REVIEWS 525 



book are approached according to the following scheme. The first subject 

 discussed is that of toxins, the nature of which is described in an admirably clear 

 chapter, followed by an account of the technique of antitoxin preparation. The 

 interreactions of toxin and antitoxin come next, and make very hard reading ; the 

 chapter leaves a sense of considerable confusion, for none of the many theories 

 satisfactorily explains the observed phenomena. The "side-chain theory" is 

 well summarised, and employed to explain the origin of antitoxin, and immunity 

 to toxins. 



The problems of immunity to bacteria as distinct from immunity to toxins are 

 then treated in a very full chapter in which the side-chain theory is given in 

 greater detail. A section on cytolysis, and chapters on the agglutinins and 

 precipitins complete this aspect of the subject. 



A long chapter is devoted to phagocytosis, and though the author adopts no 

 partisan view, there is strong internal evidence both here and elsewhere that he 

 has a high opinion of the functions of the leucocyte in all phenomena of immunity. 

 The " tuberculin " test and its modifications is discussed, along with the difficult 

 problem of anaphylaxis, and other highly theoretical matters such as the colloidal 

 theory of antibodies and immunity to bacteria. The book closes with an account 

 of practical applications of these views in diagnosis, and in prophylaxis and 

 treatment by means of vaccines and sera. Excellent additions to the subject- 

 matter are a good glossary and a very well selected bibliography. 



There is no criticism to be offered of the subject-matter of this volume. It 

 has the defects of all books which aim at an impartial record of varying views ; the 

 reader comes away from controversial subjects without clear convictions, with 

 no working hypothesis. But as a summary of the important conclusions of 

 different schools it forms a most valuable handbook. The text is mercifully free 

 from the multiplicity of proper names so frequently found in summarised work, 

 only the most important being given, and the book is not overburdened with the 

 history of early research. The order chosen is one in which the subjects are 

 developed in a satisfactory sequence. Some observers will not agree with the 

 author as to all the doses of vaccines suggested, and some will be aware of results 

 which are better than those quoted, as, for instance, in the treatment of 

 tuberculosis. 



A study of this book enforces recognition of the unfortunate complexity of the 

 terms used in this difficult subject. For instance, in one passage in this book 

 the word "haemolysin" occurs, signifying a substance which dissolves blood- 

 corpuscles. In the same paragraph is the word " streptolysin," which should 

 mean a substance dissolving streptococci, but it actually signifies a haemolytic 

 product of the streptococcus. The author is, of course, not responsible for either 

 word, but he writes with sufficient authority to make some stand against termi- 

 nology so obviously confusing. 



D. W. Carmalt Jones. 



Physiological and Medical Observations among the Indians of South- 

 western United States and Northern Mexico. By Alex Hrdlicha. 

 (Washington, U.S. : Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American 

 Ethnology, Bulletin 34.) 



This book is a record of the physiological and medical observations made by 

 Dr. Alex Hrdlicha during six expeditions among the Indians living between 



