August 24, 1893] 



NATURE 



387 



kinds of microbes are present in water, whilst on a closer 

 examination the list of varieties is very much more ex- 

 tended. Having regard to their superficial differences, 

 then, Lustig, following the example set by Eisenberg in 

 his " Bakteriologische Diagnostik," has mapped out two 

 classes of microbes— those which liquefy and those which 

 do not liquefy the gelatine — which are again divided up 

 into micrococci and bacilli respectively. The tabulated 

 account appended to each micro-organism includes its 

 microscopic appearance, behaviour in gelatine-plate and 

 tube-cultures, on agar-agar and potatoes, relationship to 

 pathogenic properties, temperature, together with other 

 special tests which have from time to time been em- 

 ployed, as well as the authority for its discovery in water. 



In addition to the above classification, those bacteria 

 which are known to be pathogenic to man and animals 

 respectively are separately grouped, whilst those bacilli 

 resembling the typhoid bacillus are brought together for 

 purposes of comparison. The latter should prove a use- 

 ful assistance in the separate diagnosis of the typhoid 

 bacillus, for as it is by no means specially characteristic 

 either in its macroscopic or microscopic appearances, 

 there are many forms which may iBadily be mistaken for 

 it on an ordinary water-plate. 



We do not quite understand why Lustig has not ren- 

 dered the cholera spirillum a similar service. There 

 exist many spirilla in water which bear the most striking 

 resemblance to Koch's conrma spirillum, but which sub- 

 sequent searching tests have proved to be distinct. Koch 

 himself only a few weeks ago stated that no less than a 

 dozen different vibrios had been isolated in his labora- 

 tory alone, from various waters which he examined last 

 autumn during the cholera epidemic, none of which were 

 the cholera spirillum, whilst other investigators have 

 identified and described spirilla bearing the closest re- 

 semblance to the original comma spirillum. 



Amongst the organisms pathogenic to man found in 

 water we miss the tetanus bacillus. This organisjn was 

 detected by Miquel in the rivers Seine snd Marne, and 

 G. Roux states that he found it in large numbers in the 

 sediment of the filter beds belonging to the water- works 

 supplying Lyon with river Rhone water, whilst Lortet 

 alleges that he discovered it in mud obtained from the 

 bottom of the Dead Sea. In a future edition the anthrax 

 baciHus must also be included, since it has recently been 

 detected in the sediment at the bottom of a well, to the 

 water of which an outbreak of anthrax amongst a flock of 

 sheep was traced. 



In the preface to the German edition Baumgarten 

 writes : " Grossere Reihen von ' Wasserbakterien ' sind 

 schon friiher von anderen Forschern (Frankland, Mas- 

 chek, Adametz, W. Zimmermann, Tils) auf Grund eigener 

 Beobachtungen und Untersuchungen beschrieben 

 worden. Diese sowie alle sonstigen, verstreut in der 

 Literatur . . . ist Lustig's Verdienst vereinigt zu haben." 

 It is obvious that in a guide of this kind the list should 

 be as complete as possible, and it is, therefore, surprising 

 to find many important and quite unaccountable omis- 

 sions. For example, none of the interesting phos- 

 phorescent bacilli obtained from sea-water by Forster, 

 Fischer, and Katz are described, neither is any mention 

 made of the organisms jsolated by Russell from sea- 

 water. 



NO. 1243, VOL. 48] 



Amongst other organisms conspicuous by their absence 

 may be mentioned the bacillus /hcrmopkilus originally 

 found in large numbers in river Seine water by Miquel, 

 the anasrobic bacillus, B. ainylozyine obtained by Perdiix 

 from the same water, the bacille rouge de Kiel so care- 

 fully studied by Laurent, the "peach-coloured bacterium' 

 of Lankester, whilst Roscoe and Lunt's sewage organisms, 

 and Tataroff's large collection of bacteria isolatyed from 

 the Dorpat water are entirely overlooked. 



The descriptions appended are often provokingly in- 

 complete, and this greatly militates against the value of 

 the book in assisting in the identification of a particular 

 organism, whilst in some cases the details are not always 

 correct. 



The book was originally written in Italian, so possibly 

 during the translation into German errors and mis- 

 prints may have crept in which were not present in the 

 original, but it is none the less troublesome to find wrong 

 references occasionally given, whilst the description of 

 the same organism twice over, which occurs more than 

 once, ought surely to have been guarded against. As an 

 example of this we may mention a bacillus found by 

 Claessen (mis-spelt Claesten) in unfiltered river Spree 

 water, and described on p. 62 as the Indigoblauer 

 bacillus, whikt on p. 70 we find it figuring again as 

 bacillus, Berolinensis indicus ! 



In order to bring the descriptions up to a level with 

 those in F.isenberg's " Bakteriologische Diagnostik," 

 even (and as the volume before us deals solely with water- 

 microbes, they might not unreasonably be expected to be 

 fuller) careful revision will be required, and the evident 

 signs of haste whicli at present characterise its pages 

 conscientiously removed. 



Such an array of different water microbes, to each 

 of which is given a "Jocal habitation and a name," 

 might well make the reader say with the "Ancient 

 Mariner," " Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop 

 to drink ;" but it is reassuring to find that out of the 181 

 varieties found in water, only six are stated by Lustig to 

 be pathogenic to man. P. Franjcland. 



POPULAR METEOROLOGY. 

 Katechismus der Meteorologie. Dritte Auflage, gdnslich 

 iimgearbeitet. Von Prof Dr. W. J. Van Bebber. 

 (Leipzig : J. J- Weber, 1893.) 



THE object of the author of this little book is to pre- 

 sent as briefly and intelligently as possible the 

 fundamental principles of meteorology, in a manner 

 which will enable the public to form for themselves an 

 independent judgment on the meteorological conditions 

 prevalent at the moment, and to make the knowledge so 

 obtained available for the purposes of daily life. The 

 author, who is well and favourably known as a popular 

 writer on meteorology by hrs Lekrbuch, thinks that this 

 eminently practical object can be best effected by placing 

 his information in a catechetical form ; a method of 

 conveying instruction which appears to find great favour 

 in Germany. This particular work is already in its third 

 edition, and is the sixtieth of a series which in its entirety 

 probably comprises more than twice that number of 

 works devoted to the culture of science, art, and indus- 



