CHAPTER IV
THE MEDICINAL TREATMENT OF SCLEROSIS
The question now arises, what can the Physician, by real therapeutics, do to help? Much, I feel sure, if he will carefully and courageously apply the knowledge that has come to us of the late years. Firstly, Lauder Brunton showed us how we can quickly reduce the blood pressure that is one of the chief symptoms in angina pectoris, the immediate effect of amyl nitrite in reducing arterial tension, and the slower but very valuable effects of nitroglycerin and the other nitrites. This has enabled us to meet many anemergency, but the effects of these are not sustained enough to become a steady daily treatment. The orthodox remedy has been for years Iodide of Potassium; this has been by the teachers of the past so driven into us that, in spite of failures that far outweigh the successes, it has become heterodox to doubt it. Yet one must confess that one has been for years prescribing it more from a sense of duty than from any confident hope of its results. In a few cases, where there is cardiac pain and symptoms of new or chronic aortitis, it certainly does good, but in the average case of hyperpiesis it is a very poor reed to trust.
How does Iodide act? Chiefly, in all probability, by stimulating the thyroid to pour more of its secretion into the blood stream. Thus is produced the absorption of gummata, of new lowly formed tissues and thethickenings of fibrositis and rheumatism. We see the same result more decidedly and more constantly in the treatment of myxœdema by thyroid feeding.
As I have shown before, senile degeneration, premature and normal, is largely due to general endocrine degeneration and deficiency, and it has many relations to myxœdema. Thyroid deficiency as a rule means raised blood pressure, and, as has been shown in young animals deprived of their thyroids, a strong tendency to get atheromatous disease of the large arteries, even in youth.
The parallels are many, and so are the lessons they convey. If one had a perfectly functioning thyroid in arterio-sclerosis, one might with some confidence treat it by Iodides; but as we know that such is not the condition in the great majority of cases, we should expectto fail. One would have to give Iodide in enormous quantities with any hope to whip up a senile thyroid into effectual activity, and then in all probability fail. (This may be the explanation of the miracles worked by big doses of Iodide in syphilitic gummata in the brain, but in these cases there is rarely evidence of thyroid deficiency.)
Why then do we take the long and disagreeable route to our object by giving Iodide? Thyroid feeding acts here just as it does in myxœdema. We have to take into consideration the comparative failure of the other endocrine glands, but that only adds to the charm and attractiveness of the problem. The suprarenal and the pituitary are the most important, but one must not neglect the sexual glands. I feel strongly that thyroid treatment alone or in combination is the rational method to adopt in sclerosis: personalexperience confirms this every day. We purposely side-track the worn-out thyroid of sclerosis and senility, and, by thyroid feeding, restore to a great extent the whole endocrine harmony, thus giving a new tone and stimulus to existence. We shall have to use more or less thyroid feeding for the remainder of life, but we must show our patients that it is not a medicine but a necessary food. As in myxœdema, so in sclerosis, thyroid feeding is the only means, as yet known, of producing absorption of those thickenings that characterize both diseases.
I have had lately the opportunity of watching and treating a thorough case of myxœdema in a lady about forty years of age, a very intelligent and educated woman. She weighs her symptoms and knows exactly when she needs more or less thyroid; she judges by her head feelings, vertigo, thesense of fatigue, etc., and by her hair falling out. But thyroid in sufficient doses produces a quick, irritable heart action; this she can quiet by taking suprarenal extract. Under sufficient thyroid her blood pressure comes down to normal and the suprarenal does not raise it. With this balanced combination she can lead a useful and enjoyable life. The same thing happens more or less in later life, where there is high pressure and other signs of arterial thickening.
Suprarenal by the mouth seems to me to have the power of raising low pressures to the normal—a most valuable property in the asthenia of pneumonia and diphtheria—but there comes in some check action which prevents its causing hypertension.
Dr. Sajous, the well-known scientific physician of America, at the annual meeting of the American TherapeuticSociety in May 1920, said: “With regard to the adrenals, in his opinion, clinical experience with the human subject did not bear out the statements of physiologists that therapeutic doses of adrenalin had any inhibitory effects on the functions of the gastro-intestinal canal; in fact, the effect was quite the opposite. The supposed blood-pressure raising power of adrenalin also proved misleading; indeed, one of his workers found that, if there was one thing that adrenalin did not do, it was to raise blood pressure.”
