, "Das klassische ( )biekt der mittelalterlichen
Anatomie, das Schwein"
played identically the same role in practical
instruction from the beginning of the eleventh
century until tlie end of the fourteenth
and even into the sixteenth.
The book is strongly partisan, unnecessarily
so. It has few resereuces to authori-
ties, aside from those it seeks to discredit.
Writing the Short-Story. A practical handbook
on the rise, structure, writing and
sale of the modern short story. Bv J.
Berg lisenwein, A. M., Lit. D., Editor of
Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. Hinds,
Noble cS: lildredge, Publishers, 31-.>.S
West Fifteenth St., New York City. Cloth.
I'rice, SI. On postpaid.
The author has made a most critical study
of the short-story which, as he says, is now
the most popular literary form. After a
historical introduction, the nature of the
short-story and its structure are most carefully
detailed. This part, which consti-
BOOK NOTICES 53
tutes the bulk of the work, is abundantly
illustrated with quotations from short-stories
by the best authors. Part three deals with
the preparation for authorship, including
the methods of acquiring a vocabulary and
the laboratory method of study of shortstories.
Part four deals with the marketing
of manuscripts, and several useful appendices
coaclude the volume. The writer
is eminenth- cjualified to give advice upon
this subject since his experience in passing
upon the quality of manuscripts submitted
to his publication has been very extensive.
To any of our readers who contemplate an
excursion into this literary field his treatise
can be heartily recommended as an eminently
satisfactory guide.
/V\iscellancou;
Rare Observation ol Acute Primary Latent
Dipbtberia ol the Middle Ear.
(Jlimpio Cozzolino records a somewhat
rare observation of primary diphtheria of
the middle ear. There was no evidence of
primary diphtheria of the nasopharynx,
although the child had adenoid vegetation
and hypertrophied tonsils during the course
of the disease. It began with an acute otitis
media which rendered paracentisis necessary.
Through the opening of the drumhead
was to be seen a grayish white membrane
covering the structures of the middle
ear. When removed with forceps this disclosed
a bleeding base. Aiititoxin was administered
and relieved the general symptoms,
but did not cause the disappearance
of the membrane. The serum was then
used by instillation into the middle ear, and
the membrane promptly disappeared. The
exudation from the throat showed no diphtheria
bacilli: neither did the membrane
removed from the middle ear. Still, the
author considered that there were enough
characteristic symptoms to show a true
primary diphtheria of the middle ear.—La
Pediatrica.
Experimental General Infection witb
Hepatic Localization.
Le Play reports the results of experiments
relative to general infection by a vine parasite,
called stearophora radicicola. The
spores, when injected into the circulation,
select the level of the liver, to the exclusion
of other organs. Innding in this gland a
hydro-carbonous medium, particularly favorable
for development, one can see them
appear, at the end of a few weeks, under
the form of mycelium or in the state of
selerols. This parasite gives rise to the