June 3, 1897] 



NATURE 



lO] 



rmia and Hodgkin's disease being also very fully treated. 



Then the blood in acute and chronic infectious diseases, in 

 diseases of special organs, in diseases of the nervous 

 system, constitutional diseases and haemorrhagic diseases, 

 in malignant diseases in various positions, and, lastly, the 

 blood in which parasites are present. We may take, as 

 an example of the plan of the work, a short description 

 _;iven of the diagnostic value of blood examination in 

 typhoid fever, in which Dr. Cabot notes post-febrile an- 



'■mia,sometimes very intense; no leucocytosis ; later leuco- 

 penia ; increased percentage of young leucocytes at the 

 expense of adult forms, especially marked in this late 

 period ; most complications cause leucocytosis. Typhoid 

 can be differentiated from local inflammatory processes 

 by the fact that in uncomplicated conditions leucocytosis 

 is never associated with it, whilst all local inflammatory 

 conditions are accompanied by leucocytosis. Typhoid 

 and malaria can, of course, be distinguished by the 

 presence of the malarial organism in one, and its absence 

 in the other. Even in acute tuberculosis, where leuco- 

 cytosis is not present, the proportion of young leucocytes 

 is, as a rule, larger in typhoid than in tuberculosis. A 

 similar application of this method to other diseases 

 promises excellent results, and we congratulate Dr. Cabot 

 on having placed such a systematic and practical work 

 in the hands of the medical and scientific worker, as we 

 believe that a book of this kind will do more to encourage 

 the study of the pathological conditions of the blood 

 than anything that has appeared in recent years. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 The Forcing-Book : a Manual of the Cultivation of 



Vegetables in Glass-houses. By L. H. Bailey. Pp. 



xiii -f- 266. (New York : The Macmillan Company. 



London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1897.) 

 This is a small manual devoted to an explanation of the 

 principles, and to a statement of the practices involved, 

 in " forcing for market." In no department of horti- 

 culture do experience and judgment tell more than in 

 forcing operations ; but if " practice " be essential, it 

 is certain that to get the best results, it must be 

 directed by trained intelligence. In this country market- 

 gardening under glass has greatly extended of late 

 years, and many agriculturists, finding it no longer re- 

 munerative to grow wheat, have turned their attention 

 to the growth of flowers or to market-gardening gener- 

 ally. As a rule these men have been successful because 

 they have known how to adapt themselves to new condi- 

 tions, and have not been mere slaves to routine. As 

 competition increases it may be expected that market- 

 gardening will become less remunerative, and hence the 

 necessity for increased knowledge and quickened intelli- 

 gence in order to meet the new circumstances. In the 

 United States, in Germany, in France, in Belgium, in 

 Denmark, this truth has been recognised, and horti- 

 cultural schools and experiment stations have been 

 established for years. In. this country, as is usually the 

 case in such matters, we have lagged behind, and have 

 many arrears to clear off before we can deem ourselves 

 on a level with the countries we have mentioned. And 

 all this time we are importing, to an enormous amount, 

 commodities a large proportion of which might be 

 grown at home. 



The experimental station in connection with the 

 Cornell University has taken a very prominent position 

 in teaching the principles of cultivation, and in furnishing 

 the opportunity of putting them into practice. Its bul- 



NO. 1440, VOL. 56] 



letins have consequently been read with interest. The 

 present volume is, to a large extent, based on these 

 bulletins, and will be valued accordingly. Within its 

 prescribed limitations the reader will find an epitome of 

 the most advanced views on the culture of plants. Much 

 of the book is taken up with technical details, which need 

 only be referred to here ; but we may refer the reader 

 especially to the paragraph on the use of the electric 

 light for forcing-houses, at p. 80. It is very short, but 

 contains a great deal of information which will be service- 

 able to those who are contemplating further experiment. 

 The results obtained are substantially the same as 

 observed on different plants by the late Sir William 

 Siemens ; but, if we remember rightly, the time required 

 t? mature the crops and ripen the fruit at Tonbridge 

 Wells was much less than has been ascertained to be 

 necessary in the United States. Probably the dis- 

 crepancy is easily to be explained by differences of cir- 

 cumstances. " It will be found profitable," says Prof. 

 Bailey, "to use the electric light for plant-growing, if 

 at all, only in the three or four months of midwinter." 

 A general summary of the contents and a good index 

 render the volume easy to consult. 



The Birds of Our Country. By H. E. Stewart, B.A. 

 Pp. viii -h 397. (London : Digby, Long, and Co., 1897.) 

 The Natural History Societies of our public schools 

 should add this book to their libraries. It contains brief 

 illustrated descriptions of all the birds likely to be seen 

 in the British Isles, and will afford young observers a 

 means of obtaining interesting information on bird-life. 

 We hope the book will not add to the number of in- 

 discriminate collectors. The author refers to " many an 

 enjoyable day spent rambling through the [New] Forest 

 in search of something which might be deemed worthy 

 of a place in our collections, and possibly of a paragraph 

 in a natural history paper to be read at one of our social 

 evenings afterwards." The " takes " of such rambles are 

 also mentioned. It would have been well if a word or 

 two of advice had been added on the folly of collecting 

 specimens without studying them. The young collectors 

 into whose hands the book will probably fall, should be 

 told distinctly that their hobby must be exercised with 

 discretion. 



The Pamirs and the Source of the Oxus, By the Right 

 Hon. George N. Curzon, M.P. Pp. 83. (London : 

 The Royal Geographical Society.) 

 We are glad that this notable contribution to geography 

 has been reprinted from the Geographical fournal., and 

 published as a volume handy in size and attractive in 

 format. For ages the Pamirs and the Oxus have 

 impressed the imagination of humanity, and though 

 fancy has now to give way to facts, " the mystery and 

 romance of the fabled Roof of the World having been 

 extinguished by the theodolite and the compass, and 

 superseded by the accurate delineation of scientific 

 maps," this celebrated region is full of interest — how full 

 can only be understood by those who read the present 

 monograph, which happily combines historical records 

 with personal experience. 



Thefournal of the Essex Technical Laboratories. Vol. ii. 



Edited by David Houston. Pp. 340. (Chelmsford : 



County Technical Laboratories, 1896.) 

 A HELPFUL Bulletin is published monthly by the 

 Technical Instruction Committee of the Essex County 

 Council. The bulletins issued from October 1895 to 

 September 1896 are here brought together, and published 

 in the form of a handy volume. Notes and articles on 

 most branches of biological knowledge are included in 

 the volume ; and also a short course of lessons in ele- 

 mentary chemistry. Many of the articles are well illus- 

 trated, and they will all assist in making the agriculturist 

 and horticulturist realise the value of scientific work. 



