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SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS Consumption and Civilization. By JOHN BESSEMER HUBER, A.M., M.D. J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia. One of the most marked steps in social progress during the past decade or more is the tendency which the scientific world is showing toward the en lightenment of the masses of the people on subjects hitherto deemed the exclusive property of the scien tist. In no one subject is this tendency more mark ed than in that of medicine, for it is only within the very recent past has it been an accepted theory that as much good can be accomplished by the edu cation of the people in the matter of preventing dis ease as by the intelligent treatment of it when it appears. This is notably true in infected cities where epidemics are threatened, as, for instance, in New Orleans when the dreaded Yellow Fever again made its appearance only last year. Had the conditions been met in 1867, or in 1878, as they were in 1905, two of the most deadly epidemics in his tory would never have occurred. This is not due altogether to the increased knowledge of precau tions, disinfectants, etc., etc., on the part of the physicians, but also because the public was instruct ed in the manner of fighting infection and of pre venting the spread of the disease. Educating the People. Philanthropists the world over are awakening to the need of educating the people along sanitary and hygienic lines, but in no one ill is this education more necessary, and, in fact, more demanded by the American people as a nation and by the people of the entire civilized world than in the treatment and the prevention of consumption—“ The Great White Plague.” Henry Phipps, the Philadelphia millionaire, has devoted a large part of his enor mous fortune, not to the establishing of a tubercu losis hospital, but to a sanitary bureau, as it were, where patients suffering from tuberculosis have only to make application in order to receive material as sistance in the way of proper food, the few’ needed medicines, but what is better still, the actual in structures in the care of the disease for the afflicted one and the protection of those around him. In ad dition to these written instructions the applicant’s address is taken and a district nurse makes regular visits to his home in order to enforce compliance with the necesary sanitary rules. Lay Literature on Scientific Subjects. The work done by this institution is indeed a great step forward in the right direction, but it is still another decided advantage when there ap pears for the use of the layman as well as of the physician a w’ork as perfectly fitted to instruct, to guide and to educate the individual along scientific lines as the volume we have under consideration, “Consumption and Civilization,” by Dr. Huber. This book may be said to be almost a pioneer in its appeal both to the layman, the sufferer himself as well as to the physician who has given careful scientific study to the subject. Complexity of the Subject. A subject like the treatment and cure of con sumption is one which, in its very nature, must be complex, but the work of Dr. Huber deals with the actual conditions as w’e know them today and no space is given to any review of the many “theo ries,” cures, etc., wihch have from time to time, held the center of the stage when the subject of consumption has been discussed. Os course credit is not lacking to Dr. Koch, the discoverer of the tubercle bacillus, but, knowing the presence of the evil, the fight is on to conquer it. Famous Victims of the Great White Plague. In his introductory chapter, Dr. Huber calls at tention to the fact that some of the world’s great est men and women have died of consumption— among these he cites the following: Bastien le Page, of France; the great actress Rachel; John Jongs, of our Revolutionary fame; Robert The Golden Age for October 4, 1906. Louis Stevenson, the writer of poems in prose and verse; Schiller, the great German poet; Laurence Sterne, Henry Cuyler Bunner, John Keats, Von Weber, Chopin, Henry Timrod, Henry Kirk White, Henry David Thoreau, Spinoza, Prosper Merime, Artemus Ward, our own Sidney Lanier, and many others who are well known to literary and historic fame. This list commands, at once, the attention of the reader and carefully he follows the context of this volume through page after page of stirring mat ter. Consumption Preventable and Curable. Perhaps the greatest truths to be deduced from the work of Dr. Huber are the paramount ones that consumption is curable; that it is often preventable and that it is always communicable. The latter is one of special points made and dilated on, and as much thought is given to it as to the further fact that the disease is curable. The modern theory for the treatment of tuber culosis being that nature supplies that best, if not the only remedy in the fresh air and sunshine so freely offered to all who will accept it, much stress is laid on outdoor treatment b Dr. Huber. This gentleman together with many of his brother practi tioners maintains that it is not necessary always for patients to seek western climates and many points are mentioned where sanitaria can be safely estab lished, while even treatment in the patient’s own home is explained and elaborated. The work is illustrated with most attractive pic tures of sanitaria as well as of unfavorable condi tions, environment that conspires to produce the disease, etc., etc. Infection from Tenement Houses. The question of infection through the work and contact of the poorer classes in the great cities is dwelt on at some length and the danger to the whole population is impressed on the reader’s mind. There would seem to