Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 38.djvu/136

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126
THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

are distinguished thus: "In the first group merely the voluntary movements show changes; in the second group abnormities in the functions of the sense organs are added. In the first group, also, only those functions are abnormal which we attribute to the centrifugal nerves, while in the second group the functions of the centripetal nerves are likewise disturbed." The longest and most important chapter in the book is that on the symptoms of hypnosis. These he arranges under the headings Physiology and Psychology, but merely for convenience, as the bodily functions become abnormal only in consequence of changed mental states. The physiological symptoms concern "the voluntary and involuntary muscles, the organs of sense, common sensation, the secretions, metabolism, and, in rare instances, also the cell-power of organization." As to whether reflex movements that do not appear under normal conditions appear in hypnosis, as Charcot and Heidenhain assert, the author is inclined to say "not proven." Under psychology he names abnormity of the memory, the performance after being wakened of actions suggested during hypnosis, the habit of hypnotics trying to find reasons for absurd suggested acts, etc. In his opinion we can not speak of loss of consciousness in hypnosis, nor is the subject devoid of will power, as is often shown by resistance to suggestions. In concluding this division of the subject, Dr. Moll delivers a caution against mistaking the results of training for essential hypnotic phenomena. For instance, Delbœuf artificially induced the stages of Charcot in one of his own subjects in a few hours. A discussion of states cognate to hypnotism follows. Dr. Moll begins by saying, "I do not think we can make a close comparison between sleep and hypnosis," but seems to contradict himself by stating, in conclusion, that "hypnosis by no means needs to be sharply distinguished from sleep." Next the author takes up the theory of hypnotism, and passes in review the various actions in the brain that have been supposed to account for hypnotic phenomena. He gives a little attention to the subject of simulation, because disbelievers in the reality of hypnotism are very fond of crying fraud. lie also considers respectively the medical and the legal aspects of hypnotism in a suggestive style, and closes with a tolerant glance at the alleged phenomena of animal magnetism, telepathy, etc. Two indexes and a short list of the books the author chiefly recommends are appended to the volume. The author is himself an experimenter and frequently alludes to his own results, but his tone throughout is that of a judge rather than that of the advocate of any special theory. His pages bristle with parentheses, inclosing names of men to whom he credits observations and opinions. The work claims to be thoroughly up to date, it gives evidence of having been carefully written, and it has already had the benefit of one revision.

Practical Sanitary and Economic Cooking adapted to persons of moderate and Small Means. By Mrs. Mary Hinman Abel. American Public Health Association: Rochester, N. Y. Pp. 182. Price, 40 cents.

This little work is the essay for which was awarded the prize of five hundred dollars offered by Mr. Henry Lomb, of Rochester, in 1888. Its great superiority over the other essays offered in the competition may be inferred from the fact that no one of the other sixty-nine was adjudged worthy of the second prize of two hundred dollars offered at the same time. The basis of the treatise is an explanation of what is meant by food principles, with the amounts of each that are required by a man, a woman, and a child, respectively, and the percentages to be found in different kinds and cuts of meat, in vegetables, etc. This theoretical matter is illustrated by practical directions for cooking all the reasonably economical foods. The recipes are grouped under the three headings, Proteid-containing Foods, Fats and Oils, and Carbohydrate-containing Foods. In describing methods of cooking meat, the author first answers the question which probably few housewives have ever thought to ask Why do we cook it at all? Several ways of cooking each kind are given, and the rank of each in the scale of economy is told. In the short chapter On Fats and Oils, the importance of fat in the diet is emphasized, and several ways of preparing cheaper fats so as to take the place of butter are described. The cooking of grains and vegetables, and the making of bread, fritters, and puddings,