40 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[Feb., 1883. 



method of preparing it, but not knowing 

 this, they were thrown away. Just such 

 useful and practical information is given 

 in this book. It is true that the collector is 

 likely to know very well how to preserve 

 the particular objects for which he is 

 searching, but while looking for objects 

 of one kind, who has not found those of 

 a "different kind which he knows would 

 interest his friends, or that he would like 

 to preserve even as mere curiosities ? 

 The book before us is written for the na- 

 turalist and is useful for the professional 

 man, and also for the amateur, or novice. 

 It contains many valuable suggestions 

 about collecting and preserving speci- 

 mens of all kinds, mammals, birds, nests 

 and eggs, reptiles, fishes, skeletons, 

 insects, larvae, etc., with instructions for 

 mounting them, suggestions for labora- 

 tory arrangements and work, useful re- 

 cipes, and lastly, a long list of references 

 to books and articles to " aid the student 

 in arranging and identifying his collec- 

 tions." 



Microscopical Morphology of the Ani- 

 mal Body ill Health and Disease. By 

 C. Heitzmann, M. D. Late Lecturer 

 on Morbid Anatomy at the University of 

 Vienna, Austria. With 380 original en- 

 gravings. New York: J. H. Vail & Co. 

 1883. (Large 8vo. pp. 847. Price 

 $7.00). 



This is a large, elegant volume, well 

 printed and profusely illustrated. It 

 treats of the different tissues of the body 

 in a manner certainly calculated to ar- 

 rest the attention of the student of histol- 

 ogy. There is little opportunity left for 

 doubt when the author endeavors to de- 

 monstrate a favorite hypothesis. His 

 language is positive, his convictions are 

 strong. That there is much valuable 

 and useful information in the book we 

 cannot doubt, yet what there is we find 

 so interspersed with teachings which 

 must be regarded as erroneous and based 

 upon imperfect observations, that we 

 should hesitate to commend the work as 

 a text-book for a beginner ; for it is im- 

 possible to distinguish, by the language 

 used, between facts that are established, 

 and those which are still, to say the least, 

 unverified. 



The book contains reprinted articles 

 from other authors, some of which are 

 worthy of preservation in such a readily 

 accessible form ; otiiers might better 

 have been left out and forjjotten. It also 



includes many reproductions from arti- 

 cles previously published by the author. 



As would naturally be expected, the 

 "bioplasson" doctrine is fullv set forth, 

 and the cell-theory is discarded as un- 

 worthy of further attention. The space 

 at our disposal does not admit of any 

 lengthy abstracts from the pages before 

 us, such as we would like to give, but a 

 fair idea of the convincing nature of the 

 language used may be formed by the 

 short quotations here given : — 



" Last year I published my observations 

 on pus-corpuscles, which enable me, from 

 the amount of living matter contained in 

 an individual corpuscle, to say . . . 

 whether the person from whom the pus 

 comes is healthy and strong, or weak- 

 ened by chronic disease, as tuberculosis." 

 (P- 32.) 



" Thus I have arrived at a point of 

 perfection which allows me to tell the 

 constitution of a person without knowing 

 anything of his former life." (p. 60.) 



All of which is unmitigated bosh ! 



There is another delectable story (page 

 61) in which it is said that a young physi- 

 cian — but a very gullible one, we should 

 think — proposed to abandon his inten- 

 •tion of marrying his cousin on account of 

 the nervousness revealed by his blood- 

 corpuscles under Dr. Heitzmann's micro- 



scope 



Exchanges. 



P'ossiL Diatoms from Franzensbad, Bohemia, and 

 Celle, Hanover, in exchange for good material of any 

 kind, mounted or unmounted. T. C. Brinnbock, 17 

 Simmering, near Vienna, Austria. 



Wanted. — Mounted slides of Pabnogloui, Protococ- 

 cus, VolvoXi Stained Bacteria, Trichina, or sections of 

 coal or limestone, in exchange for vegetable preparations, 

 James E. Humphrey, North Weymouth, Mass. 



Any Microscopist having good, prepared material, 

 particularly diatoms, to spare in exchange for diatoms 

 in situ, untreated recent or fossil diatoms, marine alg.-e, 

 ferns, skins of sharks and eels, and many other objects, 

 please communicate with M. A. Booth, Longmeadow, 

 Mass 



For Slides of Diatoms from the Wabash & Erie 

 Canal at ¥x. Wayne, send any well-mounted slide to 

 H. C. Tresselt, Fort Wayne, Ind. 



Wanted. — Insects, or parts of insects well mounted, 

 for other well-mounted objects, including rare seeds, 

 pollens, epidermal organs of plants, etc., etc. George 

 Timmins, Troy, N. Y. 



For Exchange. — Mounted or unmounted, the beau- 

 tiful seeds of the insectivorous plant, Drosera longifolia. 

 Rev. E. A. Perry, Palmer, Mass. 



