Evening star., 1934-08-19
VIEWS AND REVIEWS

volume by Derek Walkers Smith, more
interesting than any omnibus collec-
ton of mystery stories, is concerned
with the strictly legal career Of LORD
Reading, as both counsel and judge.
courts" He was unable to transfer
this genius to the political field and
was a comparative failure In the
House of Commons. He was also less
good on the bench than in practice
in the courts HE was a good judge
and a learned lawyer, but he was
not in the class of Cockburn or Camp
bell. He had neither the monumental
legal erudition nor the literary abil.
ity to make judgments Of the very
first rank. But to have expected
Lord Reading to have been as sue
cessful on the bench as Rufus Isaacs
had been in the courts would perhaps
have been overexacting.
So the majority of the cases which
are described in this volume are cases
which Rufus Isaacs conducted in the
courts. Among the famous eases in
which he appeared as advocate were
arose from articles published in that
journal charging political pressure in
the securing of government contracts
during the Boer War; the Liverpool
bank case the Hartopp divorce case;
the Gordon custody case. following the
divorce of Mrs. Eric Gordon and her
marriage to Lord Granville; the gayety
girl divorce case; the acquittal of Bob
Sievier; the Seddons' trial; the in
quiry into the Titanic disaster, and
the Marconi scandal
Probably the most famous and i'm
portant case tried before Lord Read
ing as lord chief justice was that Of
Sir Roger Easement for treason dur
ing the World War. In his summing
up, Lord Reading warned the jury to
avoid all political considerations.
For myself he said, I always feel
anxiety in a court of justice when
there is any possibility of the intro
duction of political passion. Justice
is ever in jeopardy when passion Is
aroused And then step by step
the lord chief justice took the jury
through the evidence, his calm, Sc
rene voice contrasting effectively
alike with the passionate appeal Of the
Serjeant Easements counseD and
the heavy, tight-lipped enunciation
of the attorney general. He was
scrupulously fair to Easement, but
under his impartial exposition it be-
came increasingly clear how heavy
was the evidence against him. .
The summing up concluded with a
solemn warning to the jury that, if
there was any reasonable doubt, it
was their duty to find for the pris-
oner, but if not, 1t is your duty to re-
turn a verdict to that effect, and to
take no regard to the consequences
whuch must follow" Easement was
found guilty of high treason. In its
analysis of cases from the legal point
Of view, Mr.. Walker-Smith's book re-
calls the account of the decisions of
Chief Justice Marshall in his Life"
by Albert j. Beveridge. In a brief
authors note, Mr.. Walker Smith, who
is member of the bar, explains that,
though Lord Reading knew of the
writing of the book, he in no way
inspired it and has no responsibility
for its contents.
MEDICINE MARCHES ON. BY Ed
ward Podolsky, M. D., New York:
Harper & Bros.
THE early history of medicine is in
L separable from the history of
magic and general human supersti-
ton. The history of modern medi-
cine though full of experiment. is
very different. 1t is record of the
study Of cause and effect. of inductive
reasoning from innumerable cases to
the establishing of a method or a
remedy. The marvels which the SCI
entists Of modern medicine have
wrought are far greater than any ap-
parent phenomena of the old magi-
clans and medicine men. Dr. Podol-
sky, Brooklyn specialist in internal
medicine and author of many articles
on medicine and allied scientific sub
jects, has written this account Of the
achievements of modern medicine for
the instruction and benefit of the lay
man. The facts it contains are al
ready common knowledge among doc
tors, having appeared over a period
of years in medical literature. The
story is an engroSsing one and as it
progresses gives many practical
health-preserving, even hfe-saving
suggestions. For example, potassium
cyanide formerly produced certain
death; now it is known that its effects
may be quickly overcome by amyl nj
trite.
Medicines from glands have brought
cures for a number of previously in
durable diseases, such as liver for per-
niciouS anaemia, insuhn for diabetes,
cortin for Addison's disease, essence
of adrenal gland for Paget's disease.
The iron lung for paralysis of the
chest muscles, especially in infantile
paralysis, and healing gases, including
oxygen in pneumonia and heart all
ments and carbon dioxide for hic-
coughs, are described as regards their
effectiveness and their limitations.
Sunlight, the healer" is discussed in
one chapter, music as medicine in
another, various heart remedies, old
and new, in another. The drugs which
lower blood pressure beneflcially are
enumerated, and it will surprise many
to learn that valuable pain-reducing
medicine is actually. in this twentieth
century, procured from snake venom.
Persons suffering from gastric ulcers
need no longer consider operation in
evitable. for regulated doses of mucin
will coat ulcers with protective film
and allow them to heal. serving the
purpose Of a soothing syrup. Those
who like sugar will be pleased to know
that 1t is a valuable medicine, not for
flesh-reducing, but IN seasickness
sleeping sickness, diseases of the liver
pneumonia and heart troubles. Part
~ is given to mental illness and re-
Gently discovered methods of treating
it, especially gland remedies and arti-
fcially induced malarial and other fe-
vers Part III, which might equally
well belong in book on modern dis
coveries in surgery, tells of the revo-
luton brought about in diagnosis by
the X-ray and its value and that OF
radium in many forms of treatment
Meanwhile. medicine marches on
and has not yet reached an ultimate