June 13. 1895J 



NA TURE 



'4; 



One word more. The sliort preface by I'rof. Friedel 

 explains, as follows, the object of the book : " La branchc 

 de la science chiniique a laquelle on a donne le nom de 

 stereochimie ou chimie dans I'espace est de date toute 

 recente. Elle a ete cret5 par MM. A. Le Bel et Van't 

 Hoff: ... A I'dtranger les publications d'ensemble faites 

 pour repandre ces notions ne manqucnt pas. II n'en est 

 pas de mcme en France," &c. This seems strange, while 

 (lose by, rue S. Andre dcs Arts, may be had Meyerhoffers 

 edition of X'an't HofTs celebrated " Di.\ annees dans 

 I'histoire d'une th^orie,'' a book of infinitely greater 

 interest than the volume before us. 



.\ practice has grown up of late years of inserting into 

 text-books by obscure authors little prefaces by better- 

 known men, containing nothing in particular in the way of 

 information, and in which the laudatory expressions are 

 not always quite justified by the character of the book. 

 So long as "puffing'' is regarded as allowable, there is 

 no very clear reason why it should not be pennitted in 

 connection with books; but the sort of preface referred to, 

 has rather too strong a family likeness to the " certificate ' 

 so often found on the label of hair-restorers and packets 

 of cocoa, to the virtues of which these writers of prefaces 

 would probably in most c;ises shrink from testifying. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



By 



The Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe. 

 .A. R. Bennett. (London : Longmans, 1895.) 



With what object was this book written ? The introduc- 

 tion is a violent diatribe against the telephone powers 

 that be in England ; and yet by his titles, the author 

 seems to have been nursed in their service. Moreover, 

 England and (".ermany with their 162,000 telephones, rank 

 next to the I'nited States, and possess more telephones 

 than all the rest of Europe put together. In fact, next to 

 Scandinavia and Switzerland, England ranks above 

 ( iermany in telephonic development the rest of Europe 

 being " nowhere." Why, therefore, this wailing and 

 gnashing of teeth ': Why should England and Germany 

 alone in Europe excite his wrath r Is it that they will 

 not adopt at home his \icw s of low rates and, perhaps, no 

 profits, and did his apparent rough treatment in Berlin 

 prejudice his judgment of ( lerman ways? The book is 

 full of statistics of the growth and development of the 

 business in different European countries — except England. 

 It indicates the public uses to which telephones can be 

 applied, but it contains little that is scientific or prac- 

 tical. Its facts are fleeting, and its raison detre is not 

 exident. 



The development of telephony in Sweden is very re- 

 markable. The difficulty of locomotion, and the long 

 (lark days in winter, may account for much of it. In a 

 population of 4.8:4,000 there are 26,201 telephones in 

 use. This means one telephone to 184 inhabitants. In 

 the L'nited States there is one telephone to 270 in- 

 habitants. 



In Switzerland it is even more developed than in 

 Sweden. The difficulties of locomotion and internal 

 communication, the isolation of valleys, that gold mine 

 to the country— the great summer tourist traffic— and 

 hotel life, may account for this, but the author attributes 

 its success solely to its cheapness. In fact it is too 

 cheap, for it docs not pay. and this state of things is not 

 londucive to future prosperity. 



'I'he great development of telephony in the United 

 States, where there are 232,140 subscribers in spite of 

 very high rates, does not support the views of the 

 author. 



NO. 



VOL. 



5^1 



The annual charge in Switzerland was originally 150 

 francs per annum for an unlimited local service, and an 

 additional 25 francs per annum to cover trunk or inter- 

 urban service. It was soon found necessary to charge 

 2(3 centimes per talk of five minutes on trunk lines. 

 Since 1890 the local charges have been 80 francs per 

 annum with 800 free talks, and 5 centimes per extra talk, 

 and the trunk charges per three minutes, 30 centimes for 

 any distance up to 50 kil., 50c. to 100 kil., and above 

 100 kil. 75c. Vxom January i, 1896, it will be a ver\- 

 practical and sensible tariff, viz. an initial annual charge 

 of 40 francs and a uniform charge of 5 centimes for all 

 local talks, the trunk charges remaining unchanged. 

 The number of talks per annnm per subscriber during 

 1894 was— local 504 and trunk 85, but the trunk traffic in 

 many places far exceeds the local. In Affoltern. for 

 instance, during 1894, there were only 105 local talks, 

 while the trunk talks amounted to 8167 {Journal Tele- 

 graphique. May 25, i8<J5). There were at the end of 

 1894, 18,814 subscribers in Switzerland. This means one 

 telephone to 147 inhabitants. 



-A word is wanted badly to express a telephonic con- 

 versation or talk analogous to "telegram." The author's 

 " telephonogram '' is lengthy. " Phonogram " is in use 

 in connection with the phonograph. "Telelogue" has 

 been proposed, but has not met with general approval 



The Elements of Health. By Louis C. Parkes, M.D. 

 D.P.H. (London : J. and A. Churchill, 1895.) 



The author of this manual states in the preface that his 

 "main idea has been to give some simple j'et practical 

 information on the preservation of individual or personal 

 health." It is impossible to say, with any degree of cer- 

 tainty, who is to be accorded the distinction of having 

 originated such an "idea." Certainly Hippocrates under- 

 took the writing of treatises on hygiene, and even he 

 \yas only following in the footsteps of others. This pre- 

 liminary remark mainly arises out of the fact that when 

 another manual of hygiene appears, one's natural impulse 

 is to turn to the preface, in order to see if the author has 

 any new moti\ e to suggest for its appearance ; for the 

 fact is, there is, at present, a superabundance of such 

 works. Dr. Parkes' manual, good as it is, contains pnic- 

 ticaily nothing that cannot be found in any of the other 

 dozen or more elementary treatises dealing with the same 

 subject ; and to those who are familiar with the same 

 author's work upon " Hygiene and Public Health," it will 

 be sufficient to state that the present volume under review- 

 is practically that work popularised and very much 

 abridged. 



The illustrations are excellent ; and it is a positive relief 

 to find that they show a little freshness in their treatmen', 

 and are something more than the slock figures that 

 appear in so many similar publications. 



Dr. Parkes occupies a deser\edly high position among 

 sanitarians, and it goes without saying that his teachings 

 are sound. There are only two points which call for 

 adverse criticism. The table on jjage 1 68 needs revision ; 

 the author is well aware that the fat in butter does not 

 average 88 per cent.; indeed, on a subsequent page (196) 

 he himself puts it down at S3 per cent. ; and his state- 

 ment that it is "doubtful if alum (in bread), unless pre- 

 sent in considerable quantity, is able to influence health 

 adversely,'' is also open to criticism. In the first place, 

 it is doubtful whether, if such be the case, it is prudent to 

 make so loose a statement in what is designed to be a 

 popular work for the lay reader. There is little doubt 

 that the hydrate of alumina, which results from the use 

 of baking powders containing alum, is soluble in the 

 hydrochloric acid of the gastric juice, and there are 

 many good reasons for regarding such addition as ver\' 

 undesirable ; it would, moreover, probably ])rove harmful 

 when present in what may be heW to constitute less th;m 

 a eonsiiterat'le quantity. 



