468 
ties of milk are next considered, first the ferments 
or enzymes, and then the substances concerned 
in the production of immunity; important proper- 
ties have been attributed to the former which do 
not, however, seem to be borne out by the clinical 
and experimental work which has been carried 
out concerning them. Breast-feeding, the nutri- 
tive value of raw and boiled milk for the young 
of the same and of different species, and clinical 
data on the nutritive value of raw and boiled milk 
for infant feeding and on the alleged production of 
Barlow’s disease and rickets by the use of heated 
milk for infants, are rightly dealt with at some 
length. Dr. Lane-Claypon arrives at the con- 
clusions :—(1) The superiority of breast-feeding 
over artificial feeding is striking; (2) little differ- 
ence, if any, appears to be detected between 
feeding with raw and feeding with boiled milk; 
(3) the changes which occur on heating milk to a 
temperature of about 100° C. for a_short period 
cannot be regarded as having any detrimental in- 
fluence from the nutritional point of view; (4) there 
may be a connection between the twofold heating 
of milk and Barlow’s disease, but the etiology is 
not clear; and (5) there is no evidence to show that 
the use of heated milk is productive of rickets. 
The cellular content of milk, the changes which 
ensue in milk on heating, pathogenic organisms 
in milk, sources of contamination of milk and 
the means whereby such contamination may be 
lessened or prevented, are other subjects dealt with. 
A few errors have been noted and one or two 
criticisms might be made. On p. 10, in a table 
giving the composition of milk for different breeds 
of cows, the total solids are given as ranging from 
26°7 to 34°7 per cent. These figures, of course, are 
utterly wrong (they should be in the neighbour- 
hood of 12°0-13'0 per cent.), and it is difficult 
to surmise to what they refer. On p. 50 Fe,O, is 
three times referred to as “ferrous oxide.” Minute 
quantities of iron are present in milk—1—2 parts 
per million for human milk, and o'3—0'7 part per 
million for cows’ milk, of Fe,O,. May not so 
small a quantity be derived from admixed red- 
blood corpuscles? We believe that a few red- 
blood corpuscles are always present in milk, but 
no reference is made to this. In dealing with the 
composition of milk, while German and other 
foreign figures are largely quoted, no mention is 
made either in the text or in the bibliography of 
the numerous analyses by Droop Richmond—in 
fact, his name does not appear in the volume— 
and some of the data quoted are derived from 
papers twenty to thirty years old. 
These, however, are minor points in a volume 
of such general excellence. We think the Medical 
Research Committee has been well advised to 
expend some of the funds at its disposal on the 
preparation of a work of this kind—a precedent 
which we hope to see repeated for other branches 
of medical science—and we congratulate Dr. Lane- 
Claypon on the admirable summary she has pre- 
sented of so great a mass of material at her dis- 
posal. A number of plates, and of figures and 
charts in the text, add to the completeness of the 
volume, which is issued at a very moderate price. 
NO. 2468, vot. 98] 
NATURE 
| shire. 
[FEBRUARY 15, 1917 
OUR BOOKSHELF, 
The Towns of Roman Britain. By the Rev. J. O. 
Bevan. Pp. vili+66. . (L@ndon: Chapman and 
Hall, Ltd., 1917.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 
| Tue compilation of this little book was suggested : 
by the author’s work in connection with the pre-— 
paration of an archeological map of Hereford-— 
His object, as he states it, was ‘“‘to provide 
a compendious guide to readers who desire to study 
the fruits of the Roman occupation, to trace the 
roads they laid down, and to possess themselves 
of the position and essential features of the centres 
where they congregated for commerce, pleasure, 
or defence.” After a short account of the history 
and results of the Roman occupation of Britain, 
Mr. Bevan gives, in alphabetical order, a short 
account of the chief Roman cities. This is useful 
so far as it goes, but it is confined to the chief 
Roman cities, and leaves untouched the numerous 
other places of interest, in particular the villas, the 
excavation of which has thrown such clear light — 
on the life of the invaders. It may be hoped that — 
the author will be encouraged to extend his survey. 
This scheme, carried out within reasonable limits, © 
does not require, as he supposes, “a volume of - 
stupendous size.” If, in a new edition, he con- 
fines himself to the restricted plan which he has 
adopted, he would do well to add to his accounts ~ 
of Roman cities references to the best author-— 
ities. A list of the more important general works: — 
on the subject would also be a useful addition. 
Decennial Index of the “Analyst: The Journal of — 
the Society of Public Analysts and other Ana- — 
lytical Chemists.” Vols. xxxi.—xl. (1906-1915). — 
Compiled by Muriel A. Baker. Pp. 733. 
(London : Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Ltd., n.d.) — 
Tue subject-matter of this index has been classi- 
fied under three heads, namely, authors, subjects, 
and original communications. The last group 
refers to papers read before, or contributed | 
directly to, the Society of Public Analysts; the 
others, by far the more extensive, include also 
references to the numerous abstracts which form 
so valuable a feature of the society’s journal.. 
By the use of heavy type the name, or the sub- — 
ject, as the case may be, is brought prominently — 
before the reader’s eye, as is also the date of the 
paper indexed—a matter which is often of im- — 
portance in looking up references. A system of 
punctuation is adopted which, combined with the 
heavy type, renders it easy to turn up a subject. 
and to see at a glance the scope of the paper in- 
dexed, in so far as this is conveyed by the title 
and sub-title. Two instances taken almost at 
random will indicate the fullness of the record. 
The entries under ‘Arsenic’ alone occupy three 
pages of the index, and those under “Milk” 
seven pages. In short, the index forms a 
valuable guide to the development of analytical 
chemistry in all its branches during the decennial 
period which it covers; and it may safely be said 
that during this period not much of practical 
importance in this branch of chemistry has been 
published which cannot be traced by means of the: 
references supplied. 
: 
! 
