94 



NA TURE 



[November 25, 1909 



the principal glaciers, which the commission rightly 

 regard as important reservoirs. The glaciers of 

 Vallouise were surveyed in 1904, those of the Grandes 

 Rousses in 1905, and the glacier of Mont de Lans 

 in 1906-7. 



It would be impossible within the limits of a short 

 article to touch upon all the points of interest in M. 

 de la Brosse's report, and the foregoing constitute 

 simply a few random notes culled from pages which 

 are replete with valuable information on all branches 

 of hydrographical research amid the Alps. Mention 

 must, however, be made of two supplementary notes 

 by M. Mougni(^, of Moutiers, the first on the subject 

 of controlling the discharges of the Isere, and the 

 second on variations in the bed of the same river. 

 Then follows the second part of the volume, a com- 

 pendium of more than 600 pages of tabulated data 

 covering the whole area of operations. 



The admirable manner in which these observations 

 are being made and recorded reflects the highest 

 credit on the Direction de I'Hydraulique, and 

 abundantly justifies its formation and support. It is 

 evident that there is being collected a wealth of data 

 which must prove of incalculable value in estimating 

 the hydrological resources of the country and in 

 utilising them to the best advantage and to their 

 fullest extent. Further volumes of the series will be 

 awaited with undiminished interest by all who are 

 concerned in any way in the development of hydro- 

 technical studies. B. C. 



THK SCIENCE OF PATHOLOGY. 

 The Principles of Pathology. By Prof. J. George 



Adami, F.R.S. Vol. I., General Pathology. Pp. 



948. (London : Henry Frowde and Hodder and 



Stoughton, 1909.) Price 30s. net. 

 \1 fE congratulate Prof. Adami on the completion 

 * * of this exhaustive work, of nearly 1000 pages, 

 on general pathology, more particularly as he had 

 the misfortune to lose his library, the manuscript of 

 the concluding chapters, and the illustrations collected 

 over a period of many years for the purposes of the 

 book, in the fire by which the medical buildings of 

 McGill University were destroyed in April, 1907. 



The book is divided into three sections, section i. 

 dealing with prolegomena, and in particular with the 

 cell and its relation to disease, section ii. with the 

 causes of disease, and section iii. with the general 

 morbid and reactive processes. 



In the opening chapters an excellent summary is 

 presented to the reader of the various theories of cell 

 structure and connections, and of the physiology and 

 chemistry of the cell, including enzymes and their 

 mode of action. In these considerations the author 

 adapts the "side-chain theory" to explain the 

 relationship of the protein molecule to life and meta- 

 bolism and to enzyme action. Whether correct or 

 no, this conception has the advantage of visualising 

 the subject, and gives the student concrete ideas 

 which he can grasp, in place of abstract ones. 



Growth, states of cell activity, cell multiplication, 

 adaptation, and differentiation are next considered, 

 and the important subject of inheritance has, rightly, 

 NO. 2091, VOL. 82] 



considerable space devoted to it; and Mendel's and 

 Galton's laws, mutations, and the inheritance of 

 acquired characters all receive adequate treatment. 



Having thus cleared the ground by a consideration 

 of these general biological problems, the author passes 

 on to the subject-matter proper, commencing with 

 a discussion of the causes of disease, in which inherit- 

 ance is again considered, and the various anomalies 

 of development and the monstrosities are very fully 

 described. The bacterial, protozoan, and metazoan 

 parasites are then discussed, but only in a general 

 way, as causes of disease — a wise limitation, as the 

 parasites themselves and their general biology and 

 activities are fully described in various other text- 

 books. Referring to the presence of bacteria poten- 

 tially pathogenic in and upon the healthy body, the 

 author mentions that streptococci are present in the 

 mouth in 80 per cent, of healthy people, but it is to 

 be noted that Gordon has shown that the species 

 present in the mouth, and so abundant there, is non- 

 pathogenic, and differs from the disease-producing 

 streptococci. 



In the section on malaria it would have been more 

 correct to speak of " anopheline " rather than 

 "anopheles," mosquitoes as agents of transmission. 



Chapter xi. is devoted to endogenous intoxications 

 due to abnormalities of internal secretion (e.g. of the 

 thyroid, adrenals, pancreas, &c.), which, it is true; 

 gives the essentials of the subject, but fourteen pages 

 seem to us inadequate space in a work of this kind to 

 discuss so important a subject. 



In the section on the morbid and reactive processes, 

 the local and systemic reaction to injury and in- 

 flammation are dealt with very fully, and altogether 

 in a judicious and instructive manner. Immunity 

 and its various problems are similarly well treated, 

 and a survey is given of every branch of the sub- 

 ject; Ehrlich's "side-chain theory" in particular is 

 well described, and at some length. As regards 

 anaphylaxis — the increased susceptibility conferred by 

 an injection of blood-serum — we cannot help thinking 

 that the suggested explanation is laboured, and, in- 

 volving as it does the ionic hypothesis, beyond our 

 present knowledge of the phenomenon. 



The progressive tissue changes — hypertrophy, re- 

 generation, and new growths — are next discussed in 

 a very complete manner. We are glad to note that 

 the author emphasises the futility of attempting to 

 graft the tissues of lower animals on man for pur- 

 poses of repair. 



In speaking of -placental moles, the inexact, if not 

 incorrect, appellation "hydatid" is retained; " hyda- 

 tidiform " is preferable. 



The characters of neoplasms (tumours or new- 

 growths) are given at considerable length. The 

 classification of neoplasms adopted is the histogenetic 

 one supported by the author. A principal objection 

 urged by Prof. Adami against the embryogenetic 

 classification is that .it separates new growths histo- 

 logically similar, e.g. glioma of epiblastic, and 

 sarcoma of mesoblastic, origin. We venture to thinH 

 that too much stress should not be laid on this argu- 

 ment, for even now the minuter structure of new- 

 growths is only beginning to be studied. Nor are we 



