"Vol. V. No. 121. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



397 



^^ 



TROPICAL HYGIENE PRIMER: By C. W. 

 Branch, M.B., CM. Issued wider the autkority of the 

 Oovernment of St. Vincent. 1906. 



This little book has been written by Dr. Branch for use 

 in elementary schools in the West Indies. 



In the simplest language children are here taught 

 ' something of the facts which concern health protection.' 



In the first chapter, dealing with general hygiene, the 

 children will learn the uses and composition of air, foods, 

 and water. It is explained, for example, that 'night air has 

 no evils whatever ' ; therefore windows should not be closed 

 at night. Tainted salt fish should be avoided ; also the meat 

 of an animal that has died of disease, as this may be anthrax. 

 The value of pure water and the desirability of boiling all 

 drinking water arc insisted upon. 



The second chapter deals with personal hygiene : the 

 care of the skin, hair, and teeth ; clothing, the need of 

 exercise, and temperance are also discussed. 



Next comes a chapter on some of the commonest 

 diseases occurring in the West Indies, and this is followed by 

 a 'Health Catechism.' 



Dr. Branch has made an excellent attempt to improve 

 the conditions under which people live in the West Indies by 

 reaching the children in the schools. His Tropical Hygiene 

 Primer should find its way into every West Indian elementary 

 school. 



RACES OF DOMESTIC POULTRY : By Edward 

 Brown, E.L.S. London: Edward Arnold, 41 «™<^ 43, Maddox 

 ■Street, W. 1906. 



The author, who is Secretary of the National Poultry 

 -Organization Society and Lecturer on Aviculture at the 

 University College, Reading, writes with the authority 

 conferred by over thirty years' study of poultry breeding. 



In the preface he refers to the increased attention being 

 .paid all over the civilized world to the breeding of poultry. 

 To this is due the development of distinctive races ; and in 

 liis book Mr. Brown has focussed ' information as to the 

 ,races of poultry met with in all the countries where breeding 

 is conducted upon advanced lines.' 



For the purpose of securing reliable information as to 

 these different races, of a large number of which it was found 

 that little was known, the author has visited, during the last 

 few years, the greater part of Europe. 



A particularly interesting feature of this book is the 

 attempt which is made ' to trace the origin, history, and 

 distribution of domestic poultry, and to show the evolution 

 of breeds and their classification.' In dealing with the origin 

 of most of the domestic breeds, the author gives tables to 

 indicate their descent. For example, the Black Orpington 

 breed was originated by the late Mr. AVilliam Cook, then 

 living at Orpington, Kent, by mating Black Minorca cocks 

 ■with Black Plymouth Rock hens ; with the hens resulting 

 -from this cross Clean-legged Langshan cocks were mated. 



The characters of the resulting birds were then fixed by 

 a rigorous process of selection. 



The book contains an account of the origin, history,- and \ 

 economic characters of a very large number of European and 

 American races of fowls ; also of races of domestic ducks, 

 geese, and turkeys. The characters of the races are further 

 indicated by eighty-nine large illustrations. Altogether 

 !Mr. Brown's book will be found a valuable guide which all 

 breeders of poultry are likely to find very useful. 



USE OF ART PAPER IN PRINTING. 



The Printers' Register, for June 1906, reproduces 

 extracts ' from an extremely interesting and highly 

 valuable paper ' recently read by Mr. R. W. Sindall 

 before the Society of Chemical Industry, on the 

 ' Manuflxcture and Use of Art Paper.' As these 

 extracts refer to the class of paper which has been 

 adopted in printing the Agricultural, Neivs, the 

 following may be of interest : — 



These special papers are now made in large quantities to 

 supply the demand for a paper having a smooth surface 

 suitable for the printing of what are known amongst the 

 printing craft as half-tone blocks. The coating which is 

 applied to the ordinary paper to produce the smooth surface 

 required consists of certain inert mineral substances, such as 

 China clay, blanc fixe, or enamel mixed with glue or casein. 

 Of recent years casein has been largely employed as a sub- 

 stitute for glue, but, as appears from the following extract, 

 it does not .seen to afford the best results : — ■ 



' The decomposition of casein in solution, even to 

 a slight extent, diminishes its adhesive properties, and as 

 a matter of common experience, a coating mixture prepared 

 from casein which stands over from a Saturday to the Monday 

 following is frequently rendered foul and useless. Inatten- 

 tion to details of this kind is a fruitful source of trouble, 

 which only appears at the printing ofliice, when it is then 

 impossible to trace back the primary offender. The manu- 

 facturers of art papers are frequently puzzled to explain 

 defects for which there does not appear to be any adequate 

 cause, and this question of the alteration of adhesive 

 properties in the prepared coating mixture is one of them.' 



As to the use of art papers in the production of 

 publications intended for long preservation as record.s, the 

 following observations of Mr. Sindall .should be of interest to 

 publishers : — 



' The resistance of the art paper to the ravages of time 

 is a matter which should not be difficult to determine since 

 all the elements for rapid depreciation are present in the 

 shape of a large percentage of a cheap glue mixed with 

 a common clay lying on the surface of a more or less inferior 

 body paper, .so that the moisture and damp of an ordinary 

 atmosphere find books of this class an easy prey in course of 

 time. The preservation of books containing the fine art 

 illustrations obtained by process printing can be prolonged 

 by careful storage in a properly dried room ; but having 

 regard to the large number of expensively got-up books being 

 continually published, this question is of the utmost impor- 

 tance.' 



It might be added that samples of the art paper 

 used for printing the Agricultural A^eivs have recently 

 been submitted to this office, which bore evidence of 

 deterioration and were in consequence quite unfib 

 for printing purposes. 