In this direction we must realize the wonderful selective action of adrenalin, that of dilating the coronary arteries, contracting the arteries and arterioles of the skin and of the great splanchnic area and of dilating the deep arteries of the limbs. These selective actions explain the great relief it gives in asthma and acute respiratory distress, such asœdema of the lungs, where it bleeds a man into his own distal vessels.
The absence of raised pressure in the brachial and radial arteries may be thus explained also. Again we must not forget that there may be, and probably is, something in the extract of the whole gland besides adrenalin. Administered by stomach the extract has, I think, far more effect than pure adrenalin given in the same way, and more lasting. Given by rectum, adrenalin acts quickly and powerfully. In France thyroid treatment is sometimes carried out by injections of an extract of the whole gland subcutaneously, but it is difficult to get an extract that is stable.
In persons of middle age it is far more common to get the unpleasant heart effects of thyroid than in really old people, but it is not by any means an absolute rule. I know of two women well over ninety who cannot on thisaccount take thyroid by itself for long. After sixty, thyroid in combination with pitglandin (the dried extract of the pars-anterior of the hypophysis) becomes very useful. At this time of life the internal secretion of the sexual glands begins to fail, and pitglandin, I think, compensates for their deficiency. When one thinks of the extraordinary influence that the pars-anterior has in youth on growth, and non-growth, causing gigantism and infantilism, one cannot be surprised at its having some powerful influence at the other end of life. It can be given in large doses, 1 or 2 grains, and seems to have no poisonous effects. Unlike pituitrin (pars-posterior), it does not raise blood pressure, but, I believe, has the opposite effect. The secretions of testis and ovary are probably mild pressure raisers, and as they enter into the formation of nearly all the pluri-glandular preparations that are on themarket, this should be recognized. What may be of great value in neurasthenia, where the pressure is generally sub-normal, may be harmful in sclerosis. Most of these preparations contain also whole pituitary, and this again is harmful in plus pressure. It always strikes me as unscientific to give whole pituitary in any case, for the two parts are largely antagonistic in their action. The extracts of the sexual glands have been given, with the object of restoring sexual power (except for its side effects a thing of doubtful value), but if they prove to be pressure raisers, sclerosis will do better without them. In all probability pitglandin has a stimulating effect on the gonads, as it has on sexual development in childhood, but it does not raise pressure.
We must regard it as a clinical fact that the thyroid reduces pressure. The original experiments of Oliver andSchäfer seem conclusive. Brunton said: “Thyroid gland, when taken by the mouth, dilates the peripheral vessels, making the skin warm and moist, and quickens the pulse. In this respect it antagonizes the suprarenal secretion. Besides this effect on blood pressure, it has other effects on metabolism which are important.” Biedl says: “If thyroid or iodothyrin be given continuously for two or three weeks, the amount of CO-excretion will be increased by 15 to 16 per cent. The nitrogenous interchanges are invariably disturbed by thyroid; the increased decomposition of albumen is expressed by an increased excretion of nitrogen. Thyroidism also brings about a considerable increase in the amount of calcium excreted in the fæces, the calcium carrying off with it a large proportion of phosphorus.” This phosphorus loss may explain some of the feeling of weakness and exhaustionthat thyroid feeding often causes; this a good phosphate food such as Bynogen will help to remove.
It is thus evident that we have in thyroid medication something much more than a mere tension depressor. Its other properties, influencing excretion, explain to some extent its sphere of usefulness and its drawbacks. The increased excretion of calcium may be very beneficial in atheroma, but is probably not an advantage in other ways. An observant man, who did not need it, was taking thyroid rather freely; he cut his finger and could not get it to heal. Thinking that this might be the result of calcium loss, he stopped the thyroid, and his wound healed, as he said, in a few hours. To the increased general metabolism that thyroid produces is due its striking effects in myxœdema: the new tissues, abnormal in quantity if not in essence, are absorbed,and the face and limbs resume their natural appearance. Senility and myxœdema are so closely related that one would naturally expect the same results to ensue. A fair steady trial will prove that such is the case, but all such clinical experiments need to be carried out in each individual case with thoroughness, faith and intelligent observation. Failure may at first be the verdict, but it is in most cases due to some defect in method. A thoughtful review of our physiological knowledge of endocrine actions will often show where lies the fault. A carping critic may say, What is your physiological knowledge of the action of these glands? And one must humbly answer, Not very much. But we are going to find our way through the twilight of our ignorance, partly by physiological experiment, but chiefly by clinical results. We must also be encouraged by the thought that all theseclinical trials are without risk. What matters it if we produce temporary symptoms of hyperthyroidism? We can always correct them or retrace our steps. Russell Lowell’s proverb was, “A man who never makes a mistake never makes anything.” In such therapeutics we shall discover the pathways of natural curative medicine. It is not the introduction into human bodies of vegetable and mineral remedies or poisons; it is simply the introduction of correlated gland extracts from other mammals. As far as we know, the glands of the herbivora answer as well as the glands of the omnivora, but we may have to correct this view.
