172 



NA TURE 



[June 22, 189; 



supplies the best illustration of this principle that could 

 be furnished. 



A word or two as to the illustrations, of which there are 

 no less than ii6 incorporated with the text. We notice 

 with some regret the prevailing fault so common in tech- 

 nical manuals : no scale of size is in any case given. This 

 perhaps is of no consequence to the practical dyer who is 

 already acquainted with the " plant," but as the work is 

 also intended for students the omission is serious. Much 

 of the machinery also is of foreign make ; it is to be hoped 

 that this has not the same significance as the fact that by 

 far the greater number of artificial colouring matters de- 

 scribed in the seventh part are of foreign manufacture. 

 In the art of dyeing this country still holds a very good 

 position, and it is satisfactory to find that the authors 

 have not had to go outside Yorkshire for the dyed patterns 

 forming the third volume of their work. 



Perhaps the best recommendation that we can offer 

 in favour of the present manual is that there is nothing 

 which in our opinion calls for very serious criticism. The 

 chemical formulse might, in many cases, have been more 

 economically packed ; in some instances " bonds " have 

 apparently dropped out (benzoflavine, p. 469 ; nile-blue, 

 p. 486, and the oxazines generally ; anthracene, p. 577, 

 &c.). The authors formulate the so-called "bicarbo- 

 nates " on p. 68 on the type M"0(C0o)2. The utility of 

 the third volume would have been much enhanced if the 

 pattern sheets had been paged and indexed separately, 

 so as to have facilitated reference to any particular pat- 

 tern. The appendix on light and colour (p. 881) wants 

 amplifying in view of the importance of this subject to 

 the tinctorial industry, and some account of Abney's re- 

 searches on colour should have been given. This 

 section would also have been made more intelligible 

 by the introduction of a few illustrations of absorption 

 spectra and the practical method of mapping them. 



About seventeen years ago we had occasion to notice a 

 work of a somewhat similar nature in these columns 

 (vol. xiii. p. 283). No more striking illustration of the ad- 

 vancement in the art of the dyer could be furnished than 

 by comparing that work (Crace-Calvert's " Dyeing and 

 Calico Printing," by Stenhouse and Groves) with the 

 " Manual " of Dr. Knecht and his colleagues. Other works 

 have appeared since that time, some of real value, others 

 mere compilations pandering to the examination fetish. 

 It would be invidious to institute comparisons; suffice it 

 to say that the present work will compare favourably with 

 any treatise in this department of applied science. 



R. Meldola. 



A NEW MANUAL OF BACTERIOLOGY. 

 A Manual of Bacteriology. By George M. Sternberg, 

 M.D., Deputy- Surgeon-General U.S. Army. (New 

 York : William Wood and Co., 1892.) 



A YOUNG and rapidly-growing science continually 

 demands a series of new text-books for the use of 

 those students who would keep themselves abreast of the 

 times, and it is, perhaps, inevitable that, with the growth of 

 knowledge, the text-books should assume more and more 

 alarming proportions. The present work — a portly tome 

 of nearly nine hundred pages^comes to us from across 

 the Atlantic as the latest, the largest, and, let us add, 

 the most complete manual of bacteriology which has yet 

 NO. I 234, VOL. 48] 



appeared in the English language. The volume combine 

 in itself not only an account of such facts as are alread 

 established in the science from a morphological, chemica 

 and pathological point of view, discussions on sue' 

 abstruse subjects as susceptibility and immunity, bu 

 also full details of the means by which these results hav 

 been obtained, and practical directions for the carryin 

 on of laboratory work. It is thus, as stated in the pre 

 face, at once a manual for reference, a text book fo 

 students, and a handbook for the laboratory. And i 

 the mind of the reader there may arise the questio 

 whether the attempt to combine the three has no 

 resulted in a volume of somewhat too portentous a size. 

 Dr. Sternberg is well qualified for the task he ha 

 undertaken. Himself a well-known worker in bacterio 

 logy, and director of the Hoagland Laboratory i 

 Brooklyn, his work is no mere compilation of the result 

 of others, but embodies also the fruits of his own ori'gina 

 thought and observation. The amount of labour involvei 

 in bringing together from the literature of differer 

 countries the facts necessary for a manual of (his kin 

 may be estimated from the fact that the bibliograph 

 alone fills over a hundred pages and contains 258 

 references. The illustrations are numerous, clear, an 

 accurate ; many of them are printed in colours, and ther 

 are some good reproductions of microphotographs. 



The work is practically divided into four parts, an 

 of these the first is mainly occupied by an account ( 

 methods and of practical laboratory work, preceded b 

 short sections on the history of the subject, on classif 

 cation, and morphology. These are clear and concis( 

 the basis of classification adopted being practically ths 

 of Baumgarten,in which the different genera are groupe 

 under the three main headings of "micrococci," " bacilli, 

 and " spirilla." The practical directions include stainin 

 methods, the preparation and sterilisation of cjltui 

 media, and the various modes of cultivation, togethe 

 with directions for experiments on animals. These sul 

 jects are dealt with very fully, and will be found to en 

 brace all that can be required for laboratory work, 

 short section on microphotography concludes this par| 

 Many English ears will resent the term " stick-culture i 

 which is used as the equivalent of the German "sticlj 

 cultur"; and, indeed, in other instances it would hav 

 been possible to employ more euphonious translations! 

 the original German terms. It may also be noted th;^ 

 in describing Chamberland's filter that gentleman's nani| 

 is incorrectly spelt in every instance. \ 



The second portion of the book deals with the biolog 

 and chemistry of bacteria, and the important subject c 

 disinfection and antiseptics. Details are given of tb 

 modifications which may be artificially induced in thi 

 biological characters of bacteria, and especially of tho: 

 by which attenuation of virulence can be produced ij 

 pathogenic species. The section on the products of viti; 

 activity contains an account of the various fermentatior 

 and decompositions known to depend on bacterial actioi; 

 and is followed by one on the ptomaines and toxalbumirj 

 produced by certain species. The subject of disinfection 

 is then treated at some length, embracing a descriptio; 

 of the effects on micro-organisms of dry and moist he;l 

 of acids, alkalies, various salts, and coal-tar product . 

 which is fully up to date and leaves little to be desiret 

 The whole concludes with a useful summary of means 



