Jump to content

Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 35.djvu/293

From Wikisource
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
LITERARY NOTICES.
279

Deep Sea and its Contents"; four, to "The Force behind Nature," "Nature and Law," "The Doctrine of Evolution in its Relations to Theism," and "The Argument from Design in the Organic World." The list of Dr. Carpenter's writings contains two hundred and ninety-three titles.

The Plantation Negro as a Freeman. By Philip A. Bruce. "Questions of the Day Series." No. LVII. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 262. Price, $1.25.

The estimate of negro character which prevails in the Northern States, where negroes are few, has been more influenced by knowledge of the wrongs which the race has suffered than by acquaintance with the actual habits of the black people. Mr. Bruce's volume will dispel any too ideal view of the black race which the reader may hold. It is a very thorough presentation of their mental and moral traits, as exhibited in all the important relations of life, based upon observations of the author extending over a long series of years since emancipation, in "South side Virginia," a region containing a colored population of about two hundred and fifty thousand. Mr. Bruce represents the negro as a careless and capricious parent, as being decidedly lax in regard to the marriage tie, as depending on firm management for his value as a servant, and as humble or impertinent in demeanor toward the whites according to the way he is treated. His crimes are of the impulsive class—he is not a cool and calculating villain. As a voter he is easily led astray, and is becoming readily purchasable. His religion is emotional, and has but little influence on his conduct. He is highly superstitious, and has great faith in the trick doctor. The author thinks that the ordinary sort of education furnished the negro hurts him in some ways, as well as helping him, and that a system modified so as to be adapted to his character would be much more of a benefit. About the same that was said of the black as a servant applies to him as a farm laborer. He delights to own or rent land, but his laziness makes him an undesirable tenant. As a mechanic he is generally only a helper. Mr. Bruce regards the negro not as being essentially depraved, but as having many unfortunate weaknesses, and this opinion dominates the view as to the future of the race which he gives in the closing chapter. He regards the proper solution of the negro problem as a matter of profound solicitude to a large and important part of our country.

A Manual of Instruction in the Principles OF Prompt Aid to the Injured. By Alvah H. Doty, M. D. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 224. Price, $1.25.

In order that the subject of this volume may be well understood, it is essential to know something of the construction of the human body and the functions of the different organs. For this reason the author devotes about a third of the volume to anatomy and physiology. Coming to the application of this knowledge, he describes the use of roller bandages, of four-tailed, square, triangle, and cravat bandages; of slings, compresses, and tampons; also the tying of knots, the making of poultices, and the application of moist and dry heat. Half a dozen pages are devoted to antiseptics and deodorants. The various forms of injury are then described, and the proper treatment for each is stated. Under wounds, the bites of dogs and snakes are included. The chapter on hæmorrhage contains a diagram showing the position of the important arteries, and a cut of a suspender so devised as to be especially useful in case of emergency for constricting a bleeding limb. The use of various articles likely to be at hand as temporary splints and slings in cases of fracture is described. A variety of injuries, many of them involving unconsciousness, receive due attention. Among these are burns, frost-bite, fainting, stunning, intoxication, fits, hysteria, and heat-stroke.

In the treatment of drowned persons, three methods of artificial respiration are given, with figures. There is a chapter on poisons, and another in which a variety of injuries and affections are treated, including convulsions of children, bed-sores, chafing, etc. The last chapter is on transportation of the patient, either with or without a litter, manufactured or extemporized, and includes by permission that part of the "Manual of Instruction for Hospital Corps, U.S. A." which relates to transportation of the wounded, with the cuts. The author states that special effort has been made to so arrange the matter and to introduce such points as