In treating hyperpiesis, we shall come across some cases that seem to yield to thyroid treatment hardly at all, and here the trouble is often found to be chiefly, if not entirely, in intestinal absorption of deleterious products offaulty digestion; there may or may not be signs of colitis; but, as I have said before, duodenal extract freely given alters the condition rapidly in most cases. In these cases probably the absorption of these residues of defective digestion produces hyperadrenia, and the adrenal-thyroid balance is disturbed. Dr. Sajous (in his paper previously mentioned) claims that calomel in very small doses, not exceeding gr.1/12, is a powerful activator of the thyroid secretion; he claims that so given it has been effective in checking epidemics of diphtheria. It probably acts partly as an intestinal bactericide and partly by its action on the thyroid, increasing the defensive anti-bodies in the blood.
There is one other medicine that has a very decided action on some forms of raised pressure, and that is hippuric acid. This again is a natural or endogenous cure. It was introduced by thelate Dr. George Oliver of Harrogate, and is chiefly used as sodium or lithium hippurate. For some time before his death Dr. Oliver was seeking for a reasonable explanation of its action, but his death unfortunately came before he had carried this through. I can give no theory, but of its effects in many cases I feel convinced, though I cannot say beforehand in which class of case it will answer. In the pre-sclerotic cases of middle life it often acts quickly and well, even better than thyroid. Again, in old age, in cases where one would expect thyroid to give the better results, it answers equally well.
Two of my patients—old ladies well over seventy—have had hyperpiesis for twelve years or more; they were condemned by good men many years ago. They have lived on hippurate almost without breaks all these years, and it has kept their pressure down to a reasonableworking-point. With both I have tried thyroid treatment with very slight success; they always come back to their hippurate as the well-tried friend. I have another patient aged ninety-four, who has had periods of high pressure for twenty years, and if she misses her daily dose the pressure goes up and her head gets giddy and confused. It is a very wholesome medicine, causes no gastric disturbance, and is easily soluble; from 5 to 15 grains a day are generally needed. If there are gouty symptoms I give the lithia salt; if not, the sodium. The benzoates have, I believe, much the same action, but they are not easily digested and large doses are required. In bad and obstinate cases the hippurate and thyroid treatment sometimes act well together.
I have written now all that I know from personal experience about the treatment of this complicated conditionwe call arterio-sclerosis; and many of the symptoms and much of the treatment I have been able to watch and verify for myself by almost hourly contact with it. Nevertheless, this treatment will have to stand the racket and assaults of both friendly and hostile critics, and so it should be. In the practice of medicine we must be prepared to maintain our position and to give a reason for the faith that is in us, for the issues are so great and affect others rather than ourselves.
I have said that this is somewhat of an occupation disease: it is a vicious circle, not originating necessarily in any vice, but in the pressure of life and the stress of circumstances. The causes often we cannot remove entirely, but only modify, and so we are compelled to treat symptoms only; our ambition and longing will be to do much more than this—to bring about a perfect reform; butin the management of this, as in most morbid conditions, compromise, with as much true wisdom as we can squeeze into it, is the only practical policy. Our endeavour must be to break the vicious circle whenever and wherever we can. The lowering of pressure does not sound a great thing in itself, but it immediately lessens the work of the heart, sets more free the circulation of blood in the brain, often restores the power of sleep and so ensures comparative rest all round. It thus gives us a breathing space in which we can consider and attack the origins of evil.
In conclusion I ask my readers to consider well Sir Clifford Allbutt’s most wise words on this question: “In entering upon the discussion of vaso-dilatation, as contrasted with agents which bring about this change indirectly by modifying the causes of morbid constriction, we have to consider how far mere dilatation—brought about, that is to say, immediately and singly—serves any good purpose.
