The Medicine Lady. By Mrs. L. T. Meade. 3 vols.
(Cassell and Co.)—We are inclined to think that the earlier part of this story is the best work that Mrs. Meade has done. Cecilia Harvey, who has too much heart to be a successful nurse, and Dr. Digby, devotee of science, are both fine studies. We recognise the truth of the drawing, and we follow their fortunes with unflagging interest. The latter half of the book is not an equal success. The medical theory on which it is constructed is not, we think, an adequate foundation, while the catastrophe of the story is one at which many readers will revolt. Nevertheless, Mrs. Meade shows powers of imagination, as well as of vivacious expression, in The Medicine Lady, which we do not remember to have seen in her work before. The tale, it appears, owes some- thing to the inspiration of a medical friend, and hospital life has, we presume, been studied with some care. But would a man of Dr. Digby's age, as it is here described or left to be inferred, be "house physician" at a hospital P The office is held, we fancy, for a short time only by young men who have just received their qualification.
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