Mental Deficiency Due to Birth Injuries

The most fascinating and informative biography that has recently come to my attention is that of William Conrad Rontgen by Dr. Otto Glasser of Cleveland, which includes a chapter of "Personal Reminiscences" by Margret Boveri of Berlin. The preliminary part of the book deals with the dramatic chapter in science, the discovery of the roentgen rays, with a reprinting of Rontgen's first article "On a New Kind of Rays," and the report of H. J. W. Dam in McClure's Magazine for April, 1896, a lay article which still remains one of the best of the early reports of the discovery. The author emphasizes that the greatness of R6ntgen lies in the fact that he grasped the significance of an unknown phenomenon and developed scientific methods of investigation which culminated in accurate knowledge of the roentgen rays. From a view-point of biographical interest the best chapters are undoubtedly those which deal with Rontgen the scientist and man, in which Glasser shows his skill as a biographer, and that of the personal reminiscences by Margret Boveri. Interesting too are the chapters on roentgen rays in medical diagnosis and in therapy; while the development of roentgen tubes and apparatus, and the practical use of roentgen rays for non-medical purposes reveal information which is not available in medical literature. The author devotes a chapter to the pioneer roentgenologists and their work, and it is evident that America may claim a generous share in the early work which followed the discovery. The book is not without delectable touches of humor, as seen in a chapter devoted to R6ntgen's discovery in contemporary humor. Among the amazing things we learn here is the advertisement of a firm in London which purported to sell "X-ray proof underclothing" and also of the introduction in February, 1896, of a bill in the New Jersey legislature "prohibiting the use of X-rays in opera-glasses in theatres." Appended to the volume is an admirable bibliography of 1044 articles concerning Rontgen. It is inconceivable that medical men and workers in roentgenology will not be interested in this volume in which the very fundamentals of this science are so admirably set forth. HERBERT THOMS.