“We are told that to act thus directly upon the vessels is but to treat a symptom, and is therefore absurd. But whatsoever be our judgment on this or any such particular effect, the common denunciation of treating symptoms, which sounds very philosophical, is surely but a parrot phrase. Why should we not treat a symptom? If in granular kidney by mere pressure reduction the grievous headache be abated, or in angina pectoris the pain be thus charmed away, we have so far at any rate a substantial gain.
“In renal diseases it is generally agreed that, on the whole, with due caution, to lower pressure is helpful. Moreover, if by mitigation of his suffering the patient gets a chance of picking up in many other ways, are we not more than justified in our interference, narrow as it may seem? We never know what interference may cut a link in a vicious circle. If we cannot stop the crack in the water-pipe, we need not throw away the mop.
“The warning should run not against the treatment of a ‘mere symptom,’ but lest, while giving our attention to the symptom and snatching at an immediate advantage, we lose our grip of the case as a whole.”
In whatever treatment we adopt for sclerosis, we must bear in mind that, under the raised pressure, the heart is very apt to dilate. To lower pressure alone in this condition often ends in failure. We must brace up the heart at the same time as we lower resistance. For the purpose strophanthus in large doses and strychnia are the best drugs. Digitalis is occasionally necessary, but more often does harm than good. Given,however, in this well-tried old form it contracts the ventricle without raising pressure:
℞Pulv. Digitalisgr. 1–2Pil. Hydrarg.gr. 1Pil. Scillæ Co.gr.11/2Ft. pil. to be taken twice a day.
gr. 1–2
The compound gland tablet that I chiefly use has this formula:
℞Thyroid Extract driedgr.1/2Orchitic Extract driedgr.1/2Ovarian Extract driedgr.1/2Anterior Pituitary driedgr.1/2Ft. tab. 1.
gr.1/2
gr.1/2
gr.1/2
gr.1/2
Ft. tab. 1.
This can be taken three times daily and acts best, I think, if taken before food. The amount of thyroid can be doubled if necessary. In cases where there is much prostration the anterior pituitary can be increased to 2 grains. The orchitic and the ovarian can be omitted if thought advisable.
Hitherto many of us have looked on this condition, arterio-sclerosis, as a tenant’s fixture, to be got rid of only when he moves into his next habitation. This is neither fair to ourselves nor to our patients. It is a hopeless stultification of our more recent physiological knowledge and discoveries. It is a pessimistic faith that deserves failure and gets it. It is a silent denial of those healing powers which Christ so lovingly displayed when on earth, and which are still the heritage of those who can see and believe.
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Chats on English China.ByArthur Hayden. Illustrated with reproductions of 156 marks and 89 specimens of china. Cloth, 12s. 6d. net. Sixth Impression.
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Chats on Old Furniture.ByArthur Hayden. With a coloured frontispiece and 104 other Illustrations. Cloth, 12s. 6d. net. Fifth Impression.
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Chats on Old Prints.How to Collect and Identify. ByArthur Hayden. With a coloured frontispiece and 72 full-page plates. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net. Fifth Impression.
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Chats on Costume.ByG. Woolliscroft Rhead, R.E. With a coloured frontispiece and 117 other Illustrations. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net. Second Impression.
A practical guide to historic dress. “Clothes” is a subject that has been neglected by collectors, and this book will be a useful guide to those who desire to repair that neglect by forming a collection.
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Chats on Old Miniatures.ByJ. J. Foster, F.S.A. With a coloured frontispiece and 116 other Illustrations. Cloth, 6s. net.
This book presents in a concise and popular form a variety of valuable information on the collection and preservation of miniatures, on the leading English and French artists, and on the specimens exhibited in public galleries.
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Chats on Old Lace and Needlework.ByMrs. Lowes. With a frontispiece and 74 other Illustrations. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net. Third Impression.
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Chats on Oriental China.ByJ. F. Blacker. With a coloured frontispiece and 70 other Illustrations. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net. Third Impression.
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Chats on English Earthenware.A companion volume to “Chats on English China.” ByArthur Hayden. With a coloured frontispiece, 150 Illustrations and tables of over 200 illustrated marks. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net. Third Impression.
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Chats on Autographs.ByA. M. Broadley. With 130 Illustrations. Cloth, 6s. net.
