5 68 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



authority on the subject that this work is sure to have a large sale ; and the 

 physiological side of psychology is perhaps the most important, as it is the most 

 interesting, branch of biology. 



I. K. Therapy. With Special Reference to Tuberculosis. By W. E. M. Arm- 

 strong, M.A., M.D. Dublin, Bacteriologist to the Central London 

 Ophthalmic Hospital, late Assistant in the Inoculation Department, 

 St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, W. [Pp. x + 83.] (London : H. K. Lewis, 

 1914. Price 5-y. net.) 



MUCH of what is called biological science is really science of a very low order, 

 consisting of little more than the cataloguing of phenomena and of minute differ- 

 ences ; and much pathological writing is, in general, little more than the expres- 

 sion of opinion, not based upon exact measurements or supported by strict 

 reasoning. Since the creation of bacteriology by Pasteur and, still more, by the 

 exact methods of Koch, Behring, and many others, pathology has begun to work 

 upon a higher plane, and investigations on immunity and treatment are perhaps 

 approaching the level of many physical researches. Dr. Armstrong's book deals 

 with Carl Spengler's Immunkoerper treatment, begins with a review of certain 

 immunity questions, explains the Immunkoerper treatment, offers some figures on 

 the results, and gives a short chapter on technique. It is very well written, and 

 the general discussion of the manner in which the body opposes bacterial invasions 

 is so well done that it will interest all scientific readers, apart from physicians. 

 The discussion is necessarily very brief but admirably clear, and Spengler's 

 system is well described. The tables on pages 42 and 43, showing the clinical 

 results, are difficult to understand, as the headings of the columns are not easily 

 understood ; and this is a very important defect, especially because the table is 

 not sufficiently discussed. Up to the present the treatment has been employed 

 almost entirely against tuberculosis, but the same principles will apply to many 

 bacterial diseases and probably to those due to many animal parasites. The non- 

 expert reader will be especially interested in the theorem that the forces which 

 contend against bacterial invasions (antibodies) reside not so much in the serum 

 of the blood as in the red corpuscles themselves, and require for their full 

 development a separation and ionisation of these corpuscles. It thus follows that 

 blood diluted millions of times has often stronger immunising properties than 

 concentrated blood. The research is altogether very interesting. 



Practical Tropical Sanitation. A Manual for Sanitary Inspectors and others 

 interested in the Prevention of Disease in Tropical and Sub-Tropical Coun- 

 tries. By W. Alex. Muirhead, Staff Serjeant, Royal Army Medical 

 Corps, and Assistant Instructor at the School of Army Sanitation, Aldershot. 

 [Pp. xv + 288 with illustrations.] (London : John Murray, 1914. Price 

 10s. bd. net.) 



Likely to meet the needs of a large number of Sanitary Inspectors throughout 

 the British Empire. There has been an abundance of works on tropical hygiene, 

 and several on the subject of practical sanitation from the point of view both of 

 the health officer and of the sanitary engineer ; but works written expressly for 

 Sanitary Inspectors are far from common and, we may add, far from good. This 

 book by Serjeant Muirhead is an exception. It is brief but very thorough in 

 details, well illustrated, grammatically and intelligibly written, and covers most of 

 the subject. It should have a large sale because all municipalities and town 



