RETARDED CHILDREN IN MAINE.
A Survey and America by diseases spread through
and Analysis-By Etizabeth J. Levinson.
Orono, Me.: University of Maine Press, 1962.
265 pp. Price, $2.
This volume is divided into two major
parts. The first 52 pages are devoted to
a review and comparison of the criteria,
methods, and findings of previous major
surveys of the mentally retarded. The
remainder of the volume reports a sur-
vey conducted in 1957 of mentally re-
tarded children in Maine and includes
appendixes and an index.
Data for the Maine survey were ob-
tained via questionnaires sent to schools
and staffs of state institutions through-
out the state. Although the author feels
that rural cases were systematically
underreported, over-all prevalence rates
hover around 3 per cent quite in line
with rates established in other surveys.
Excess of male over female retarded
youngsters is even greater in Maine than
has been reported elsewhere; the author
supposes this is due to special demands
which life and custom in Maine make
on boys. Both rural-urban and sex dif-
ferentials in reported prevalence suggest
that Maine may be a strategic state in
which to investigate the crucial and as
yet uninvestigated research question in
mental retardation: What is the least
that individuals of different age-sex
categories need know and be able to do
and still get along independently in dif-
ferent social systems?
Workers in the area of mental re-
tardation will find this volume valuable
not only for the Maine survey data but
as well for the careful review and com-
parison of previous surveys of the men-
tally retarded. EDWARD WELLIN
THE CHOLERA YEARS. THE UNITED
STATES IN 1832. 1849 and 1 866-By
Charles E. Rosenberg. Chicago, Ill.: University
of Chicago Press, 1962. 257 pp. Price, $7.50.
During the 19th century, the louse-
borne diseases were replaced as major
community health problems in Europe
846
the gastrointestinal tract. The disease
that was most clearly defined and that
created the greatest impact was cholera.
On four occasions during the century,
Europe and America were scourged by
severe invasions of Asiatic cholera re-
sulting from world pandemics. The
United States was invaded in 1832-1834,
1848-1849, 1866, and 1873.
Rosenberg offers an interesting ac-
count of the first three invasions. Based
on journals, letters, newspapers, medical
publications, as well as a wide variety
of secondary sources, he explores the
reactions of American communities, par-
ticularly New York City, to these re-
curring attacks. One of the major
points of interest is the attitudinal shift
that took place between 1832 and 1866.
When cholera first appeared in the
United States there was a tendency to
attribute the outbreak to the wrath of
God; 30 years later a more secularized
attitude was prevalent. Public health
action was accepted by clergy and laity
alike, and the New York City Health
Department, which had come into being
in 1866, went to work with a will to
combat the dreaded disease.
The author has an eye for vivid de-
tail, and he tells the story well. One
may hope that this book will find read-
ers among students and faculty in
schools of public health and in medical
schools. Unfortunately, the price for
this short book is much too high, and
many of those who might buy it will
have to read it in libraries.
GEORGE ROSEN
DISINFECTED MAIL-By K. F. Meyer. Holton,
Kans.: Gossip Printery ( 1 16-118 East 5th St.),
1962. 341 pp. Price, $12.
This is a fascinating corner of the
history of public health. Decontamina-
tion of mail was for hundreds of years
an aspect of quarantine, as a part of
the larger effort to destroy the agents
VOL. 53. NO. 5, A.J.P.H.