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Chats on Pewter.ByH. J. L. J. Massé, M.A. With 52 half-tone and numerous other Illustrations. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net. Second Impression.
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Chats on Postage Stamps.ByFred J. Melville. With 57 half-tone and 17 line Illustrations. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net. Second Impression.
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Chats on Old Jewellery and Trinkets.ByMacIver Percival. With nearly 800 Illustrations. Cloth, 6s. net.
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Chats on Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture.A companion volume to “Chats on Old Furniture.” ByArthur Hayden. With a coloured frontispiece and 75 other Illustrations. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net. Second Impression.
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Chats on Old Coins.ByFred W. Burgess. With a coloured frontispiece and 258 other Illustrations. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net. Second Impression.
“A most useful and instructive book . . . will prove a boon to the intending collector of old coins and tokens, and full of interest to every collector. As was to be expected of any volume of this series, the illustrations are numerous and good, and greatly assist the reader to grasp the essentials of the author’s descriptions.”Outlook.
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Chats on Old Copper and Brass.ByFred W. Burgess. With a coloured frontispiece and 86 other Illustrations. Cloth, 6s. net.
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Chats on Household Curios.ByFred W. Burgess. With 94 Illustrations. Cloth, 6s. net.
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Chats on Japanese Prints.ByArthur Davison Ficke. With a coloured frontispiece and 56 Illustrations. Cloth, 6s. net. Third Impression.
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“This is one of the most delightful and notable members of an attractive series. . . . A beginner who shall have mastered and made thoroughly his own the beauty of line and the various subtlety and boldness of linear composition displayed in these sixty and odd photographs will have no mean foundation for further study.”—Notes and Queries.
Chats on Old Clocks.ByArthur Hayden. With a frontispiece and 80 Illustrations. 2nd Ed. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net.
“A practical handbook dealing with the examples of old clocks likely to come under the observation of the collector. Charmingly written and illustrated.”Outlook.
“One specially useful feature of the work is the prominence Mr. Hayden has given to the makers of clocks, dealing not only with those of London, but also those of the leading provincial towns. The lists he gives of the latter are highly valuable, as they are not to be found in any similar book. The volume is, as usual with this series, profusely illustrated, and may be recommended as a highly interesting and useful general guide to collectors of clocks.”The Connoisseur.
Chats on Old Silver.ByArthur Hayden. With a frontispiece, 99 full-page Illustrations, and illustrated table of marks. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net. Third Impression.
“Mr. Hayden’s ‘Chats on Old Silver’ deals very thoroughly with a popular branch of collecting. There are a hundred full-page illustrations together with illustrated tables and charts, and the student of this book can wander round the old curiosity shops of these islands with a valuable equipment of knowledge. . . . Altogether we have here a well-written summary of everything that one could wish to know about this branch of collecting.”The Sphere.
“The information it gives will be of exceptional value at this time, when so many families will be forced to part with their treasures—and old silver is among the most precious possessions of the present day.”Morning Post.
Chats on Military Curios.ByStanley C. Johnson, M.A., D.Sc. With a coloured frontispiece and 79 other Illustrations. Cloth, 6s. net.
“Mr. Johnson in this book describes many of the articles a collector should be on the look out for, giving short but informative notes on medals, helmet and cap badges, tunic buttons, armour, weapons of all kinds, medallions, autographs, original documents relating to Army work, military pictures and prints, newspaper cuttings, obsolete uniforms, crests, stamps, postmarks, memorial brasses, money and curios made by prisoners of war, while there is also an excellent biography on the subject. The author has, indeed, presented the reader with a capital working handbook, which should prove a friendly and reliable guide when he goes collecting.”Field.
Chats on Royal Copenhagen Porcelain.ByArthur Hayden. With a frontispiece, 56 full-page Illustrations and illustrated tables of marks. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net.
“This very beautiful and very valuable book will be eagerly welcomed by lovers of porcelain. . . . Mr. Hayden describes with great skill and preciseness all the quality and beauty of technique in which this porcelain excels; he loves it and understands it, and the examples he has chosen as illustrations are a valuable supplement to his descriptions.”Bookman.
A NEW “CHATS” VOLUME TO BE ISSUED IN THE AUTUMN OF 1920. ORDER EARLY
Chats on Old Sheffield Plate.ByArthur Hayden. With frontispiece and 53 full-page Illustrations, together with makers’ marks. Cloth, about 10s. 6d. net.
