animal (even man) and then watch while the sunseen forces of vital powers break down and demolish the growth, and quite another to attempt, by suppressive or "drastic" excision, the cure of abnormalities which come into evidence only as the result of years of wrong living, and only when the natural vitality has been largely expended in the constant Divine endeavor to prevent it. I am not alone in my conviction that the theory and practice of inoculation is even more against nature than the now almost discarded sixounce bottle of magic, pills, powders, capsules, herbs, etc., are. Preventive artificial therapeutics are at once a delusion and a snare, unworthy of inclusion in the arts or crafts of man, and there is much ground for the outbursts of many enlightened, intelligent critics of "Doctoritis," that the recent change in medical fashions is simply a cross over from a badly lighted street to a very, very foggy one. I had diabetes and chest trouble in 1917, and was cured in a few weeks by a complete fast on "aqua pura"-since then I have devoted all my waking moments and much of my cash to a close investigation of the pregnant claims of nature healers. I find that if fasting is the first step taken, every disease, including cancer, and the dread arthritis, is curable by elimination. I have fasted over 1,000 people since 1920, and in every case where this much-derided and misunderstood, old-fashioned method has had a reasonable early innings, the results have been to the complete satisfaction of all concerned. I hope to write you again on this subject. In the meantime, may I impress upon your readers the paramount importance of getting back to nature in the all-important matter of "What shall we eat and drink?" Yours, etc., JOHN W. ARMSTRONG. 8 White's View, Bradford, Yorks, England. LE CANCER THYROIDIEN. Price 40 francs net. Léon Bérard and Charles Dunet. Paper. Paris, The authors, who are professors at the University of Lyon, have written a very valuable and exhaustive work on cancer of the thyroid. The first part of the book deals with the historical development of our knowledge of thyroid cancer (known only since 1750) and with the embriology, anatomy, and physiology of the thyroid; a chapter being devoted to thyroid cancer in animals. The authors put much stress on the fact that we must consider the thyroid not merely as an organ, but as a thyroid system of which the epithelial elements are of both endodermic as well as ectodermic origin, which alone can explain the polymorphism of thyroid tumors. The second part of the book discusses the etiology, pathology; anatomy and biochemistry. The authors observe that in regions of endemic goitre, the thyroid cancer rate is five to eight times greater, per 1000, than in other localities. The third part treats of the clinical aspects: Acute, woody, latent thyroid cancer cancer in aberrant thyroid tissue; diagnosis and treatment. They are sceptical about radium and x-ray therapy as well as surgical removal; usually too late. The illustrations, particularly those of the microscopic sections, are very good and instructive. As they had the opportunity to study an enormous amount of material from the most goitrous region in France, nearly a quarter of the book is taken up with the gross and microscopic anatomy. The presentation is clear and the teachings sound, except that little reference is made to the medical treatment. The bibliography is voluminous and up-to-date; but there is, unfortunately, no index. Sarcoma of the thyroid is much neglected, but references to metastatic and secondary deposits, especially in bone, are numerous—a refreshing departure from most recent books on cancer. I TUMORI DELLA LINGUA E LA LORO CURA CHIRURGICA. By Nicola Novara. Siena, 1923, Tipografia Co-operativa, Via Galluza, 1; octavo, paper, pp. 215. The author, who is a voluntary assistant at the Institute of General Clinical Surgery and Operative Medicine at the University of Siena, Italy, fails to prove his thesis, in a most lamentable manner. The twenty-two pages consecrated to the anatomy and physiology of the tongue are entirely superfluous, as the information contained therein is of a most elementary character and can be found much better presented in undergraduate textbooks. The very copious references are, unfortunately, old ones, most of them referring to works which appeared over twenty-five years ago. No cases are recorded, except under carcinoma of the tongue, where ten cases are mentioned. If the end-results of the surgical cure of cancer of the tongue are to be judged by these cases, one might as well conclude that surgery is a ghastly failure. The majority of them have had recurrences, within a year, or as the author naively states: "e fu perduto di vista," were lost from view. Many of the operative procedures given by the author are entirely obsolete. The most glaring instance being the section of the mandible, devised by Roux in 1836, to which Novara devotes two and a half pages. Neither does he forget Sedillot's method which was in vogue in 1844. The pathology of the various tumors of the tongue is greatly neglected, and there is no reference to skeletal metastases at all. Finally the author devotes a chapter to "amyloid tumors." Why he should include this condition among the tumors, when all pathologists classify it as an inflammatory degeneration, is beyond the comprehension of the humble reviewer. WHAT IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF CANCER? IS IT THE EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION OF COMMON SALT, SALTED FOODS, AND SALT COMPOUNDS? By Frederick T. Marwood, John Bale, Sons & Danielson, London. Still another book on Cancer by an English layman! Mr. Marwood presents again a subject which was urged by the late Dr. Braithwaite of Leeds, England, in a similar brief monograph in 1901, and gives an abstract of this at the end of his little book. While this is not at all a scientific work, Mr. Marwood has collected quite a lot of data which more or less support him in his theory, and claims that he has investigated over one hundred cancer deaths, and in every one had found that the victim had been abnormally fond of salt and salted foods, or had taken aperient salts daily for many years. Although we need not accept the theory in its entirety, it is but another instance of the recognition of the constitutional nature of cancer, and the relation of food to the causation of the disease, which is indicated in the second and third original articles in this issue, and quite a contrast to the book just previously reviewed. After all, it is incumbent upon those who have the responsibility of treating this dire disease to be open-minded and study all phases of the cancer question, as the results of surgery, x-rays and radium have seemed to be so inefficient and even to have raised the mortality from cancer, and the laboratories have added little if anything to the practical curing of the disease. It is quite possible that this salt question may be one which may help our giving relief to suffering humanity. SEPSIS, DECOMPOSITION AND CANCER. By Henry E. Jones, M.B., C.M., Glasgow. This curious small book of 160 pages presents an absolutely new theory as to the cause of cancer, which has features which may be worth while considering, but by no means endorsing, until confirmed by others. He has certainly put a good deal of time and thought into the experiments upon which he bases his theory. Starting with the idea that decomposition was produced by oxidation, and finding that what was often thought to be microbes were not such, but were only particles of matter left after putrefaction, as shown by a large number of experiments made with oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, he found that these agents stimulated live animals and decomposed dead tissue. Then he experimented microscopically with the effect of these agents on animalcules found in stagnant water, and found that they changed to a green color, swelled up and burst, leaving dark specks, which ran together and produced the appearance of bacteria (cocci diplococci, and streptococci). Then he experimented in the same way with beef, potatoes, etc., in sealed receptacles, and found decomposition, acidity and heat of several degrees with the production of gas, on which he made. innumerable tests, and found hydrogen, carbonic acid, etc. He then argued that, as the blood received and gave off oxygen, so the dead tissue within the body must be oxidized and decomposed with the production of heat and acidity, and he believed that the heat stimulated living cells to a new formation: heat stimulates all growths, as in hot houses, hatching of eggs, etc. Thus he came to cancer, which he recognized as a rebellious growth of normal tissue. He then concluded that, as the normal cells of the body were continually dying, being replaced by others, and as all injury to them kills some cells and all of them are attacked by the oxygen of the blood, and decomposed, producing heat and carbonic acid, and as the process stimulated adjoining cells, which as we know lose their function and retain only the power of luxurious growth, these were the processes that composed cancer. At the end of the volume he sums up his views, as the results of his experiments and study, as follows: "The theory that dead tissue, when oxidized, generates heat, gives off gas, and is thereby decomposed; and that heat stimulates new cell formation, and the formation of new growths and cancer, such as are found in the animal body. By this theory we can explain how it comes that parts which are injured or irritated, and parts which are degenerating sometimes become cancerous. This theory explains how cancer may appear in two or more parts of the body at the same time. By this theory we can understand why cancer is seldom found in the young, and why it is so prevalent in middle life when tissue changes are taking place. By this theory we can explain how cancer poisons and undermines the system and saps away the strength. By this theory we can also account for the fact that biological chemistry has failed to discover, and that the microscope has failed to show the cause of cancer." It may seem unnecessary to give space to this new approach to cancer, but its novelty warrants thought, and progress is made in all science by theories being formed on such evidence as has accumulated, and then by the author and others seeking to prove or disprove them. DRUGS THE MAIN CAUSE OF CANCER, AND A RATIONAL SYSTEM OF CURE. By Frazer Mackenzie, C.I.E. Another book on cancer by an English layman, but quite different from those by Barker, Harger, Mallet, Reinheimer, and Russell-all laymen— reviewed in former issues; because it is of some or much practical value in understanding cancer and its treatment, we mention it. Although this |