August 1 8, 1887] 



NATURE 



Z^l 



sections on cognition do not seem to be very happily 

 arranged ; but a double index — an index of names and 

 an index of subjects — renders it easy to make use of the 

 volume as a dictionary. It would have been well, how- 

 ever, if a synoptical table of contents had also been 

 added. 



Turning now to one or two points of more special in- 

 terest to the man of science, we think that the promise in 

 the preface that " a fair representation has been secured 

 of the teaching of the physiological and evolutional 

 psychologists of our own time," is by no means fully re- 

 deemed. Barely a page and a half is devoted to " The 

 Brain and Nervous System." The page on " Sensibility 

 and Muscularity " is not very satisfactory ; while the 

 information conveyed in the three pages or so devoted to 

 " The Five Senses '' is sufficiently meagre. Such obser- 

 vations as Goldscheider's on "pressure-spots" and "tem- 

 perature-spots " are not alluded to. We have come across 

 no mention of Lotze's theory of local signs. But it would 

 be easier to enumerate the few elementary points that 

 are mentioned than the many important generalizations 

 that are ignored. 



Looking up evolution under " Modern Philosophical 

 Schools," we find Mr. Herbert Spencer's well-worn defini- 

 tion preceded by that given by Mr. Sully in his article 

 in the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," an extract happily 

 chosen. Two or three paragraphs on mental evolution 

 from "The Principles of Psychology" are then cited. 

 Mr. Sully's criticism of the Spencerian position is suc- 

 ceeded by Mr. Stirling's sweeping and not very acute 

 criticism of the evolution theory in general. A paragraph 

 from Mr. Fiske, on evolutional religion, concludes the two 

 pages and a quarter devoted to this subject. There are 

 indeed other incidental quotations, but we cannot say 

 that the doctrine of evolution is adequately represented. 



Nothing, however, is easier than to find fault with the 

 execution of a work of this kind. We trust the labours 

 of the editor and of the "collator of experience" have 

 not been expended in vain. There are in this " Diction- 

 ary " a great number of well-selected passages from 

 philosophers of all shades of opinion ; and there must be 

 many men with but little leisure for philosophic study 

 who will be glad to make or to renew acquaintance with 

 the thoughts and the speculations here presented. 



C. Ll. M. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Hay Fez'er and Faroxsyinal Sneezing. By Morell Mac- 

 kenzie, M.D. P'ourth Edition. Pp.96. (London: J. 

 and A. Churchill, 1887.) 



Perhaps none of the minor ills to which humanity is 

 prone has given rise to so much discussion as the subject 

 under review. We have the views of those who regard it 

 as a complaint due to "pollen"; of those, again, who 

 look upon it as a neurosis, in which the much maligned 

 and little understood " sympathetic system " is considered 

 to play the chief part ; and of others who attribute this 

 and kindred disorders to the hurtful consequences of the 

 presence of swellings, exostoses, bony ridges, &c., in the 

 nasal cavities. The latter school relies on a mode of 

 treatment which in its endeavours to clear the nose of all 

 so-called obstructions, by the free use of the saw, the 

 drill, the gouge, the dental engine and electric motor, &c., 

 reminds one more of the efforts of a mechanic, anxious 



to bring the nasal cavities into comparison with a polished 

 eburnated cylinder, than of the intelligent practitioner. 

 This kind of thing is being carried to excess, and an 

 earnest protest must be made against the officious and 

 meddlesome surgery of the nasal passages which is 

 advocated amongst a certain class of modern specialists. 

 It is an old idea that hay-fever is produced in persons 

 having a certain nervous erethism, or predisposition, by 

 the contact of the pollen of certain flowering grasses 

 with some portion of the upper respiratory tract, or the 

 conjunctiva. Dr. Mackenzie is an advocate of this view, 

 and he regards the action of this pollen as more depen- 

 dent upon its " vital, than chemical or physical character- 

 istics." Those grains with the longest pollen-tubes 

 (Liliace^e) are less irritating than the pollen of Graminaceai-, 

 the pollen-tubes of which are quite rudimentary. Pollen 

 rubbed into the noses of hay-fever patients is exceedingly 

 irritating, and is more active than alum or tannin. Dr. 

 Mackenzie thinks that the absence of vibrisste, or want ol 

 mobility of the alae nasi, or dryness of the mucous mem- 

 brane, leads to the entry of poUen into the nasal cavities. 

 Many interesting facts are referred to in this book which 

 substantiate the author's views ; and it is difficult to come 

 to any other conclusion, in the face of such an able 

 exposition, than that, whatever may be the condition 

 of the sympathetic or central nervous system, which 

 in a word constitutes the necessary "predisposition," 

 the introduction of pollen into the eyes, nose, or throat, 

 is necessary for the production of " hay-fever." Some 

 interesting experiments are related by Dr. Mackenzie on 

 dredging the atmosphere during the hay-fever season, 

 with the object of counting the pollen-grains floating in 

 the air. While these were enormously increased during 

 the month of June when hay-making was general, and 

 diminished during July in the country, even the air of 

 the streets of London was only on one or two days 

 during this season found to be free from pollen-granules. 

 Thus persons, even in the heart of a large town, are not 

 free from this external irritant. 



The section on paroxysmal sneezing is very good. The 

 author regards the affection as one of the respiratory 

 centre, the afferent impulse of which is conveyed by the 

 trigeminal nerve-fibres. Dr. Mackenzie rightly condemns 

 much of the unscientific jargon written about the power 

 of isolated ganglia, such as Meckel's ganglion, to be 

 directly concerned in these conditions, and justly refers 

 the nervous mechanism to the cerebro-spinal centres, 

 quoting at length Gaskell's recent researches on the sym- 

 pathetic nervous system, on which, indeed, he founds his 

 views. The author's ideas are set forth with great ability 

 and moderation, and this book forms a valuable contribu- 

 tion to the discussion of this much vexed subject. The 

 treatment of these complaints is fully dealt with in the 

 book. 



The Owens College Course of Practical Orgatiic Chemistry. 



By Julius B. Cohen, Ph.D., F.C.S. (London: Mac- 



millan and Co., 1887.) 

 Whatever may be the failings of this little book, there 

 is no doubt it is a step in the right direction — that of 

 making what is called organic chemistry really a prac- 

 tical study, as is the case with inorganic. The intro- 

 ducers of the author, in a short preface, seem to imply 

 that the practical study of organic chemistry should of 

 necessity be connected with, and indeed lead up to, 

 research. Now, however desirable it may be that a con- 

 siderable number of people should do organic research, 

 there are a great many cases where the student of che- 

 mistry will gain as much as will be useful to him by 

 simply making some careful preparations, just as is 

 done with ordinary quantitative analysis, with no intention 

 of making analysis a profession. 



It has no doubt been a standing disgrace in this country 

 that, up to within the last few years, organic chemistry 