Old plated ware has, by reason of its artistic excellence and its technique, deservedly won favour with collectors. The art of making plated ware, which originated at Sheffield (hence the name “Sheffield plate”), was continued at Birmingham and London, where a considerable amount of “old Sheffield plate” was made, in the manner of its first inventors, by welding sheets of silver upon copper. The manufacture lasted roughly a hundred years. Its best period was from 1776 (American Declaration of Independence) to 1830 (Accession of William IV). The author shows reasons why this old Sheffield plate should be collected, and the volume is illustrated with many examples giving various styles and the development of the art, together with makers’ marks. Candlesticks and candelabra, tea-caddies, sugar-baskets, salt-cellars, teapots, coffee-pots, salvers, spoons, and many other articles shown and described in the volume indicate the exquisite craftsmanship of the best period. The work stands as a companion volume to the author’s “Chats on Old Silver,” the standard practical guide to old English silver collecting.
Bye Paths in Curio Collecting.ByArthur Hayden, Author of “Chats on Old Silver,” etc. With a frontispiece and 72 full-page Illustrations. Cloth, 21s. net. Second Impression.
“Every collector knows the name of Mr. Arthur Hayden, and knows him for a wise counsellor. Upon old furniture, old china, old pottery, and old prints there is no more knowing judge in the country; and in his latest volume he supplies a notable need, in the shape of a vade-mecum exploring some of the nondescript and little traversed bye-paths of the collector. There was never a time when the amateur of the antique stood more in need of a competent guide. . . . The man who wishes to avoid the pitfalls of the fraudulent will find much salutary advice in Mr. Hayden’s gossipy pages. There are chests, for example, a fruitful field for reproduction. Mr. Hayden gives photographs of many exquisite examples. There is a marriage coffer of the sixteenth century, decorated with carved figures of Cupid and Hymen, a fine Gothic chest of the fifteenth century, with rich foliated decorations; and a superb livery cupboard from Haddon Hall. From Flanders come steel coffers, with a lock of four bolts, the heavy sides strongly braized together. Then there are snuffers, with and without trays, tinder-boxes, snuff graters, and metal tobacco stoppers. The most fascinating designs are shown, with squirrels, dogs, and quaint human figures at the summit. Fans and playing-cards provide another attractive section.Chicken-skin, delicate, white,Painted by Carlo van Loo.The fan has always been an object of the collector’s passion, because of the grace of the article and its beauty as a display. Mr. Hayden shows a particularly beautiful one, with designs after Fragonard, the sticks of ivory with jewelled studs. Then there are watch-stands, a little baroque in design, and table-bells, some of them shaped as female figures with spreading skirts, old toys and picture-books, and, of course, cradles, of which every English farm-house once boasted its local variety. Altogether the book abounds in inviting pictures and curious information, and is certain of a large, appreciative public.”Daily Telegraph.
TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE AUTUMN, 1920
The Fan Book: Including Special Chapters on European Fans of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. ByMacIver Percival, author of “Chats on Old Jewellery and Trinkets.” Fully Illustrated. Demy 8vo, cloth, 21/- net.
POETRY THAT THRILLSA COLLECTION OF SONGS FROM OVERSEAS THAT THRILL WITH VIVID DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ADVENTUROUS LIFE IN THE FROZEN NORTH, IN THE OUTPOSTS OF CIVILIZATION AND OF THE HEROISM OF SOLDIERS IN BATTLE
SONGS OF A SOURDOUGH. ByRobert W. Service. Crown 8vo. Cloth, 4/6 net. Thirty-ninth Impression. Also a Pocket edition. Fcap. 8vo, cloth, 4/6 net.
“Of the Canadian disciples of Kipling, by far the best is R. W. Service. His ‘Songs of a Sourdough’ have run through many editions. Much of his verse has a touch of real originality, conveying as it does a just impression of the something evil and askew in the strange, uncouth wilderness of the High North.”The Times.
“Mr. Service has got nearer to the heart of the old-time place miner than any other verse-maker in all the length and height of the Dominion. . . . He certainly sees the Northern Wilderness through the eyes of the man into whose soul it is entered.”Morning Post.
RHYMES OF A RED-CROSS MAN. ByRobert W. Service. Crown 8vo. Cloth, 4/6 net. Fifth Impression. Also a Pocket edition. Fcap. 8vo, cloth, 4/6 net.
