Volume 1

The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others].

Date:
1908-1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    13/430 (page 7)
    / from the practice of consulting te.xt-hooks and dictionaries, written for the medical profession and abounding in technical terms and pathological allusions. The amount of information contained in this work is certainly remark- able and, we believe, unique, and it is only the appeal the work makes to the reading {)ublic in the great countries of the world that has made j)racticable the presentation in such a form of so rich a store of useful knowledge. Some, indeed, may cavil at the simplicity of the advice it gives, in the language of Pope’s much-abused line— “ A little learning is a dangerous thing.” But, we venture to say, a little knowledge is not a dangerous thing, provided it be accurate as far as it goes, and that in the science of health especially is the line untrue, for its facts and principles are so simple compared with those of medicine that they can readily be acquired and understood by the untrained lay mind. To us, therefore, the simplicity and directness of the advice is its greatest claim, and we can cordially recommend this work as a very efficient help in time of need. We should like, in conclusion, to point out a few of the more noteworthy features of this book. So far as we are aware, this is the first work of this character which contains a manikin, such as is now in use for instructional purposes in German schools. This alone is a feature of much interest, and we know nothing that so well takes the place of the anatomical investigation of the body itself. The illustrations of this book are another valuable feature, and bring its teachings better home to the mind than columns of description could do. Lastly, there is throughout the book a full description of what may be called “ natural therapeutics ” or hygienic measures and precautions. These, in their great variety, are mainly of modern origin; but this work gives a clear and intelligible account of them, including all recent improve- ments. This is the more valuable as the larger part of domestic medicine consists in the application of these natural therapeutics, rather than in drugs, which are best left to the ])hysician. Finally, one word of caution. Every .valuable medicine we possess