Abstract
THE author of this manual states in the preface that his “main idea has been to give some simple yet practical information on the preservation of individual or personal health.” It is impossible to say, with any degree of certainty, who is to be accorded the distinction of having originated such an “idea.” Certainly Hippocrates undertook the writing of treatises on hygiene, and even he was only following in the footsteps of others. This preliminary remark mainly arises out of the fact that when another manual of hygiene appears, one's natural impulse is to turn to the preface, in order to see if the author has any new motive to suggest for its appearance; for the fact is, there is, at present, a superabundance of such works. Dr. Parkes' manual, good as it is, contains practically nothing that cannot be found in any of the other dozen or more elementary treatises dealing with the same subject; and to those who are familiar with the same author's work upon “Hygiene and Public Health,” it will be sufficient to state that the present volume under review is practically that work popularised and very much abridged.
The Elements of Health.
By Louis C. Parkes (London: J. and A. Churchill, 1895.)
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The Elements of Health. Nature 52, 147 (1895). https://doi.org/10.1038/052147b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/052147b0