“It is the great merit of Mr. Service’s verses that they are literally alive with the stress and joy and agony and hardship that make up life out in the battle zone. He has never written better than in this book, and that is saying a great deal.”Bookman.
“Mr. Service has painted for us the unutterable tragedy of the war, the horror, the waste, and the suffering, but side by side with that he has set the heroism, the endurance, the unfailing cheerfulness and the unquenchable laughter.”Scots Pictorial..
BALLADS OF A CHEECHAKO. ByRobert W. Service. Crown 8vo. Cloth, 4/6 net. Thirteenth Impression. Also a Pocket edition. Fcap. 8vo. Cloth, 4/6 net.
“It is to men like Mr. Service that we must look for really original verse nowadays; to the men on the frontiers of the world. ‘Ballads of a Cheechako’ is magnificent.”Oxford Magazine.
“All are interesting, arresting, and worth reading in their own setting for their own sakes. They are full of life and fire and muscularity, like the strenuous and devil-may-care fight of a life they describe.”Standard.
RHYMES OF A ROLLING STONE. ByRobert W. Service. Crown 8vo. Cloth, 4/6 net. Fourteenth Impression. Also a Pocket Edition. Fcap. 8vo. Cloth, 4/6 net.
“There is real rollicking fun in some of the rhymed stories, and some sound philosophy in the shorter serious poems which shows that Mr. Service is as many steps above the ordinary lesser poets in his thought as he is in his accomplishments.”Academy.
“Mr. Robert Service is, we suppose, one of the most popular verse-writers in the world. His swinging measures, his robust ballads of the outposts, his joy of living have fairly caught the ear of his countrymen.”Spectator.
THE SPELL OF THE TROPICS. ByRandolph H. Atkin. Cloth, 4/6 net.
The poems are striking pen-pictures of life as it is lived by those men of the English-speaking races whose lot is cast in the sun-bathed countries of Latin-America. Mr. Atkin’s verses will reach the hearts of all who feel the call of the wanderlust, and, having shared their pleasures and hardships, his poems will vividly recall to “old-timers” bygone memories of days spent in the Land of the Coconut Tree.
THE SONG OF TIADATHA. ByOwen Rutter. Cloth, 4/6 net. Third Impression.
Composed on the familiar metre of “Hiawatha,” “The Song of Tiadatha” (Tired Arthur), an extravaganza written in the highest spirits, nevertheless is an epic of the war. It typifies what innumerable soldiers have seen and done and the manner in which they took it.
“This song of Tiadatha is nothing less than a little English epic of the war.”The Morning Post.
“Every Army officer and ex-officer will hail Tiadatha as a brother. ‘The Song of Tiadatha’ is one of the happiest skits born of the war.”Evening Standard.
SONGS OUT OF EXILE: Being Verses of African Sunshine and Shadow and Black Man’s Twilight. ByCullen Gouldsbury. Cloth, 4/6 net. Fourth Impression.
“The ‘Rhodesian Rhymes’ won for their author the journalistic title of ‘The Kipling of South Africa,’ and indeed his work is full of crisp vigour, fire and colour. It is brutal in parts; but its brutality is strong and realistic. Mr. Gouldsbury has spent many years in Rhodesia, and its life, black and white, is thoroughly familiar to him. . . . Mr. Gouldsbury is undoubtedly a writer to be reckoned with. His verse is informed by knowledge of wild life in open places and a measure of genuine feeling which make it real poetry.”—Standard.
FROM THE OUTPOSTS. ByCullen Gouldsbury. Cloth, 4/6 net. Third Impression.
“Mr. Cullen Gouldsbury’s collections of his verses are always welcome, and the last, ‘From the Outposts,’ is as good as its predecessor. No one has quite Mr. Gouldsbury’s experience and gift.”Spectator.
“It has been well said that Mr. Gouldsbury has done for the white man in Africa what Adam Lindsay Gordon in a measure accomplished for the Commonwealth and Kipling triumphantly for the British race, and he certainly is good to read.”Field.
THE HELL-GATE OF SOISSONSand other Poems. (“The Song of the Guns.”) ByHerbert Kaufman. Cloth, 4/6 net. Fifth Impression.
“A singular gift for expressing in verse the facts, the heroism, even the humours of war; and in some cases voices its ideals with real eloquence.”The Times.
