490 



NA TURE 



[Septkmuek 24, 1896 



formation of the general reader, that it should be studied 

 in connection with the recent works of Tallqvist and 

 Zinimern on the Maldil and Sliiirpii series of tablets in 

 the British Museum. A word of praise is justly due to 

 Mr. King for his honest work, and although the intro- 

 duction might have been fuller with advantage to the 

 reader, the translations, and transliterations, and vocab- 

 ulary will help to make the texts at the end of the book 

 understood by every careful reader. 



MICRO-ORGANISMS AND DISEASE. 

 Micro-organisms and Disease; an Iniroduclion to the 

 Stiidv of Specific Rlicro-organisDis. By Dr. E. Klein, 

 F.R..S. New edition. Pp. .\ii + 595. (London : 

 Macmillan & Co., Ltd , 1896.) 



THE rapid strides which have been made in bacterio- 

 logical science during the last few years render the 

 frequent revision of the text-books on the subject a 

 necessity. It is a noteworthy fact that although bacteri- 

 ology is one of the newest of the sciences, it is rapidly 

 becoming so large a subject that specialisation in one 

 branch or other of it is almost essential. 



Dr. Klein's book treats mainly of that particular branch 

 of bacteriology which deals with " pathogenic " micro- 

 organisms, including only a very small number out of the 

 total known species. Other branches of bacteriology 

 have also their specialised handbooks — e.g. the micro- 

 organisms in water are sufficiently numerous and well- 

 known to require a text-book to themselves, whilst it 

 would be easy to mention other branches of the subject 

 which will soon require similar treatment. In this new 

 (third) edition of Dr. Klein's work we find the subject 

 brought practically up to date. The present edition is 

 enlarged to 595 pages, as against 267 pages in the 

 previous one. There are 80 additional illustrations, as 

 compared with the last edition, making 201 in all. 

 Amongst them are inserted, for the first time, a number 

 of well-reproduced photographs of cultures and of ex- 

 cellent stained preparations of bacteria, taken by the 

 well-known photomicrographers Messrs. Pringle and 

 Bousfield. These arc almost uniformly good, but photo- 

 graphs, such as Fig. 63.\, mar an otherwise fine series. 



The introductory chapters deal with bacteriological 

 technique, such as the preparation of culture media, 

 stained microscopic preparations, methods of inoculation 

 and cultivation, bacteriological examination of water, air 

 and soil. Then follows a full discussion of the general 

 characters of bacteria— more especially of the pathogenic 

 organisms— in which their mode of growth, spore forma- 

 tion, means of motility, iS:c., are discussed. 



The chapter on " The Chemistry of Bacteria," confined 

 as it is to a dozen pages, merely serves to show how 

 meagre is the bacteriologist's knowledge of this part of 

 the subject. It is a chapter, however, which might easily 

 be amplified with advantage. For e.xample, in writing 

 on the liquefaction of gelatine, no mention is made of the 

 fact that such liquefaction is due to an enzyme, and that 

 it can be brought about by the agency of sterile filtered 

 cultures of liquefying bacteria, apart from the bacteria 

 themselves. Similarly, no reference is made to other 

 enzymes, such, for instance, as those which bring about 

 the hydrolysis of starch, (S:c. 



NO. 1404, VOL. 54] 



A brief glance at the succeeding chapters will show 

 how extensive is the list of diseases which are associated 

 with specific micro-organisms. To mention only a few of 

 the best known, we find considered in this book — often 

 very exhaustively — typhoid, cholera, tuberculosis, tetanus, 

 diphtheria, mfluenza, erysipelas, pneumonia, gonorrhoea, 

 anthrax, glanders, relapsing fever, fowl cholera, grouse 

 disease, Oriental plague, &c. 



In the concluding chapters we find an epitome of the 

 latest results of the labours of many workers in the field 

 of serum theraputics, a subject which is ju';t now attract- 

 ing so much attention from medical men and bacteri- 

 ologists, and the experimental results of which are of the 

 most far-reaching importance. The newest methods of 

 research are clearly set forth, and the results obtained by 

 recent workers are fully discussed. 



Dr. Klein's views on the proper interpretation of the 

 results of researches in various branches of his subject 

 are frequently at variance with those of other authorities, 

 yet it is refreshing to find — in these days of the premature 

 publication of incomplete work — an author who is ready 

 to stand out for a logical proof of the correctness of 

 conclusions which are often drawn from meagre and in- 

 complete evidence. There is no one in this country 

 whose views on various controversial matters, coming 

 within the scope of the book, are more entitled to careful 

 consideration than are those of Dr. Klein. 



The latest methods of protective inoculation by anti- 

 toxic blood scrum, more particularly in diphtheria and 

 tetanus, are noticed and discussed. In this connection 

 one regrets that more space is not devoted to the closely 

 related subject of snake-poison and its antidote. The 

 methods pursued are so similar, and the results already 

 achieved arc so important, that the subject might easily 

 be brought within the scope of the book, especially as 

 such diseases as cancer are included, although a disease 

 which is most probably not associated with micro- 

 organisms. 



Under the headmg of " Protozoa causing disease" is 

 found a valuable discussion of the vexed question of the 

 parasitic or non-parasitic nature of cancer. Dr. Klein 

 shows very clearly the kind of fallacy into which the 

 " parasitologists " and discoverers of " cancer organisms " 

 have easily fallen. 



Bacteriology has, during the last few years, become 

 more and more complex. Where a single organism was 

 previously recognised, it is now becoming certain that 

 there are very many modifications and sub-varieties of 

 each, which can only be differentiated and distinguished 

 from each other by difficult methods. Nowhere is this 

 more obvious than in reading the chapters containing 

 descriptions of Bacillus colt communis and of tlie typhoid 

 and cholera organisms. 



The book is beautifully printed, and, with a lew- 

 exceptions, the illustrations merit great praise. 



There seem to be very few misprints. On p. 89, how- 

 ever, a reference is made to the work of Downes and Lunt ; 

 this should, of course, be Downes and Blunt. Also, on 

 pp. 588 and 595, Vehring is inserted for Behring. 



The author is to be congratulated on the completion of 

 this re\ ised and much enlarged edition of his valuable 

 book, which ought to be in the hands of every medical 

 man. JOSEPH LUNT. 



