This is unquestionably a very able and carefully-written monograph on a symptom of the greatest practical importance, and one which is present, as the author well remarks, in the majority of diseases. At the same time, headache is so often of such a distressing character, and so obtrusive that it may be the only complaint of the patient, or the only symptom for which he seeks relief, so that any contribution which helps us in our efforts to grasp its meaning, to clear up its association or relation, and diagnose its cause, is most welcome; and it is not too much to say that anyone mastering this complete work should be most familiar with the complex subject of headache. In the search for material, the author has waded through an enormous mass of literature, of which he gives the bibliography and index, and he seems to have extracted therefrom the best essence, which, added to the results of his own observations, based on an analysis of 1,300 cases, contributes to the formation of an admirable treatise.

A perusal of this pamphlet, dealing with the vitally important question of the “inheritance of acquired characters,” and in which the author meets the arguments urged against his criticisms of Weismann's doctrines, should prove most interesting, and it is not claiming too much for it to say that it will cause many a one to hesitate before proclaiming that “the last bulwark of the Lamarckian principle is untenable,” to quote Weismann.

Although we are obliged to postpone our review of this splendid work to a future number, from the limited time at our disposal before going to press, we must now record a high opinion which we entertain of the manner in which it has been edited by Professor Fraser. In the meantime every one interested in the psychology of Locke ought to possess himself of this valuable work.

We can speak in the highest terms of this work, and are glad to observe that the author promises an additional volume. He engages in the undertaking with the enthusiasm that is natural in a man who is closely connected by family ties with the most distinguished alienist of the group of French physicians whose lives are recorded in the volume before us, for M. Semelaigne is the great-grand-nephew of Philippe Pinel. The author is well known and appreciated by a number of English specialists who have formed his acquaintance during his visits to this country, having been present at the Centenary of the foundation of the York Retreat, when the Association met in that city in 1892, and when he attended the Dublin Meeting this year.

This, the latest publication of Dr. Mercier, is carefully written, and although there is nothing novel in its contents, yet asylum medical officers will find the orderly arrangement useful. Interleaved, this book could be made available for memoranda in loco.

Barnwood House.—The retirement of Dr. and Mrs. Needham naturally forms the subject of remark in many parts of this Report, and cordial congratulations are offered to Dr. N. on his appointment to the Lunacy Commission. The recent history and progress of the institution have been so identified with Dr. Needham's name that his resigning its management might seem to threaten a blow to its success; but the worst compliment that could be paid to him would be to assume that he has built up and left the system on such a narrow and personal foundation; and we feel sure that Dr. Soutar will be found to be a competent follower in Dr. Needham's footsteps.

At the session of the International Medico-Legal Congress at Chicago last autumn some twenty papers bearing on various aspects of criminal anthropology were brought forward. They were nearly all by Americans, and for the most part have not yet been published. It is announced that they will appear in subsequent issues of the “Medico-Legal Journal.” Dr. G. H. Hill dealt with the disposal of the criminal insane; ex-Judge H. M. Somerville with their improved condition in relation to the law; Dr. W. B. Fletcher with the establishment of houses of detention for the alleged insane prior to commitment; Dr. F. C. Hoyt dealt with sexual perversion from the medico-legal standpoint; Dr. F. E. Daniels read a paper advocating the castration of habitual criminals and sexual perverts, a proposal not accepted by subsequent speakers, who advocated hypnotic treatment or isolation; Dr. N. O. B. Wingate dealt with journalistic “suggestion” as a factor in the production of crime, arguing that those persons who sow the seeds of contagion of mental diseases should be treated in the same way as in the case of physical contagion; Mr. G. T. Davidson, a New York lawyer, read a paper on the criminal aspect of suicide, protesting against a recent law in the State of New York which has made attempted suicide a felony, punishable by fine and imprisonment, and pointing out that confinement (unless accompanied by skilful medical treatment) can only intensify the moral misery and physical disturbance of would-be suicides; Dr. E. S. Talbot dealt with race degeneracy as exhibited in abnormalities of the jaws and teeth; Dr. Harriet Alexander read a paper on anthropometric researches among prostitutes; Dr. F. Lydston on anthropometric researches in the criminal class, and also on crimes among negroes; and Dr. J. G. Kiernan read a paper on simulation and conspiracy as tests of sanity, and another on psychiatry and criminal anthropology. A general account of the proceedings is given in the “Medico-Legal Journal” for last September (only recently issued), and some of the papers are reprinted in fall.

Dr. Vorster (“Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie,” L. Band, 3 and 4 Heft.) details his experiments on the quantity of hæmoglobin and the specific gravity of the blood of the insane. He refers to the previous experiments of Macphail, Smyth, and Winkler, with which his own results are in general agreement. He observes it has been found in ordinary medicine that the appearance of the patient affords no criterion as to the amount of hæmoglobin in the blood. Schmalz found that there was a parallel relation between the quantity of haemoglobin and the specific gravity of the blood, though not between the specific gravity and the number of the blood corpuscles. Dr. Vorster's experiments were made upon 128 patients, 104 of whom were males and 24 females. He considers the normal specific gravity of the blood to range from 1,055 to 1,062 for males, and from 1,051 to 1,058 for females. Anything under 90 per cent, of the hæmoglobin in males or 85 per cent, in females he holds to be pathological. Vorster's method of research allowed him to experiment on a small quantity of blood.