278 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



strongly favorable to an affirmative answer. 

 We need not here enumerate the various 

 other reasons presented on this side of the 

 question, such as the immunity of barbar- 

 ous races from phthisis until they begin to 

 be associated with the whites, its prevalence 

 in convents, harems, and barracks, the fre- 

 quency of the disease in wives who have 

 nursed tuberculous husbands, etc. Whether 

 the reader admits that the case is proved, 

 the dictates of reason favor the observance 

 of certain precautions, such as not allowing 

 the same person to remain in too constant 

 attendance on consumptives, nor permitting 

 another to sleep with them, securing the 

 most perfect ventilation possible, and the 

 exercise of great cleanliness with immediate 

 removal and destruction of sputa. 



The remainder of the book is devoted 

 to a discussion of the effect of tuberculous 

 food, a subject of no less practical impor- 

 tance than the former. The occurrence of 

 tuberculosis among cows and oxen being 

 quite frequent, it is important that every 

 possible means be employed to prevent the 

 consumption of such beef by human beings. 

 Milk from cows affected by this disease is j 

 even more to be feared, owing to the diffi- 

 culty of preventing its sale, and the fact \ 

 that the greater part of it is consumed 

 without cooking. In addition to this we 

 must consider that milk frequently forms 

 the entire food of young children, and is an 

 important article of diet with invalids, both 

 of whom are more liable to attacks of any 

 new disease than are older and more healthy 

 persons. Aside from the dangerous infect- 

 ive properties, such milk is objectionable 

 as an article of food, owing to its deficiency 

 in fat, sugar, and the nitrogenous elements. 

 The only remedy against these dangers 

 from beef and milk is to be found in a care- 

 ful, honest governmental inspection of all 

 the meat that comes into our markets, es- 

 pecially at the slaughter-houses, and of the 

 cows that furnish our milk, with particular 

 reference to the existence of this disease. 

 It may be a difficult and expensive under- 

 taking, but, for our safety, it must be done. 

 The book, on the whole, is not intended 

 to quiet the fears of nervous people, or to 

 convince the timid that there is little to be 

 feared from the dreaded scourge consump- 

 tion. 



The Sun. By Professor C. A. Young. 



New edition. 



We are glad to see a new and carefully 

 revised edition of this admirable and stand- 

 ard work, and also that successive editions 

 are called for abroad. Great pains have 

 been taken by the author to give the high- 

 est accuracy to the text, and he has ap- 

 pended, in the form of notes, all the new 

 and important information that has accu- 

 mulated since the first issue. None of these 

 additions discredit what may be regarded as 

 established facts and principles relating to 

 the sun, but they constitute interesting ex- 

 tensions of solar knowledge, together with 

 new and ingenious speculations, the value 

 of which time alone can determine. Pro- 

 fessor Young has done well in thus keeping 

 his book sharply up to the time, by which 

 it will maintain its leading position in astro- 

 nomical literature. 



La Navigation Electrique (Electric Navi- 

 gation). By Georges Dart. Paris : J 

 Baudry. Pp. 65, with 17 Illustrations in 

 the text. 



The first part of this work gives the 

 history of the attempts to apply electrical 

 force to the propulsion of boats and air- 

 ships, including the first essay by M. de Ja- 

 cobi in Kussia in 1839, and the experiment 

 of M. Trouv6, which received the applause 

 due to an apparent success at the Paris Ex- 

 position of Electricity last year. A con- 

 trollable balloon proposed by M. Tissandier, 

 and the electro-motor which he would apply 

 to its propulsion, are also mentioned. The 

 second part of the work embraces a full 

 and detailed description of M. Trouve's 

 electrical motor, its application, and the de- 

 grees of speed attained with it. The whole 

 is hopeful for the ultimate success of electro- 

 navigation. 



Annual Report of the Board of Regents 

 of the Smithsonian Institution for 

 1 880. Washington : Government Print- 

 ing-Office. Pp. 772. 

 This report, though tardy in appearing, 

 has a permanent value that justifies a no- 

 tice of it at any time. The record of work 

 done is very full in notices of explorations 

 and special investigations in which the In- 

 stitution has had a part ; the list of acqui- 



