igS 



NATURE 



[Uecembek 29, 1904 



numbered, and to be obliged to consult a list to see what 

 thev are, especially when we are sometimes greeted 

 with fanciful titles instead of place-names. " Dame 

 Nature's Painters " does not much enlighten us, but 

 it loolvs very like a view down the lower part of 

 the ^'ia Mala. But the author has tried the dangerous 

 experiment of mingling poetry and science, and we 

 cannot honestly congratulate him on his success. 



T. G. B. 



IRACHOUX. 

 Trachoma. By Dr. J. Boldt. Translated by J. 

 Herbert Parsons, D.Sc, F.R.C.S., and Thomas 

 Snowball, M.B., CM. With an introductory 

 chapter by E. Treacher Collins, F.R.C.S. Pp. lii + 

 232. (London : Hodder and Stoughton, 1904.) 



DR. BOLDT'S monograph on "Trachoma," pub- 

 lished at the end of last year, deals with a subject 

 presenting many problems to which no satisfactory 

 solutions can at present be offered. It is therefore a 

 matter for congratulation that an English translation 

 of such an excellent resume of the subject has been 

 prepared. Dr. Boldt has been working for many years 

 in one of the trachoma infested centres of Germany, 

 and has been constantly faced during that time with 

 these unsolved problems, and in the book before us he 

 clears the ground of all the lumber which gathers 

 round anv subject of discussion, and states clearly the 

 present condition of our knowledge and the lines on 

 which future investigation must go. 



The first and most important difficulty met in deal- 

 ing with trachoma is that at present the setiological 

 factor is unknown. The discussion of this question 

 in chapter iv. particularly, and incidentally in chapters 

 iii. and v., will be, to ophthalmic surgeons, the most 

 interesting part of the book. The author distinctly 

 inclines to the view that there is a specific organism, 

 tlie primary cause of trachoma, as yet undiscovered, 

 but that also an individual predisposition and a number 

 of subsidiarv causes, such as climate, soil and race, 

 overcrowding, uncleanliness, and other social evils, arc 

 also contributing causes. 



Many workers at the present time are inclining to 

 lav much greater stress on the importance of the in- 

 dividual predisposition and to hold the view that the 

 disease may be set up by any bacterium which is patho- 

 genic for the conjunctiva. The large number of cases 

 in which some scrofulous taint can be traced is dis- 

 tinctly in favour of this view. It has been frequently 

 shown that in such people any infection will give rise 

 to a lymphoid hypertrophy, and the essential pathology 

 of trachoma is primarily a hypertrophy of lymphoid 

 follicles with subsequent degeneration of the lymphoid 

 tissue and formation of scar tissue. Dr. Boldt, with 

 absolute fairness, gives both hypotheses and the argu- 

 ments which have been advanced by various writers 

 in support of them. 



It would be of undoubted benefit to the community 

 il this book were to get into the hands of two classes in 

 particular, the men who are concerned in the adminis- 

 t ation of the Poor Laws of the country, and those con- 



rned in the medical and sanitary administration of 

 NO. 1835, VOL. 71] 



the Army. The e.xcellent introductory chapter by Mr. 

 Treacher Collins gives details of the most useful work 

 which is being carried on at Swanley, and of the in- 

 fluence that proper hygienic measures have had 

 generally in checking the disease. Dr. Boldt gives 

 similar details of the progress and subsequent check- 

 ing of trachoma throughout the various countries of 

 Europe. It would indeed be well if the last chapter 

 were separately printed and distributed as a pamphlet 

 i to the various boards of guardians and health officers 

 throughout the Empire. 



We have nothing but praise for the wav in which 

 the translators have carried out their work. We 

 could nowhere detect a trace of German origin in the 

 style. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 The Cyclones of the Far East. By Rev. Jose Algue, 



S.J. Second (Revised) Edition. Pp. 2S3. (Manila : 



Bureau of Public Printing, 1904.) 

 In the present edition the author has extended the 

 area dealt with in the earlier editions, and as abundant 

 additional data have been collected, not only from the 

 Philippines themselves, but also from the surrounding 

 coasts, this information has now been embodied. The 

 author says that, " owing to the opening up of the 

 Far East in recent years, an endeavour has been made 

 to e.xtend the usefulness of the work bv giving a 

 greater compass to the study of the phenomena which 

 cause, accompany, and follow the atmospheric per- 

 turbances which are experienced in the various seas 

 of the Far East." The title of the revised edition is 

 changed from " Cyclones of the Philippines " to 

 " The Cyclones ot the Far East." The present edition 

 appears in English, and is freed from the formidable 

 list of errors found in the English version of an earlier 

 edition. .Among the many additions contained in this 

 new edition may be mentioned some practical rules 

 for navigating in case of encountering a typhoon, and 

 a list and description of the ports of refuge during 

 storms in the Far East, especially in the Philippine 

 Archipelago. 



Commendation should certainly be given of the care- 

 ful arrangement and division of the whole work, which 

 aid much the general study and grip of the valuable 

 material, whilst numerous illustrations add much to 

 the elucidation of the subject. Father Algue must 

 be credited with what is only too commonly over- 

 looked. At the conclusion of each chapter reference 

 is given to the works which may be consulted in con- 

 nection with the branch of the subject dealt with. 

 The references appear to have been chosen with the 

 greatest impartiality and with the sole desire to render 

 the work as complete as possible. This example may 

 commend itself to authors of other branches of scien- 

 tific work. 



The principal cause which influences the progressive 

 movement of tvphoons is said to be the general move- 

 ment of the atmosphere in which the\' take place, 

 not of that part only which overlies the land and sea 

 over which they pass, but especially of that portion of 

 the .itmosphere which moves at higher altitudes, as 

 we .ire to look there for the seat of the greater part 

 of tlie energy and power which nourish and sustain 

 the .itniospheric whirls. This opinion is endorsed by 

 all who discuss the nature and law of storms, but, 

 unfortunatelv, too little light can be thrown on the 

 movement of the upper air, although praiseworthy 

 efforts are being made in this direction. 



