28 NOVEMBER 1908, Page 28

Vital Economy. By John H. Clarke, M.D. (T. Fisher Unwin,

2s.)—Dr. Clarke, takes in these essays, at least in some of them, what may be described as the unpopular side. He points out that a cold bath is not always a good thing,—as Dr. Johnson put it, it is not "that the cold bath always produces health, but only that it will not always destroy it." He has something severe to say about the "fresh-air maniac," therein agreeing with the man who said that more harm was done by pure cold air than by impure warm. He is no favourer of alcohol, but he is more severe on tea, and thinks that the coffee habit is dangerous. Altogether, this is a book worthy of attention.