294 



NA TURE 



[January 



896 



*' the value of the study will be very slight indeed," as a 

 means of mental discipline. Nevertheless, the logical 

 sequence of subjects, and the statement of sufficient 

 evidence to justify the conclusions drawn as to the causes 

 of many natural phenomena, combine to provide a useful 

 course of reading. The information is fairly up-to-date, 

 and the descriptions are clear as well as interesting. 

 References to the literature of the various parts of the 

 subject, and questions for examination, will greatly in- 

 crease the value of the book to teachers. 



An Introduction to the Study of Seaweeds. By George 

 Murray, F.L.S. (London : Macmillan and Co., 1895.) 

 In this little volume, one of the Manuals for Students 

 Series, we have a fairly satisfactory account of those 

 forms of Algae which live in salt water. We had fancied 

 that the English name " seaweed " had by this time lost 

 its first or original meaning, and that it had come to be 

 considered as equivalent to Algas, in its widest sense ; but 

 Mr. Murray has drawn the line between those forms 

 which live in fresh and those which live in salt water, 

 and whenever it is possible he avoids all reference to 

 the former. This being so, there is no account of the 

 lovely Desmids, nor of the interesting species of Bulbo- 

 chaete and (Edogonium. Noting this as a fact, but one 

 to be regretted so far as the Chlorophyceaj, which "attain 

 their finest development in fresh waters," are concerned, 

 we welcome this little book as a useful and pleasantly 

 written introduction to an ever-fascinating group of 

 plants, which are easily, for the most part, preserved 

 and are equally easy of observation. Their life-history, 

 despite that many of them are so common, has still many 

 a secret, which it will take long and patient research to 

 find out. The introductory chapter condenses a great 

 "deal of valuable information into a i^v^ pages, and is 

 accompanied by a useful list of books and memoirs on 

 seaweeds. 



Beginning with the Phaeophyceas, and with their more 

 specialised forms, the Chlorophyceas come next in order, 

 then the Diatomaceae, followed by the Rhodophyceas, 

 and ending with the Cyanophyceas. Eight well-drawn 

 a^d neatly-coloured plates illustrate the volume, which 

 also abounds with numerous woodcuts ; most of these 

 latter are satisfactory, and all of them are selected from 

 modern and authentic sources. 



We trust that this help to a study of these " seaweeds " 

 will be successful in attracting many to their study. 

 When the late Dr. Harvey was writing his well-known 

 *' Phycologia Britannica," he had a very numerous set of 

 correspondents, living on all parts of our coasts ; some 

 of them, like Mrs. Griffiths and Miss Hutchinson, were 

 excellent botanists, but most of them were excellent 

 observers. Is it too much to expect that others may 

 arise to take their long-left places ? 



Public Health in European Capitals. By Thomas 



Morison Legge, M.A., M.D. (Oxon), D.P.H. (Cantab.). 



Pp. vi + 202. (London : Swan Sonnenschein and 



Co., 1896.) 

 The author points out in the preface that the work is a 

 record of his own observations during many visits to 

 '■'• some of the most important capitals on the continent " ; 

 and a very interesting and instructive record it is. 



The cities dealt with are Paris, Berlin, Brussels, 

 Christiania, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. It will be 

 noted that several important capitals (Vienna, St. Peters- 

 burg, Rome), and many others the sanitation of which 

 would be interesting, if not edifying, are omitted. It is 

 to be hoped that Dr. Legge will be able to include these 

 in a subsequent edition, for he has shown in the present 

 volume that he can interest while he instructs. 



A comparison is set forth of the methods employed 

 in different countries for coping with the great problems 

 of sewage disposal, water-supply, the spread of pre- 



NO. 1370, VOL. 53] 



ventible disease, and the housing of the poor ; and it 

 is a work that can be read by all who take an interest in 

 these vital subjects, for the information it conveys is not 

 set in abstruse technical language. The book presents 

 many instances of the experts of different countries 

 differing in their methods and views, but the differences 

 are mainly those of detail in the application of great 

 principles of sanitation that are equally recognised by all. 



The writer is perhaps at his best when treating of 

 Paris. In that city, during the past two years, some 

 much-needed sanitary improvements have been in- 

 augurated ; but it is only fair to our neighbours to con- 

 cede that their appreciation of the principles of 

 sanitation have for many years been in advance of that 

 of a certain French judge, who, as Dr. Legge tells us, 

 declared, as recently as 1885, that for a landlord to be 

 compelled to lay on water to his house for the use of the 

 tenants was an interference with the liberty of the sub- 

 ject, and that a water-supply was not an indispensable 

 necessity for maintaining the healthiness of a dwelling. 



It is a source of satisfaction, while reading of the 

 various capitals, to find that, in matters relating to the 

 public health, London is certainly facile princeps. In 

 one particular, however, we fall far behind some other 

 capitals, and that is in the matter of meat inspection. 

 The sooner we adopt the Berlin system of skilled 

 inspection of the live animals in public abattoirs, and 

 the detailed examination of the carcases, the sooner 

 shall we remove what is a very great reproach upon the 

 thoroughness with which our methods of disease pre- 

 vention are carried out in this country. 



History of the Cholera Controversy. By Sir George 

 Johnson, M.D.,F.R.C.P.,F.R.S. Pp.78. (London:], 

 and A. Churchill, 1896.) 



Sir George Johnson has held for years, as is well 

 known, very strong views as to the treatment of cholera, 

 and the above little volume, with its seventy-eight pages, 

 is devoted to an elaborate exposition of these views, 

 together with an account of their reception by the medical 

 world. The so-called " Cholera Controversy " gathers, we 

 are told, round the support given respectively to the 

 " evacuant " and " astringent " treatment of this disease ; 

 or, in other words, the use of castor-oil versus opium in 

 the handling of cholera cases. It is not possible here 

 to enter into the various medical arguments and discus- 

 sions which occupy these pages ; but we cannot help 

 regretting that in the treatment of this subject, the author 

 has allowed the personal element to play so conspicuous 

 a part, as it detracts from the value of its discussion and 

 tends, necessarily, to restrict the area of observation. 

 Thus it would have been of interest to have had some 

 reference to the latest official document published last 

 year in Germany on cholera, from which we should have 

 learnt that calomel is frequently referred to as of great 

 therapeutic value. The "historical" side of the question 

 would thus not only have gained in interest, but the 

 arguments, from a layman's point of view, would have 

 been more convincing. 



Mechanics. Part iii. Hydrostatics. By R. T. Glazebrook, 

 M.A., F.R.S. Pp. x + 213. (Cambridge : University 

 Press, 1895.) 

 A CLEARLY-PRINTED and well-arranged text-book of 

 hydrostatics for colleges and schools. The subjects and 

 order of the eight chapters are : states of matter, fluid 

 pressure, propositions of fluid pressure, fluid-thrust centre 

 of pressure, floating bodies, measurement of specific 

 gravities, pressure of the atmosphere, hydrostatic 

 machines. The descriptions are clearly written, and the 

 exercises are numerous. Moreover, the treatment is ex- 

 perimental ; so that altogether the book is calculated to 

 give a good grasp of the fundamental principles of hydro- 

 statics. 



