10 AUGUST 1889, Page 25

The Recollections of a Nurse. By Sister Emma. (Macmillan and

Co.)—This is a little book which might be easily overlooked, but which is worth reading. It gives a simple and unpretending account of a nurse's work. She took up nursing in the Univer- sities' Mission at Zanzibar, owing to her enthusiasm for Dr. Livingstone, about whom she had heard when a girl. Then she was sent out by the Stafford House Committee to South Africa in 1879. Afterwards, she accompanied the Gordon Relief Expedition in Egypt. Her devotion to the British Army and to our soldiers is shown in her graceful dedication. She took an especial interest always in the Hospital Cooking Department. She writes :—" The doctors tell you there is nothing much the matter with a man ; and perhaps this is true. He is suffering from general debility, and general debility, so far as I have had the chance of observing, means general discontent. Now, would it not pay the British nation better to feed up these men for about three weeks or a month, and send them back to their regiments rejoicing, rather than keep them a little longer in the hospital at a little less expense, only to make them discontented, and wish themselves well out of the service Again, I cannot help thinking that, if the National Aid Society would go thoroughly into the cooking branch, and perfect the work in time of peace, they would add considerably to the well-being of our sick and wounded men, and would be warmly welcomed by the Army Medical Staff,—bearing in mind that any so-called Cooking Sister shall be under the control of the Senior Medical Officer of the hospital to which she may be attached."