198 



NATURE 



[June 30, 1892 



note on " Lychnis alba, Mill.," is an illustration of this, 

 and will serve at the same time as an example of Mr. 

 Brown's style : — 



"This is the Silene pratensis of vol. ii. p. 67, but, to- 

 gether with S. diurna of p. 69, should be referred to the 

 genus Lychnis, where they properly belong ; .S". diurna 

 being Lychnis dioica, Linn. ; this name has been objected 

 to on the ground that Linnaeus included L. alba as a 

 variety of L. dioica, which objection is untenable as 

 it appears to me ; still, if Linnaeus's name is rejected, 

 then L. dioecia. Miller (' Gardener's Dictionary,' ed. 8, 

 No. 3, errata, 1768), must take precedence over Z. diurna, 

 Sibthorp (' Flora Oxoniensis,' p. 145, 1794)." 



Here is another example : — 



" Geranium striatum, Linn. This plant was first pub- 

 lished by Linnaeus as Geranium versicolor in his ' Cen- 

 turia L Plantarum,' p. 21 (1755) ; but in 1759, when this 

 same Centuria was republished in his ' Amoenitates 

 Academicae,' vol. iv., he altered the name to G. striatum, 

 p. 282, which name was retained by Linnaeus in all his 

 later works, so that in all probability Linnaeus regarded 

 the name G. versicolor as a clerical error, which appears 

 to me a consistent view to take of the case, the more so 

 as it is also probable that the original Centurias were 

 only printed for a restricted, or possibly private, distri- 

 bution." 



It is evident, in spite of all its defects, that Mr. Brown 

 has lavished — we do not like to use a stronger expression 

 — a great deal of time and trouble over this " Supplement." 

 A less careful worker, indeed, might easily have produced 

 a better book ; for the trivial corrections and emendations, 

 the questions of synonymy, the minute criticisms, and the 

 unnecessary additions, would not have been put forward 

 by any save the most conscientious of writers. There is 

 an appendix of " additions and corrections," occupying 

 an eighth of the whole, but, at any rate so far as 

 "corrections" are concerned, far from exhaustive. 

 And yet, with all this elaboration, the book is not 

 as complete as it should be. The remarkable Sagina 

 described in 1887 by Dr. F. Buchanan White as S. 

 Boydii is not figured, and Mr. Brown has not even seen 

 a specimen of the plant. Mr. Boyd has had it in culti- 

 vation for several years, and would, we doubt not, have 

 supplied examples ; and it is not easy to understand why 

 Mr. Brown omitted to make himself acquainted with this 

 very striking form. The plates are mostly poor : to one 

 there is no reference in the letterpress ; another is wrongly 

 numbered. 



Since the foregoing was written, the second part of the 

 "Supplement" has appeared. It is mainly occupied 

 with the Rose and Brambles, concerning which Mr. Brown 

 says, " I express no opinion, as I have never made any 

 attempt whatever to study them." This is commendably 

 candid, but adds materially to the difficulty of understand- 

 ing why Mr. Brown was selected for the work, while it 

 deprives the compilation of value. James Britten. 



A BACTERIOLOGICAL HAND-BOOK. 

 Bacteriologisches Practicum zur Einfilhrung in die 

 practischwichtigen bacteriologischen Untersuchungs- 

 methoden fiir Aerzte, Apotheker, Studirende. By Dr. W. 

 Migula. (Karlsruhe : Otto Nemnich, 1892.) 

 A LTHOUGH a knowledge of bacteriological methods 

 is essential not only to those who seriously take up 

 the study of bacteria, but also to many who, like the 

 NO. I 183, VOL. 46] 



candidates for the diploma of public health, take but a 

 compulsory glance at bacteriology, yet the supply of 

 manuals describing the details of bacteriological practice 

 is remarkably meagre. 



Dr. Migula's little book should, therefore, prove very 

 welcome to the bacteriological student, for it does not 

 aspire to be an exhaustive work on bacteria in general, 

 the list of which is receiving constant additions, but aims 

 at describing simply and carefully in a handy form the 

 principal methods of working with micro-organisms. 



A number of varieties are more or less elaborately given, 

 but the main idea has been to seek out characteristic 

 forms which are intended to serve as types to illus- 

 trate the various points dealt with in the treatment of 

 bacteria. 



All the stages in the laboratory life-history of a micro- 

 organism are elaborately entered into, and special chapters 

 are devoted to the formation and staining of spores, and 

 also to the nature of the flagella and most improved 

 methods of exhibiting them in microscopic preparations. 

 The latter are beautifully displayed in a photograph, 

 showing the numerous flagella attached to the typhoid 

 bacilli. The preparation of the various culture-media 

 is described very minutely, and there are many useful 

 laboratory hints and it is the more surprising, therefore, 

 to find the method of sterilizing milk without altering its 

 chemical composition omitted. This mode of preparing 

 milk is naturally of importance in any inquiry as to the 

 vitality of pathogenic micro-organisms in this medium. 

 Again, the plan of cultivating bacteria on potatoes in 

 tubes is not given, although it presents many decided 

 advantages over the " dish method." 



Dr. Migula repeatedly insists upon the necessity of un- 

 remitting care in carrying out all bacteriological opera- 

 tions to prevent the access of contamination either 

 from the air or by contact with unsteriJized or imperfectly 

 sterilized objects. Such precautions are naturally of the 

 utmost importance, but possibly it is unnecessary to 

 warn students against contaminating their platinum needle 

 through testing its temperature after heating by placing 

 it to their lips. Such a proceeding, if ever attempted, 

 would certainly not be quickly repeated ! 



But there is one piece of advice upon which the author 

 lays great stress, and which in our opinion is not only 

 unnecessary, but a constant menace to success. On almost 

 every page, m one capacity or another, we find the use 

 of corrosive sublimate most strongly recommended as 

 a means of assisting sterilization and of affording ad- 

 ditional protection from external contamination. It 

 cannot be impressed strongly enough upon the student 

 that he must depend for the success of his cultivations, 

 not on the use of««/w^//zVj-,but by working on strictly aseptic 

 principles, through the most conscientious devotion to 

 every detail and precaution with which he is acquainted. 

 The fear of contamination must ever appear to him as 

 threatening as the " sword of Damocles," which will de- 

 scend with unerring certainty as soon as the least evidence 

 of relaxation is visible. Not only is the use of corrosive 

 sublimate demoralizing, then, but on account of its very 

 germicidal properties, unless handled with the utmost care, 

 will prove a positive danger, destroying where it is least 

 expected or wanted. This opinion is unfortunately the 

 result of experience and not of mere imagination. 



