404 



NATURE 



[December io, 1914 



ful." Every object must be accompanied by an ex- 

 planation setting forth its most interesting character- 

 istics, and addressed, not to the unlettered, but to the 

 man of education, who is not a specialist. " Exhibi- 

 tion without explanation is vain and profitless, and 

 causes a justifiable feeling of irritation in every serious 

 intelligent visitor." The colonial museum is another 

 institution which may form a suitable annexe to the 

 regional museum, and should be the result of, and an 

 incentive to, the carrying out of the principle that 

 "exploration should precede exploitation," and, as the 

 author aptly remarks, " the more thoroughly and 

 scientifically the former is done the more profitable 

 will be the latter." 



The relations, which should exist between the metro- 

 politan museum and local museums are thus defined. 

 "Certain species represented by only one specimen 

 should be sent to the central museum, in view of the 

 paramount necessity of centralisation. The central 

 museum should, however, only receive these on de- 

 posit, and should carefully Indicate that they are the 

 property of the local museum. Furthermore, a cast or 

 reproduction of such specimens should be placed in 

 the latter with the label, ' The original is deposited 

 in the national museum.'" 



parallel with the old building, but In present circum- 

 stances there does not seem much likelihood of these 

 additions being carried out in the near future. 



There are numerous well-printed illustrations, which 

 represent a great variety of specimens and all depart- 

 ments of museum work, and It is a singular fact that, 

 though they bear very directly on the text, they are 

 scarcely ever referred to in it. 



BACTERIAL DISEASES OF PLANTS.^ 



'X*HE third volume of Dr. E. F. Smith's work on 

 -*■ " Bacteria In Relation to Plant Diseases " deals 

 exclusively with "vascular diseases " — that Is, those In 

 which the causal organism advances along the vascular 

 tissues of the plant, completely blocking up the zylem 

 vessels. When compared with the account by Russell 

 under the same title, written in 1892, the present work 

 shows markedly the immense progress made since 

 that date in this branch of botanical study. It is a 

 compilation representing Indefatigable labour, and 

 forms, with the preceding volumes, a comprehensive 

 summary of all that Is known under the head of 

 bacterial diseases of plants. A feature of the work 

 is the care taken to collect a complete biblography, and 



Royal Belgian Museum of Natural History, Brussels. The portion to the right is the old building ; to the left is the new south wing ; a nortn wing 

 parallel to it was contemplated, as well as a new central connecting member parallel with the old building on the side remote from the spectator. 



The regional museum must of necessity be a State 

 institution, but the relations of the museum with the 

 administrative departments of the State should be as 

 simple and restricted as possible. The actual work 

 of the museum should be controlled by an individual 

 not a committee. " Under the autonomy of a personal 

 head the institution utilises the powers of Its direction 

 to the full. If mistakes are made they are temporary ; 

 the error is in the personality which Is short-lived. 

 On the other hand, under the rule of a committee 

 the work, impersonal in its nature, will be mediocre 

 and sluggish, and the Institution will vegetate exposed 

 to the gravest perils ; the error is perpetual because 

 it Is inherent in the system." 



The remainder of the volume Is devoted to an 

 account of the Royal Belgian Museum of Natural 

 History at Brussels, Its origin, present condition, and 

 future. Its history has been one not unusual in the 

 case of similar institutions : progress impeded by 

 official ignorance, coupled with apathy or opposition ; 

 the situation Improved on the advent of a strong and 

 enlightened personality who knew how to secure more 

 generous treatment. At present the building consists 

 of an old centre and a new south wing. It was pro- 

 posed to add a similar north wing and a frontage 



NO, ^354, VOL. 94] 



the author's extraordinarily wide knowledge of the 

 subject and the extent of his own observations and 

 research render his critical review of all investigations 

 bearing upon the etiology of the disease of extreme 

 value to other workers in this field. Moreover, the 

 full abstracting of original papers, which are brought 

 quite up to date, and lengthy excerpts concerning 

 methods, technique, and results, fulfil the purpose of 

 enabling the reader to form his own conclusions and 

 emphasise the essential character of the publication 

 as a book of reference. 



Each disease described is treated In an exhaustive 

 manner, the same plan having been followed through- 

 out the series. The geographical distribution, history, 

 signs of disease, the etiology and morbid anatomy 

 are all fully considered, as well as the morphological 

 and cultural characters of the parasite, to which great 

 attention Is given as a means of identification of the 

 specific organism. A discussion of treatment is use- 

 fully Included, and a general computation of pecuniary 

 losses is attempted. 



The present volume deals almost entirely with 



1 " Bacteria in Relation to Plant Diseases." By Dr. E. F. Smith. Vol. 

 iii.. Vascular Diseases (continued). (Carnegie Institution of Washington, 

 1914 ) 



