1881.J 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL 



55 



deserved praise from all who have 

 seen it. However, it is a work which 

 must necessarily be limited in its dis- 

 tribution. For this reason, the Editor 

 of this Journal has prepared a small 

 book, based upon Prof. Leidy's work, 

 which gives a full and clear descrip- 

 tion of every species described by 

 Prof. Leidy. Besides the description 

 of the species, synoptical tables have 

 been prepared, which render it possi- 

 ble for even the beginner to determine 

 the genus, and often the species, of any 

 form that may be found, by a hasty ex- 

 amination of its principal characters. 

 This feature of the book makes it a 

 valuble adjunct to the larger one, for 

 it serves as a key to the latter. It is 

 believed that the descriptions of 

 species, which are in great part copied 

 from the originals, will enable any 

 person to determine the name of any 

 Rhizopod described in the book. 

 The index is arranged to be used as 

 a check-list. 



It is hoped that the publication of 

 this inexpensive book, will give an 

 impetus to the study of the fresh- 

 water Rhizopods, which are truly 

 beautiful objects and very abundant. 

 They are, perhaps, seldom seen by 

 the ordinary observer, simply because 

 they are overlooked, but if attention 

 is once directed to them, they will be 

 frequently found. Since Prof. Leidy's 

 book was published, we have learned 

 this by experience. Only a few days 

 ago, for example, we found three 

 distinct species of the shell-covered 

 forms in a single dip from a small 

 aquarium, viz.: Difflugia globulosa, D. 

 corona, and another broken shell 

 which we did not name, besides, a 

 beautiful Amoeba radiosa ; and last 

 month we referred to Clathrulina 

 from the same source. 



The book referred to above, will 

 contain 64 pages and will be ready 

 about March 30th. Price, in cloth, 

 75 cents. 



The Bacteria. — Dr. George M. 

 Sternberg, who is well known to the 

 readers of this Journal for his work 



as a member of the yellow fever com- 

 mission of the National Board of 

 Health, at New Orleans, has trans- 

 lated the excellent work of Dr An- 

 toine Magnin, The Bacteria, and 

 the translation has been published by 

 Messrs. Little, Brown and Company, 

 of Boston. It forms a book of 227 

 pages, illustrated by a number of 

 heliotype and lithograph plates. " To 

 the naturalist, it cannot fail to be of 

 value, as the most approved classifi- 

 cation, that of Cohn, is given, with a 

 full description of species. To give 

 additional value to this portion of the 

 work, figures of many of the best 

 known forms, drawn from various 

 foreign sources, and reproductions of 

 some of my own photo-micrographs 

 have been introduced." 



The work is divided into two parts, 

 treating respectively of the morpho- 

 logy of the Bacteria, including their 

 organization, classification, and the 

 description of their genera and spe- 

 cies ; and of the physiology of the 

 organisms. 



We have read the book carefully 

 and with much interest, and we re- 

 gard it as a very valuable one for the 

 microscopist to possess. 



In this connection we may remark 

 that the relations of Bacteria to 

 diseases are still uncertain, and a 

 wide field for investigation is still 

 open for the medical practitioner who 

 will devote a portion of his time to 

 the subject. No sooner are they ap- 

 parently shown to be the active agents 

 in a disease, than another investigator 

 refutes the conclusion by contradic- 

 tory experiments. The Bacillus an- 

 thrax does not seem to be necessarily 

 present in anthrax, relapsing fever is 

 not always accompanied by a specific 

 bacterium,and Listerism has lost many 

 of its followers, who have concluded 

 that the carbolic spray does more 

 harm than good. Dr. Sternberg's 

 book will prove a most useful guide 

 to any person who desires to study 

 Bacteria. 



