12 SEPTEMBER 1925, Page 20

Perhaps Mr. David Masters is a little too ardent in

his optimism ; he writes of The Conquest of Disease (Bodley Head) with such pride and joy in man's achievements that we might easily- forget how -much misery remains untouched. Disease must often seem to us hydra-headed ; cure one malady and another will rise to take its place. But this enthusiasm of his is actually most serviceable in his exposition of the discoveries of science ; and we are often moved to a pride in our race similar to his own, when we consider the heroism, the indifference to obloquy, and the more unremitting, less striking fortitude which so many scientists have displayed in their attempts to alleviate our sufferings. The book is excellently written, with wide knowledge and with a genuine interest on the author's part in the subjects he writes of, One saddening reflection occurs again and again in this history , of progress—it has generally been scientists themselves who were the bitterest and most obstinate objectors to the discoveries of their fellow scientists.