“Mr. Kaufman has undoubtedly given us a book worthy of the great hour that has brought it forth. He is a poet with a martial spirit and a deep, manly voice.”Daily Mail.
LYRA NIGERIA. ByAdamu. (E. C. Adams). Cloth, 4/6 net. Second Impression.
“Mr. E. C. Adams (Adamu) is a singer of Nigeria, and it can safely be said he has few, if any, rivals. There is something in these illustrations of Nigerian life akin to the style of Kipling and Service. The heart of the wanderer and adventurer is revealed, and in particular that spirit of longing which comes to all . . . who have gone out to the far-lands of the world.”Dundee Advertiser.
SUNNY SONGS. Poems. ByEdgar A. Guest. Cloth, 4/6 net.
In America Mr. Guest is an extraordinarily popular writer of verses, though this is his first introduction in book form to the British public. He brims over with sound sense and tonic cheeriness. He is keenly sensible of the humour of domestic life, but is deeply sympathetic with the associations which combine in the word “Home.” Hence he is read by women with amusement and pleasure. During the war his poem, “Said the Workman to the Soldier,” circulated by the hundred thousand. Like Béranger and all successful poets, he is essentially lyrical; that is to say, there is tune and swing in all his verses.
RICHARD MIDDLETON’S WORKS
POEMS AND SONGS(First Series). ByRichard Middleton. Cloth, 5/- net.
“We have no hesitation in placing the name of Richard Middleton beside the names of all that galaxy of poets that made the later Victorian era the most brilliant in poetry that England had known since the Elizabethan.”Westminster Review.
POEMS AND SONGS(Second Series). ByRichard Middleton. Cloth, 5/- net.
“Their beauty is undeniable and often of extraordinary delicacy, for Middleton had a mastery of craftmanship such as is usually given to men of a far wider imaginative experience.”Poetry Review.
“Among the ‘Poems and Songs’ of Richard Middleton are to be found some of the finest of contemporary lyrics.”Country Life.
OTHER WORKS BY RICHARD MIDDLETON
THE GHOST SHIP AND OTHER STORIES.
MONOLOGUES.
THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY.
THE WAITING WOMANand other Poems. ByHerbert Kaufman. Cloth, 4/6 net.
“Mr. Kaufman’s work possesses in a high degree the qualities of sincerity and truth, and it therefore never fails to move the reader. . . . This volume, in short, is the work of a genuine poet and artist.”Aberdeen Free Press.
“A versifier of great virility and power.”Review of Reviews.
BY W. B. YEATS AND OTHERS
POEMS. ByW. B. Yeats. Second edition. Large Crown 8vo, Cloth, 10/6 net. Ninth Impression.
“Love songs, faery themes, moods of meditation, scenes of legendary wonder . . . is it possible that they should become so infinitely thrilling, touching, haunting in their fresh treatment, as though they had never been, or poets had never turned to them? In this poet’s hands they do so become. Mr. Yeats has given us a new thrill of delight, a new experience of beauty.”Daily Chronicle.
OTHER POEMS BY W. B. YEATS
COUNTESS CATHLEEN. A Dramatic Poem. Paper cover, 2/- net.
THE LAND OF HEART’S DESIRE. Paper cover, 1/6 net.
WHY DON’T THEY CHEER? ByR. J. C. Stead. Cloth, 4/6 net.
“Before the war Mr. Stead was known to Canadians as ‘The Poet of the Prairies.’ He must now be ranked as a ‘Poet of the Empire.’ . . . There is a strength, a beauty, a restrained passion in his war verses which prove his ability to penetrate into the heart of things such as very few of our war poets have exhibited.”—Daily Express.
SWORDS AND FLUTES. ByWilliam Kean Seymour. Cloth, 4/- net.
“Among the younger poets Mr. Seymour is distinguished by his delicacy of technique. ‘Swords and Flutes’ is a book of grave and tender beauty expressed in lucent thought and jewelled words. ‘The Ambush’ is a lyric of mastery and fascination, alike in conception and rhythm, which should be included in any representative anthology of Georgian poetry.”Daily Express.
THE MERMAID SERIESTHE BEST PLAYS OF THE OLD DRAMATISTS
Literal Reproductions of the Old Text. With Photogravure Frontispieces. Thin Paper edition. Boards, 3/-net; Cloth, 5/- net per volume. Leather, 7/6 net.