__ Jone 30, 1923] 
but unfortunately its accuracy cannot be trusted. 
The author commits many mistakes which are scarcely 
excusable on the part of the editor of the late Sir 
Armand Ruffer’s works. It is natural that he should 
_ feel a deep sense of gratitude to the genial scholar 
_ whose writings directed his attention to the study of 
_ the effects of disease in ancient man ; but the works of 
. Sir Armand Ruffer give no warrant for the many mis- 
; leading statements in the final chapter of this book. 
_ Hence it becomes necessary to warn readers of this 
; chapter not to accept its statements as facts until they 
have been checked by reference to the standard work 
~ onthe pathological conditions found in ancient Egyptian 
4 bodies, Prof. Wood Jones’s statement in the Report for 
g 1907-08 of the Archeological Survey of Nubia. It 
is particularly necessary to correct Prof. Moodie’s 
misleading references to syphilis (p. 117), smallpox 
(p. 119), pyorrhcea (p. 126), and Pott’s disease, which he 
_ Says is “‘ so common in Egypt ” (p. 133), when I think 
he was aware of only one case (or at most six cases) 
_ found among thirty thousand bodies ! 
_ I refer to these blots on a very fascinating and 
stimulating book before such insidious errors get fully 
~ launched upon a career of diffusion. In several places 
in the book Prof. Moodie refers to the history of these 
_ modern investigations in the pathology of the ancient 
(: gyptians, and as his account is quite fictitious, perhaps 
_ Imight explain how they did begin. Two months after 
"my arrival in Egypt in 1900 the late Dr. W. H. R. 
Rivers, who was working on the problems of colour 
Vision in the natives of Upper Egypt, wrote directing 
my attention to the natural preservation of the brain 
in the Pre-dynastic bodies being excavated by Dr. 
_ Randall-Maclver at El Amrah. I went to Upper 
yee pt to study this remarkable phenomenon, and the 
| first ancient Egyptian grave I looked into contained 
the skeleton of a boy who lived nearly sixty centuries 
ago and had suffered from stone in the bladder. I 
_ sent the specimen to Dr. Shattock at the Royal College 
of Surgeons, who published a report on it, and for the 
“next seven years I devoted much of my leisure to the 
collection of pathological specimens from ancient 
graves until, in 1907, Dr. Wood Jones began his epoch- 
making work of making the collection now in the 
“Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, and writing 
the only trustworthy account of the pathological 
conditions found in Egypt and Nubia that has yet been 
published. 
The late Sir Armand Ruffer did not begin his work 
until Prof. Wood Jones and I had completed ours. 
In 1908, having discovered a hunch-back among 
the mummies of the priests of Amen from Thebes, 
I asked the late Profs. Ferguson and Ruffer whether 
they could detect tubercle bacilli in his psoas abscess. 
- NO. 2800, VOL. 111] 

























NATURE 
875 
‘This started Sir Armand on the work. In attempt- 
ing to put the history of these events into their 
proper sequence I ought to direct attention to the real 
achievements of the late Sir Armand Ruffer in this 
field. These were, first, the perfection of the technique 
for the histological study of mummies ; and, secondly, 
the discovery of the eggs of the Bilharzia worm in 
mummies embalmed thirty centuries ago. These 
results were attained only after long and wearisome 
experiment carried on with exceptional skill and 
persistence, and represent a very great achievement. 
G. Exuior Smitx. 

Our Bookshelf. 
Factors affecting the Control of the Tea Mosquito Bug 
(Helopeltis theivora, Waterh.). By E. A, Andrews. 
Pp. iv+260+44 diagrams. (London: Indian Tea 
Association, 21 Mincing Lane, 1923.) 3s. 6d. 
THE work which Mr. E. A. Andrews has carried out 
in India in connexion with the mosquito bug of tea 
is described in this book. The limitations in the 
control of the pest by spraying are discussed, and an 
inquiry into the question of natural checks has led 
to the conclusion that the problem could not be solved 
by such means. The effects of climate and the variety 
of bush which is cultivated are discussed in some 
detail. 
The action of various manures has been investigated, 
lime and potash manures having been shown to be 
of benefit. The relation of cultural operations to the 
severity of attack is also included. Whereas no 
relation is evident between the total quantities of 
potash and phosphoric acid present in the soil and 
the extent of attack, manuring experiments have 
yielded interesting and definite results. Immunity 
would seem to depend on the ratio of the available 
potash to the available phosphoric acid. Great 
benefit is derived from an increase in the available 
potash in the soil, the effect, however, being only 
transient. Analyses of the leaves show differences 
corresponding to those deduced from observation of 
the soils. Immunity has been induced experimentally 
by the direct introduction of potash to the plant, 
tea bushes so treated remaining immune for the rest 
of the season. 
The importance of this work from an economic 
point of view is very great. The future of economic 
applied entomology lies far more in the detailed study 
of the relations between the insect, the plant, and the 
natural conditions influencing both, than in direct 
control by means of insecticides or entomological 
methods: such research, however, requires organised 
team work between the various branches of science. 
Mr. Andrews’s work would be valuable if it emphasised 
this need alone ; but it also embraces sound investiga- 
tion and a great hope of the discovery of a practical 
contro] for the most serious insect pest of the tea crop. 
The author is to be congratulated on his results 
and the patience with which he has collected his 
numerous data. H. M.L. 
