NATURE 



[June 27, 1918 



But the book serves another purpose. The 

 authors have sought to place the subject on some- 

 thing like a scientific basis. The importance of a 

 standard method of testing is emphasised; the 

 remarkable influence of media in this connection 

 is referred to, and an attempt is made to explam 

 (though at present little understood) the nature 

 and mechanism of the action. The book is 

 divided into chapters. The introductory chapter 

 deals with various groups of antiseptics and their 

 properties, the laws governing disinfection, the 

 modes of application, and the influence of media. 

 This is followed by chapters on particular groups, 

 beginning with the chlorine group, in connection 

 with which Dr. Dakin's name is so closely 

 Associated. The phenolic group, the group of 

 heavy . metals, the dyes, and miscellaneous anti- 

 septics such as hydrogen peroxide, ozone, iodine, 

 iodoform, boric acid, etc., are treated in succes- 

 sive chapters. ... 



The final chapter is devoted to special appli- 

 cations of antiseptics, such as the disinfection of 

 "carriers" and that of -drinking water, ,and the 

 production of electrolytic hypochlorite from sea- 

 water for disinfecting ships. 



Although the pursuit of this subject has been 

 attended in recent years with remarkable success, 

 it must be admitted that the methods have been 

 mainly empirical and to some extent fortuitous. 

 There is still a \^'ide field for more ^systematic 

 research arid, study, for there remains very much 

 in the chemical action of antiseptics which is 

 obscure. For a book of 129 pages, and of such 

 small dimensions, the price of 7s. seems excessive. 



J. B. C. 



MILK HYGIENE. 



Prmciples and Practice of Milk Hygiene. By 

 Prof. L. A. Klein. Pp. x+329. (Philadelphia 

 andLondon: J. B. LippincottCo., 1917-) Price 

 125. 6d. net. 



THIS book, as its title implies, has been 

 written particularly for the veterinary 

 inspector, but, nevertheless, there is in it a great 

 deal of information which will be of value to the 

 analyst, the bacteriologist, the sanitary inspector, 

 and the dairy student. 



A clear account is given in the first chapter of 

 the Zeitzschman theory of milk secretion, accord- 

 ing to which two distinct phases are to be recog- 

 nised in the process. The first is the slow secre- 

 tion of milk during the intervals between milking, 

 whilst the second phase begins at the bidding of 

 the stimulus due to the act of milking. 



The chemical and physical properties of milk 

 are dealt with in the usual way, and there is 

 also a good description of the biological proper- 

 ties. This is foUowred by an outline of the various 

 groups of bacteria commonly found in milk, and 

 the changes which they directly or indirectly bring 

 about. 



Defects of milk, whether due to bacteria or to 



NO. 



2539, VOL. lOl] 



some disease of the animal, are dealt with very 

 fully, and there is a good account of the influence 

 of disease upon milk. Naturally, a prominent place 

 is given to tuberculosis, and the writer divides 

 cows which are liable to cause infection into three 

 classes : (a) those suffering from tuberculosis of 

 the udder, (b) those having normal udders, but 

 showing disease in other parts, (c) those which 

 exhibit no clinical symptoms, but react to the 

 tuberculin test. 



As a result of much careful investigation it 

 would appear that the most hopeful lines upon 

 which to work in order to obtain a supply of milk 

 free, or relatively free, from tubercle contamina- 

 tion is to apply the tuberculin test and examine 

 the cows frequently. Full particulars as to 

 methods of examination and the interpretation of 

 symptoms are given later on in the book. 



Stress is laid upon the necessity for careful in- 

 spection of the cowshed and premises and the 

 maintenance of a high standard of cleanliness in 

 milking, feeding, cleaning, water supply, etc. 

 The use of a partly covered milk-pail is also 

 recommended, and this practice has increased con- 

 siderably of late years in the United States. 



There is one sentence in the chapter upon farm 

 inspection which cannot be too strongly impressed 

 upon all those who are connected with the pro- 

 duction of milk; it is this: "The hygienic quali- 

 ties of milk depend very largely upon the condi- 

 tions existing at the source of supply." Many 

 enlightened public bodies in this country have 

 acted for some time past upon this axiom with 

 excellent results. The score system of dairy in- 

 spection is also explained. 



One chapter deals fully with pasteurisation, 

 whilst the rest of the book is devoted to details 

 of the methods used in the examination of milk. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 

 The Problem of Man's Ancestry. By Prof. F, 



Wood-Jones. Pp. 48. (London: S.P.C.K., 



1918.) ■ Price 7d. net. 

 In this booklet Prof. Wood-Jones has expanded 

 the substance of a lecture which received consider- 

 able attention from the Press when delivered at 

 King's College, Strand, during the past spring. 

 A new hypothesis as to man's origin is put for- 

 ward and a new place is given to man in the zoo- 

 logical scale — a place far apart from that occupied 

 by the anthropoid apes, with which Prof. Wood- 

 Jones considers man has only a most remote 

 relationship. To explain the number of "primi- 

 tive " anatomical characters which are to be found 

 in the human body and the number of "human" 

 features which are to be found in that aberrant and 

 diminutive primate Tarsius, the author supposes 

 that both man and Tarsius have sprung from a 

 common stem — one the root of which is represented 

 in the Lower Eocene strata by Anaptomorphus and 

 Necrolemur. " If man is a more primitive mammal 

 than are monkeys and apes, and if he undoubtedly 

 belongs to their phylum, then it follows that, far 



