The Commonhealth : a Series of Essays on Health and
Felicity for Every-day Readers. By Benjamin Ward Richardson, M.D. (Longmans.)—Dr. Richardson expands in this volume a motto which he prefixed many years ago to the first number of the Journal of Public Health and Sanitary Review, " National Health is National Wealth." To express this sentiment, he has boldly invented the word which forms his first title. All that Dr. Richardson writes is worth reading ; even his paradoxes are in- structive, and his schemes are magnificently bold. It is almost to be regretted that we have not a despotism nowadays which could hand over a city to Dr. Richardson, to be dealt with at his pleasure, as some Roman Emperor handed over, or would have handed over, had not a fickle army cut short his career, certain cities to be managed by philosophers. There is his scheme of " Upper and Lower London," for instance, which it would be very interesting to see carried out (only that it would about double the rates) :—" Upper London, a garden of terraces and flowers, beneath a smokeless canopy. Under London, a double river, one of dead wealth, the other of living water." This is a magnificent prospect.
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