As for nurses refusing cases because they are afraid of them: I think there is usually some just cause. If a nurse has a tendency towards tuberculosis, she should refuse such cases; or if she has a tendency towards throat troubles, she should refuse diphtheria and scarlet-fever cases. A nurse who is constantly with a patient runs considerably more risk of infection than the physician, whose visits are usually short. There are nurses who make a specialty of such cases, and usually there is no trouble finding such a nurse. Nurses who make a specialty of obstetrical cases or of children should not take contagious work. As for a nurse refusing a typhoid case because she is afraid of it: I cannot believe that any real nurse would do such a thing. It also seems to me very ridiculous, and it surely cannot be a common thing for a nurse to inquire before she consents to take a case whether or not the plumbing is modern and how many servants are kept. As to just what Dr. Head means by saying that a nurse should be willing to do any kind of service about a house. I do not know; but I do know that nurses are not usually physically fit for washing or scrubbing, yet, as a rule, nurses are glad to perform duties which are not just in their line, in order to help the household to run smoothly. Most of the nurses in general work are engaged in nursing because they are obliged to earn their living, and in most cases because they are especially interested in this particular field; and, although most nurses take some charity cases, it is impossible for them to take many, even to satisfy what Dr. Head calls “the inner, higher longings of the soul.” Harriet M. Prime, R. N. Minneapolis, February 4, 1915. BOOK NOTICES MANUAL OF OBSTETRICS. By Edward P. Davis, A. M., M. D., Professor of Obstetrics in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. 12mo of 463 pages, 171 illustrations. Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders Company, 1914. Cloth, $2.25 net. As indicated by the name this is a handy book. It is well illustrated, the text is brief and well written, and as complete as could be expected in a work of its size. It presents no features which are especially new, though it takes up many of the most recent advances in obstetrics. It is a work that aims to give those who wish it a concise account of the status of obstetrics at the present time. --Adair. BALNEO-GYMNASTIC TREATMENT OF CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE HEART. By Prof. Dr. Theodor Schott, Bad-Nauheim. Published by Blakiston, Philadelphia. Price, $2.50. This brochure sets forth in the main, preceded by a short chapter on medical treatment, the philosophy, technic, and clinical results of balneogymnastic therapy in chronic heart-conditions.