Popular Science Monthly/Volume 61/August 1902/Scientific Literature
PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY.
The publication, by an American author, of another new work devoted exclusively to physiological chemistry gives evidence of the increasing recognition which this branch of science is receiving in this country. The 'Text-book of Physiological Chemistry,' by Dr. Charles E. Simon,'[1] of Baltimore, is a satisfactory addition to the few really valuable books on this subject in English. Resembling in many details of treatment the widely known volume by Hammarsten, Simon's new treatise shows the same features of presentation which have made the author's work on Clinical Diagnosis so favorably received. In somewhat over 400 pages the chief facts and important methods of physiological chemistry are offered in the light of the recent advances, the purely chemical aspects being emphasized.—A new English translation (470 pp.) of Bunge's 'Text-book of Physiological and Pathological Chemistry'[2] is announced by American publishers. The new edition of this work which has lately appeared in German as the second volume of Bunge's new 'Lehrbuch der Physiologie'[3] shows the same unique peculiarities of style which make his publications so readable. Bunge's views on many topics seem, however, somewhat extreme; they frequently attract attention from the unusual standpoints assumed, rather than from any indication of broad and progressive familiarity with the literature of the subject.—The 'Lectures on Chemical Pathology' by Dr. C. A. Herter,[4] of New York, forms one of the most suggestive and interesting publications of the year. They point out the importance of chemical considerations in the study of both physiological and pathological processes, and abound in illustrations drawn from an extensive acquaintance with clinical and experimental data. The medical practitioner who has lately been hearing about physical factors in therapeutics will find in Dr. Herter's chemical treatment much that is new and stimulating. The distinctive scientific attitude of the author is everywhere apparent.—Oppenheimer's 'Die Fermente und ihre Wirkungen,'[5] which appeared two years ago, is now available in English form under the title 'Ferments and their Actions.'[6] The extensive references to the literature make it helpful to the physiological chemist. Dr. Effront's work on enzymes has also been translated (in part) from the French by Dr. Prescott, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[7]—In the book of 290 pages on 'Les fonctions hépatiques,'[8] Gilbert and Carnot have reviewed the physiology of the liver in its various aspects. Like Hédon's publication on the pancreas, it indicates a return to the monograph form of presenting the details of physiological research.