be a great work still to do in this line, despite the fact that societies are already organized for this special purpose. Consumption and. Christianity. Under the head of “Sociological Resume,” Dr. Huber treats of the duty of the Christian to this subject, which phase of the question will appeal strongly to the readers of The Golden Age. One of these chapters is entitled “Phthisiophobia,” and deals with the morbid fear which the discovery that consumption is communicable has created in the average mind. Dr. Huber tells of an incident in which a young woman was refused a night’s lodg ing at an institution in a great city—an institution which bore over its door the “name of the Poor Nazarene.” This senseless fear of possible conta gion is justly scourged by Dr. Huber and the mania of those who experience it is condemned as it de serves. Yet another chapter is devoted to “Consumption and Christianity,” and the subject is treated most tactfully and a high tribute paid to Christianity. Dr. Huber says: “It is the spirit of Christ which has been the supremest influence in shaping civiliza tion during twenty centuries past—a spirit which has on the whole prevailed over all else that has been antagonistic to it. . . . What reason need one seek why this spirit endures, beyond such as is revealed in the gospel of this Christ ? . . . His noble altruism, His tender sympathy for men and women who suffer and are in anguish; His self-abnegation, even unto death To the good fruit which this spirit has borne every man who lives in the world and is of the world must give grateful testimony. Such testimony is most insufficiently described in this book. However, some instances to the contrary have been set forth and to these must be added the fol lowing.” Dr. Huber then sets forth the obstacles to the passage of governmental legislation in regard to consumption and he also urges on the Christians of the world the urgent need which, as fol lowers of the Savior, all should feel, to make better social conditions; to protect the people by establishing sanitaria, by inspecting personal prop erty and in every way aiding the few who are mak ing a good fight toward the desired goal. In con clusion, Dr. Huber says: “And is it not woeful, 0 Christ, is it not infinitely woeful when, in all this tawdry fabric of civilization, a piece of money is so often set against a bitter tear, a shrewd bargain against a sick and tired heart; a phariseeism, such as Thou didst hate so much, against a life crushed out before its time?” S. T. D. The Mayor of Warwick. By HERBERT M. HOPKINS. (The Cole Book Co., Atlanta, Ga.) If the story of The Mayor of Warwick, from the press of Houghton, Mifflin & Co., were a melo drama, the most natural criticism would be that it is entirely too “mellow.” It is a long drawn out relation of events in which politics and romance are mixed. It fails, however, to give any insight into political methods, and presents situations in romance that are not of the uplifting tendency. The Mayor of Warwick is a baseball player in summer and a street car conductor in winter. The daughter of a bishop, head of a famous college, imagines herself in love with and secretly marries him. While she inspires him to attempt to reach a higher station, he continues, even as mayor, an intrigue with a servant girl in the bishop’s house hold, and his evenings seem to be filled with clan destine meetings, alternately with mistress and maid. The situation is presented of a young col lege professor, making love to and forcibly kissing the bishop’s daughter, at the first meeting after he has discovered that she is another man’s wife, and he is supposed to be in love with her, too I But the limit is reached when the bishop is made to conspire against his own daughter’s life’s happiness and send her to a nunnery, that the college may be en larged through the use of her personal fortune. The story is of present times and in away discusses class prejudices. Accepting the story as a correct presentation, or even plausible, if it teaches any thing at all, it is that the one class, figuratively has the disabilities of the leopard and the other class is far from being what it is cracked up to be. Quiet Talks on Service. By S. T. GORDON. (Published by the Fleming H. Revell Co., N. Y.) “Quiet Talks on Service” is one of three vol umes uniform in style and similar, in away, in tone and purpose. The other “Quiet Talks” are on “Power” and “Prayer,” but the one on “Service” is so decidedly helpful, strong and in many ways unusual, that it deserves special mention. There has seemed, at times, a most unfortunate sameness in the treatment of serious theological subjects when designed for the lay mind, but in the volume under consideration there is a freshness of conception and a “personal note” of helpfulness that cannot be disregarded or treated lightly. Each chapter bears a special message of helpfulness, while the ones on “Worry, A Hindrance to Service,” and on “Mon ey, The Golden Channel of Service,” are worthy of special notice. We could wish that these sepa rate chapters might be furnished in tract form and widely scattered throughout the Christian world. All the “Don’t Worry” clubs in the world must sink into insignificance beside this beautiful con ception of trust in the divine promise that “He Has You on His Heart,” and the person remember ing this, must, after reading this chapter, take up the burden of life with renewed energy and a deep inspiration toward better and nobler living. Mr. Saunders, a former schoolmaster, told the British House of Lords’ Committee on Juvenile smoking that he could detect smokers by their handwriting—that of boys who smoked being of a loose, flabby kind. Handwriting, he said, was a cinematograph of the heart. 11