December 29, 189S] 



NA TURE 



197 



given in the book undernotice, even though the principles 

 are perfectly explained, where every different operation 

 has the necessary setting of the rule explained or ex- 

 pressed by a diagram as a different setting or operation. 

 If once the common rule applying to all logarithmically 

 divided scales, whether of numbers, their powers, or of 

 trigonometrical functions, whether ascending together or 

 some inverted, is made clear, the sixth or slide-rule sense 

 has a chance of being developed, and then there is no 



. occasion to remember rules any more. 



The author does not mention even the existence of a 

 P line in some rules, which make calculation with frac- 



, tional indices, or indeed indices of any magnitude as 

 quick and direct as simple proportion, nor does he refer 

 to Lanchester's radial cursor, which enables the slide-rule 

 to be employed for calculations on heat engines and 

 thermodynamics generally so that any adiabatic has its 

 coordinates numerically presented, and even entropy is 

 simply presented. 



The quick and easy methods of calculating title is 

 belied by there being no mention of any arithmometer. 



■ ' C. V. B. 



TECHNICAL BACTERIOLOGY. 

 JMiUuial of Bacteriological Technique and Special Bac- 

 teriology. By Thomas Bowhill, F.R.C.V.S, F.R.P.S. 

 Pp. xii -I- 284. (Edinburgh : Oliver & Boyd, 1899.) 



THE scope of this manual may be gathered from the 

 following brief summary of its contents : — Introduc- 

 tion ; classification and morphology of bacteria ; methods 

 of sterilisation. Part i. Principles of bacteriological tech- 

 nique. Part ii. The preparation of nutrient media, and 

 methods of cultivating bacteria. Part iii. Special bac- 

 teriology. Part iv. Mould fungi. Part v. Yeast fungi. 

 Part vi. Protozoa or animal parasites. 



The first eighty-six pages deal with bacteriological tech- 

 nique, and the author is to be congratulated on having 

 placed the subject before his readers in a clear and concise 

 manner, and in such a way as greatly to facilitate refer- 

 ence. Moreover, there is much that is new, or compara- 

 tively new, in this portion of the manual : e.g. method for 

 inoculating rabbits for the diagnosis of rabies ; Bowhill's 

 method of staining fiagella and bacteria simultaneously 

 with orcein ; Roth's method of examining butter for 

 tubercle bacilli ; Neisser's method for the differential 

 diagnosis of diphtheria bacillus in cover-glass specimens ; 

 points to be observed in describing an organism; inocula- 

 tion of animals (subcutaneous, intravenous, into the 

 lymphatics, into the serous cavities, &c.), observation of 

 animals after inoculation, and post-mortem e.xamination 

 of animals. 



The methods of examining air, water and earth are 

 not treated as fully as might be wished. In examining 

 soil, Fraenkel's method only is described. Fraenkel 

 advocates the direct mixture of the soil with the nutrient 

 gelatin. But the number of bacteria per gramme of 

 surface soil is over one million. Hence to obtain 

 separate colonies it is evident that either an almost 

 imponderable fragment of soil must be used, or else an 

 exceedingly large amount of nutrient material. There 

 can be little doubt that the only practical method is to 

 dilute the soil very largely with sterile water, and to 

 NO. 1522, VOL. 59] 



make cultivations from the resulting mixture of soil and 

 water. 



Eisner's method for separating B. coli and B. typhi 

 ahciominalis is given, but the phenol-gelatin method, 

 which many observers find more useful, is not described 

 in this section of the work. In Part iii., however, 

 reference is made to the method of separating the 

 typhoid bacillus by carbolising the water, and incubating 

 it with an equal part of sterilised peptone-salt solution, 

 and thereafter making Eisner potato-gelatin plate-cultures. 

 No description appears to be given of the method of 

 filtering large quantities of water through a sterile 

 Pasteur filter, brushing the surface of the filter with a 

 sterilised brush into a few cubic centimetres of sterile 

 water, and from the filter brushing suspension of bacteria 

 and water, making surface plate-cultures in phenol 

 gelatin. 



The terminology adopted as regards the number and 

 arrangement of the flagella of bacteria, which, as the 

 author states, is borrowed from that applied to the 

 Protozoa, is open to some criticism, and is hardly to be 

 recommended. 



The second and most important section of this manual 

 deals with Schizoraycetes, Blastomycetes, Hyphomycetes, 

 and Protozoa. 



It might be anticipated that a veterinary surgeon of 

 Mr. Bowhill's reputation would give an account of some of 

 the diseases caused by micro-organisms which affect the 

 lower animals, and which are either not described at all, 

 or are described in an imperfect manner in the ordinary 

 text-books of bacteriology. Nor is this hope in vain, for 

 the author writes lucidly and with all the authority of 

 an expert about such diseases as swine fever, swine 

 plague, swine erysipelas, pleuro-pneumonia contagiosa 

 bovis, broncho-pneumonia bovis, grouse disease, &c. 

 Moreover, glanders, diphtheria and tuberculosis, as 

 they aftect man and animals, are ably dealt with. 



It is to be regretted that the author has given no 

 description of B. cnteritidis sporogenes (Klein), espe- 

 cially when it is considered that the spores of this 

 anitnobic micro-organism are found in the excreta of 

 some of the lower animals, and that it appears to be 

 causally related to acute diarrhcea in man. As the 

 author is well up to date in nearly all respects, we hope 

 to find this omission remedied in a future edition. That 

 a new edition will soon be called for need not be doubted, 

 as there is certain to be a large demand for a work of 

 such sterling merit as this one undoubtedly is. 



In the concluding portion of the book — Part vi., 

 Protozoa — an excellent account is given of Te.xas cattle 

 fever, Plasmodium malarite, c&c. 



We cannot give unstinted praise to the illustrations. 

 Some, indeed, are very good, but many of the photo- 

 micrographs are disappointing. However much we 

 may welcome the author's orcein method of simultaneously 

 staining bacteria and their flagella as an aid to the 

 differential diagnosis of bacteria, we cannot, to judge by 

 the results, regard it as a good method where reproduc- 

 tion is aimed at. The author represents B. coli com- 

 nnniis as multi-flagellated. The true B. coli commwiis 

 has only one to three flagella. 



While we have ventured to indulge in a few possibly 

 adverse criticisms, we are careful to conclude with the 



