354 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Remedies have been proposed for stabilisation of the cotton trade ; prohibition 

 of gambling in " futures," establishment of cotton reserves, and the extension of 

 cotton-growing in other countries, have all been suggested and acted upon with 

 some result. There is, however, no dispassionate scientific knowledge at the 

 back of these efforts, and the suspicion, often unfounded, that the other fellow is 

 " out on the make " has always hampered them. Yet the economic waste re- 

 sulting from the lack of such central co-ordination must be enormous. 



The matter is one of peculiar interest to England, where the manufacture of 

 cotton textiles by machinery was first evolved. There once was a time when we 

 in England controlled this manufacture almost exclusively, and although we still 

 have more spindles at work than any other country, although we still monopolise 

 most of the fine-spinning trade, and although the cotton goods which we produce 

 figure at the head of our list of exports, yet we do not now possess more than 

 40 per cent, of the world's total spindles. Again, about a quarter of the world's 

 cotton crop is grown in British possessions, and Prof. Todd points out that it is 

 likely this proportion will increase, India taking the place of the U.S.A. His 

 plea for an organisation to be backed by capital equal to the amount which is now 

 being spent on the war in a single day, is a plea worth serious consideration in 

 Great Britain ; otherwise, the other countries will do it. 



The postscript chapter, dealing with the effects of the war, makes interesting 

 reading ; it plays with millions, and leaps from New York to Korea. The two 

 preceding chapters on the uses of cotton and of cotton-seed contain the essence 

 of the matter in readable form, and the book as a whole may be recommended 

 not only to those who are intimately concerned with some aspect of the enormous 

 trade it deals with, but even the casual reader will find some interest within its 

 pages, such as the history of the development of the Nile Valley, or the list of 

 sociological " limiting factors " which control the growth of cotton-growing pro- 

 jects, from deficiency of population in the Sudan, laziness of the nigger in the 

 United States, and the supply of irrigation water in Russian Turkestan, down 

 to a hankering after massacres in Asia Minor. 



W. Lawrence Balls. 



MEDICINE 



Preliminary Report on the Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis with 

 Tuberculin. By NOEL D. Bardsvvell, M.D., with a Prefatory Note by 

 Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S. [Pp. xxi + 141.] (London : H. K. Lewis, 

 1914. Price 6s. net.) 



This is a valuable contribution to the literature on the debated question of the 

 efficiency of tuberculin in the treatment of phthisis. The volume deals exhaus- 

 tively with the observation of its effects on cases in the King Edward VII. 

 Sanatorium, Midhurst, over a period of two years. 



The earlier portions of the book are devoted to a description of the general 

 technique of the administration of tuberculin. The physical examination of 

 patients preparatory to treatment, the varieties of tuberculin used, the methods 

 of inoculation, the dosage, and the manner of regulating " courses " of treatment 

 are described. 



The remainder of the volume is occupied with the details of the results 

 obtained by the injection of tuberculin in a large number of patients. 



The comparison is made between cases which were subjected to tuberculin 

 treatment for six months in the Sanatorium, and cases in which no tuberculin was 

 given for the same length of time. It is pointed out that the results must not 



