HA RD WICK& S S CIENCE- G OSS IP. 



27 



NOTES ON NEW BOOKS. 



/IN INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICAI 

 ^1. BACTERIOLOGY, by Edgar M. Crook- 

 shank, M.B. (London : H. K. Lewis). Our language 

 is gradually enriched by the advent of new words 

 and terms. It is impossible in the history of intel- 

 lectual progress and research that it should be 

 otherwise. "Bacteriology" does not sound either 

 euphoniously or attractively. But it well expresses 

 the large fund of real knowledge, gained by patient 

 microscopical observation and research, which is 

 now so largely influencing the medical treatment of 

 most epidemic diseases. Two or three years ago, we 

 published in our own columns the admirable series 

 of papers (illustrated) by Mr. W. B. Grove, B.A., 

 on the " Schizomycetes." That was the commence- 

 ment of a systematic arrangement of the subject, and 

 the articles were subsequently republished in a cheap 

 and attractive form by Messrs. Chatto & Windus. 

 Dr. Crookshank's work is altogether on different 

 lines. He modestly calls it "An Introduction" — 

 it is in reality "A Manual," and a first-rate and 

 very valuable manual too. It is abundantly illus- 

 trated with coloured plates and wood engravings, 

 both of which are highly necessary to a work of this 

 kind. To young medical men (and old ones too, 

 for the matter of that) who are desirous of familiarising 

 themselves with all the methods and natural history 

 of epidemiological research, the work is most valuable. 

 Dr. Crookshank has followed the methods introduced 

 by Professor Koch, and he has been assisted by 

 some of the most eminent bacteriologists of the day, 

 all of whose help he generously acknowledges. The 

 work includes a description of the apparatus, 

 material, and reagents employed in a bacteriological 

 laboratory : Microscopical Examination of Bacteria 

 in Liquids, in Cultivation in Solid Media and in 

 Tissues ; Preparation and Staining of Tissue Sections ; 

 Preparation of Nutrient Media and Methods of 

 Cultivation ; Experiments upon the Living Animal ; 

 Examination of Animals experimented upon, and the 

 Methods of isolating Micro-Organisms from the 

 Living and Dead Subject ; History of our Know- 

 ledge of Bacteria ; Classification of Genera and 

 Species, &c. &c. 



Topography and Natural History of Lofthouse, by 

 George Roberts (Leeds : Printed for the Author). 

 The author is a well-known writer in the pages of 

 Science-Gossip, and these two volumes deal with 

 the topography, folk-lore, antiquities, phenological 

 phenomena, and natural history of the district he 

 lives in. Reviewers are not always obliged to read 

 the books through, submitted to their notice. Per- 

 haps, as Dr. Maginn used to say, it is enough for 

 many of them that they cut the pages and then 

 smell at the paper-knife. But we have read both 

 these volumes right through with much pleasure. 

 They are redolent of the country and country life, 



animal and vegetable. Their somewhat miscellaneous 

 contents remind us of White's " Selborne," which 

 is awarding them as high praise as is possible. To 

 Yorkshire people especially the work must be very 

 welcome, whilst even to general readers it is 

 eminently readable. The writer's style is plain and 

 unadorned, and yet vigorous English — just such as 

 an educated Yorkshireman would employ. Evidently 

 the compilation of both volumes has been a labour of 

 love, and we wish the work all the success that it 

 deserves. 



light and Life, edited by Joseph John Kaim 

 (London : Wyrnan & Sons). This is a nicely 

 printed book which professes to give the " Secrets of 

 Vegetable and Animal Development, detected and 

 explained in strict conformity with known natural 

 and chemical laws " ! It is not necessary to eat the 

 whole of a hogshead of sugar to tell what it is like, 

 and so we give the following quotation of how the 

 author has " detected and explained " the secrets of 

 the organic world, as a sample. This secret is 

 printed in italics, so that the author evidently thinks 

 it is very important. " Without the agency of the 

 sun, the consolidating process of vegetable structures 

 would be impossible ; and equally impossible would 

 be the consolidation of animal structures ; for without 

 a sufficient supply of oxygen, liberated by the power 

 of the sun from the sea, and distributed by moving 

 currents of air throughout the globe, consolidation 

 would be impossible, even if all other conditions 

 were present in vegetable and human structures." 

 Our readers will now fully understand the reason for 

 the milk in the cocoanut ! 



STUDIES OF COMMON PLANTS. 



No. IV.— The Ground Ivy. 



(Nepeta gkchoma, Benth. Glechoma hederacea, L.) 



By Charles F. W. T. Williams, B.A. Cantab. 



THOSE of my readers who are unable to examine 

 for themselves either Arum maculatum or Ne- 

 peta glechoma, must indeed live in a curious region. 



It is useless putting on paper my own observations 

 on this or that plant, if my idea in doing so is not 

 followed up by my readers. This kind of study will 

 be found so fascinating to the lover of practical 

 botany, that he will, in a short time, wish to study in 

 like manner for himself, and on his own account. 



As you read or work among our plants, consider 

 them as friends — living friends, and treat them as 

 such — they will repay you a thousandfold, and teach 

 you lessons both religious and scientific you little 

 dreamt of before. Their voices are gentle ; their 

 form is lovely ; and, better still, their conversation 

 is such as can be listened to with respect, delight, 

 and awe. 



If, then, you start with such feelings as these, you 



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