ApRIL 28, 1904] 
NATURE 
603 
explained, nor does it much matter; every degree 
of protection can be traced amongst infective diseases, 
and no such sharp distinction exists as that set forth 
by Dr. Sime. We learn that the rabies microbe is 
strictly ‘‘ preventive,’’ and in the course of the argu- 
ment much stress is laid upon a misleading analogy 
between the rabies virus and alcohol—a mistake which 
might have been avoided had the author’s studies in- 
cluded Ehrlich’s work on the fundamental differences 
between such a poison as alcohol and the bacterial 
toxins which contain a haptophore atom-group. 
A chapter is devoted to proving the ‘* multiform 
structure’’ of the rabies microbe, illustrated by 
diagrams as fanciful as the speculations upon which 
they are based. In a chapter on rabies of the sympa- 
thetic system, the virulent character of the saliva in 
paralytic rabies is explained on the theory that the 
salivary glands are invaded through the sympathetic 
nerves. Inasmuch as stimulation of the sympathetic 
checks the secretion of the submaxillary gland, while 
stimulation of the chorda tympani excites it, we fail 
to follow the line of reasoning. In any case Dr. Sime 
should have put his views to the test by laboratory 
experiment. But perhaps the high-water mark of 
irresponsible speculation is reached in the chapter on 
the relation of bacterial agency to secreting organs, in 
which the novel view is propounded that not only 
peisonous secretions in animals and plants, but even 
digestive secretions owe their existence to a bacterial 
commensalism in the tissues. As regards the origin 
of rabies in the animal kingdom, Dr. Sime doubts its 
primitive canine source, and is inclined to trace it to 
the ‘‘ intensifying ’’? division of animals, and in par- 
ticular to the rabbit, which, exhausted by being hunted, 
contracts the disease in some unexplained manner from 
the soil, especially when its ears are frost-bitten. We 
fear that we must regard this book as an example of 
the unscientific use of the imagination, and we should 
not have devoted so much space to it had it not been 
issued by the Cambridge University Press. 
MINING AND QUARRYING. 
The Elements of Mining and Quarrying. 
Le» Neve Foster, DSc: F.R.S. Pp. 
(London: Charles Griffin and Co., 
Price 7s. 6d. net. 
NE of the most difficult tasks in the field of 
technical literature is the preparation of a 
thoroughly good elementary text-book of an industrial 
art, and the difficulty is especially conspicuous when 
the subject dealt with is mining, with its incursions 
into mathematics, physics, chemistry, geology, miner- 
alogy, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, 
electrical engineering, law, and sanitary science. It 
is not astonishing that the task has not hitherto been 
attempted. In French and German there are several 
‘useful works of the kind; but in English, elementary 
text-books have dealt exclusively with but one branch 
of the subject, the best example being the rudimentary 
treatise written a generation ago for Weale’s series 
by the late Sir Warington Smyth. 
In 321 pages the late Sir C. Le Neve Foster has 
NO. 1800, vol. 69] 
By Sir C. 
XVili+ 321. 
Ltd., 1903.) 
covered the whole range of mining and quarrying. 
With an intimate knowledge of his subject, he com- 
bines great clearness of style and a thorough grasp of 
the beginner’s needs. Superfluous detail is carefully 
avoided, and the arrangement of the matter is 
eminently logical. Each of the sixteen divisions of 
the subject is concisely expressed by a single word :— 
(1) occurrence, (2) discovery, (3) boring, (4) excav- 
ation, (5) support, (6) exploitation, (7) haulage, (8) 
hoisting, (9) drainage, (10) ventilation, (11) lighting, 
(12) access, (13) dressing, (14) legislation, (15) health, 
and (16) accidents. These easily remembered head- 
ings serve as pigeon-holes in which a student may file 
his notes upon any mine or quarry he visits. Into 
this comprehensive system, subjects from widely 
different fields of science and technology are combined 
by the author, with the result that his text-book forms, 
without undue burden of references, a thoroughly 
trustworthy guide for the beginner in mining, and in 
many respects for the experienced miner, who is apt 
too often to specialise in one branch of mining and to 
ignore the progress made in other branches. The 
beginner is wisely urged to deal with the subject 
broadly, and not to confine himself to the narrower 
sphere of the coal-miner or of the seeker for ores. 
After mastering the general principles of his art he 
can specialise later. 
This has always been the method of teaching adopted 
at the Royal School of Mines. Half a century ago 
Sir C. Le Neve Foster’s predecessor in the chair of 
mining expressed the view that he would never dis- 
sociate entirely the art of working collieries from that 
of working metalliferous mines, since both had much 
in common, and the one might often profitably borrow 
an idea from the other. He thought, however, that in 
the various districts where schools in the future might 
be established it would be needful to devote more atten- 
tion to one department than to another, and according 
to the opportunities of the teacher to select special 
portions for fuller and more practical instruction. 
The success of the broad treatment adopted at the 
Royal School of Mines is clearly shown by the large 
number of associates of that institution that are occupy- 
ing positions of eminence in the divergent fields of 
coal, ore, and precious stone mining in all parts of 
the world, and by the fact that at the provincial educa- 
tional institutions of more recent formation the 
specialised mining instruction is, almost without ex- 
ception, in the hands of old students of the parent 
school. 
One of the original features of Sir C. Le Neve 
Foster’s book is that he insists that from the very 
outset the student should seek to acquire some inform- 
ation concerning the laws regulating mining and con- 
cerning the diseases and accidents incidental to the 
miner’s calling. This new departure deserves warm 
commendation. Mining differs from most other 
occupations by being régulated by special statutes, and 
with an uncongenial branch of the subject like law the 
student needs special help. The labour question, too, 
is of so much importance and often so much more 
difficult to solve than the extraction of mineral from 
the ground, that the student cannot fail to be grateful 
