July 19, 1906] 



NA TURE 



269 



of harmonic analysers, including' those of Ilenrici, and 

 the machine devised by Michelson and Stratton for their 

 analysis of visibility curves of interference frinijes. 



The information given in the booli seems, on the 

 whole, fairly complete and accurate. The word " per- 

 iode " seems used in a loose sense, sometimes, as 

 " time of a single oscillation " and sometimes as 

 "frequency." J. A. Marker. 



Cultures du Midi de I'Algcrie ct de la Tuiiisie. By 



C. Rivifere and II. Lecq. Pp. xii + 511. (Paris: 



J. B. Baillifere et Fils, 1906.) Price 5 francs. 

 In view of the fact that inside the British Empire 

 ag'riculture is being practised under all sorts of 

 tropical and semi-tropical conditions, there is a 

 singular paucity of books in the English language 

 dealing with the cultivation of exotic plants.^ The 

 book before us, one of the " Encyclopf^die agricole " 

 series, reviews briefly the whole range of plants which 

 are cultivated economically in the Mediterranean 

 region belonging to France, i.e. in Provence, Algeria, 

 and Tunis. This is a very special district possessin.jj 

 a characteristic flora adapted to its well-marked 

 climatic conditions of insufficient rainfall which falls 

 mainly in the winter, great heat and dryness 

 in the summer, excessive radiation resulting in 

 extreme variations of temperature, with sharp frosts 

 in the winter, incessant wind, and an all-pervading 

 sun. Under these conditions many forms of agri- 

 culture are only possible where irrigation water is 

 obtainable, and much of the country is little better than 

 bare rock or sand ; there are, however, many im- 

 portant cultures, special to the district, which have 

 been brought to a high state of perfection by the 

 inhabitants of the Cote dVXzur. 



The most distinctive example is perhaps the growth 

 of plants for scent and essences which has its centre 

 at Grasse, but which has been extended into both 

 .\lgeria and Tunis ; the rose, the orange-flower, the 

 tuber rose, the violet, and the jasmine being the most 

 important of the flowers thus cultivated. The olive, 

 that most distinctive feature of all Mediterranean land- 

 scapes, is losing ground, we learn, being displaced by 

 the competition of oils like cotton-seed and sesame ; 

 in Provence, also, the land is wanted for more in- 

 tensive forms of cultivation, such as the production of 

 early vegetables and cut flowers. 



The book of MM. Riviere and Lecq suffers some- 

 what from the very extensive ground it has to cover; 

 the accounts of each plant in cultivation have to be 

 so curtailed that the details are insufficient for the 

 needs of the practical man, who will, however, find 

 an excellent series of references to more special books 

 and articles on each subject. The book mav be of 

 considerable service to many of our colonists living in 

 semi-arid countries and looking round for suitable 

 and remunerative crops to grow ; from it thev can 

 obtain both ideas as to possible introductions and 

 such economic information as to the labour required 

 and the probable value of the returns as mav enable 

 them to embark on the experiment with some prospect 

 of success. 



Tabidae Botanicae. (Part i., containing plates i. 

 and ii.) Edited by E. Baur and E. Jahn. (Berlin : 

 Gebriider Borntraeger, n.d.) Price per plate : paper, 

 7 marks; cloth, 10 marks. Series of five, 25 marks. 

 Under this title the publishers announce a series of 

 coloured illustrations of plants intended for lecture 

 purposes, and arranged in sets for each subject, 

 order, or class. The two diagrams received illus- 

 trate the Myxobacteriaceae, the one representing 

 successive stages in the life-history of Polyangiuni 

 fuscum. selected as a general type, the other depict- 

 ing the fructification, spores, S:c., of Myxococcus and 



NO. 1 916, VOL. 74] 



Chondromyces as special details. So far as one can 

 judge from these specimens, the drawing entrusted 

 to Ehrlich, of Berlin, promises to combine correct 

 representation and artistic treatment, and the pub- 

 lisher's name is sufficient guarantee for good repro- 

 duction ; the paper selected is not strong enough to 

 withstand wear and tear, but at a somewhat higher 

 price the plates may be obtained backed with linen 

 and attached to rollers. The size of the diagrams, 

 about 5 feet by 3 feet, is sufficiently large for most 

 practical purposes. The short prospectus prefixed 

 to the accompanying text provides little information, 

 except to say that the plates will be designed two, 

 three, or more to each subject, that the series will 

 cover the whole field of the anatomy and the life- 

 histories of plants, and that the lower plants will 

 receive especially full treatment. 



Reports of the Expedition to the Congo, 1903-5. 

 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Memoir 

 xviii. Pp. 74. (London : Williams and Norgate.) 

 Price ys. 6d. net. 

 In this report, the late Mr. Dutton and Dr. Todd 

 contribute an important paper on gland-palpation in 

 human trypanosomiasis, in which they show that 

 most early cases of trypanosomiasis have enlarged 

 glands, and can therefore be detected by gland-palpa- 

 tion. A second paper by the same authors discusses 

 the distribution and spread of sleeping sickness in 

 the Congo Free State. This is illustrated bv four 

 maps, which demonstrate very clearly the enormous 

 extent of territory in which this terrible disease is 

 now met with compared with twenty years ago. This 

 is in great measure accounted for by the increase 

 in travel following the opening up of the country. 

 Two new Dermanyssid Acarids from monkeys' lungs 

 are described by Mr. Newstead and Dr. Todd, and 

 Dr. Stephens and Mr. Newstead contribute a paper on 

 the anatomy of the proboscis of biting flies. It will 

 thus be seen that the report contains matter of con- 

 siderable interest, and the general " get up " leaves 

 nothing to be desired. 



Ten Years' Record of the Treatment of Cancer with- 

 out Operation. By Dr. Robert Bell. Pp. 107. 

 (London: Dean and Son, Ltd., 1906.) Price 2s. 6d. 



net. 



It is difficult to understand the raison d'etre of this 

 book, which consists mainly of a diatribe against the 

 modern surgical treatment of cancer, and a veiled 

 recomrnendation of the author's method of treatment 

 by medicinal and hygienic measures. As regards any 

 " record " of ten years' treatment by the author's 

 methods we find little evidence — " several cases " 

 eventually got quite well (p. 42), a case " recovered 

 completely " (p. 43), a case in which " the tumour 

 quite disappeared" (p. 63), three cases in which 

 '■ recovery was complete " (p. 71). This constitutes 

 the "record"; can the author be surprised if his 

 views and methods be received with scepticism? 



R. T. H. 

 The Opal Sea. By John C. Van Dyke. Pp. xvi4- 



262. (London : T : Werner Laurie, 1906.) Price 



6s. net. 

 Prof. Van Dyke provides in these pages a readable 

 account of many branches of modern oceanography 

 expressed in a literary form too seldom found inworks 

 dealing with scientific subjects. As one would ex- 

 pect, the romance and poetry of science are given 

 great prominence, and the attractive word-pictures 

 reveal the fascinating nature of the work of the man 

 of science. Many readers of these essays will be 

 encouraged to undertake a more precise study of the 

 physical geography of the sea from formal treatises. 



