Oct. 15, 1885 | 
NATURE 
571 
imperfect roof” in the region of the fore-brain, hardly 
accords either with fact or with the characters delineated 
in Fig. 138. In dealing with another complex matter— 
the origin of the foetal membranes—the student’s attention 
is abruptly transferred (p. 509) from the vitelline mem- 
brane to the amnion, and that in such a manner that he 
would scarcely follow what is really meant. Closely 
allied is the description of the germinal layers, and we 
doubt if the bare statement (p. 34) that “the outer and 
inner layers undertake the functions which their position 
entails on them” is justifiable. 
The work is got up in good style. The technical terms 
are printed in large type, but the choice of these is not 
always happy; on p. 5, for instance, in describing the 
movements of living protoplasm, we find the words 
“stream” and “gliding” set up in large letters; while, 
on p. 12, where the time-honoured terms “ ontogeny ” and 
“phylogeny” cannot well be dispensed with, neither 
they nor equivalents are employed—in fact, but for the 
aphorisms quoted on p. 13, the arguments used under the 
head of “development” would hardly carry conviction. 
Considering the nature of the book there are very few 
typographical errors. The more important are: p. 49, 
the description of Aspidogaster as “ecfoparasitic ;” p. 
138, the “ anterior posterior of the digestive tract ;” and, 
p. 501, “the cephalous Mollusca, such as the mussel,” 
&c. The illustrations are, for, the most part, fairly good. 
Fig. 11, representing, as it does, only one-half of an 
anemone, is not easily intelligible to the reader, and the 
student should be informed what the right half of Fig. 22 
is intended to illustrate. Fig. 66 illustrates but feebly part 
of an important subject—Mammalian odontology—which 
is poorly dealt with. Figs. 36, 42, 81, 82, 101, 170, and 
192, are all out of place in a work of this kind. 
They convey little or no impression to the mind of 
the student, and are bare schemes such as an observer 
might construct for use in his own private notebook 
side by side with actual drawings of the facts observed. 
Diagrams such as Fig. 101 should never be shaded up, as 
if indicative of actual appearances. 
To sum up. The author has successfully produced, at 
immense labour, a volume, of service to those who 
already possess a practical knowledge of the broad prin- 
ciples of the subject. A “Manual for Students of 
Medicine” it emphatically is not, except under that 
atrocious and misdirected rég7me of parrot-work not yet 
extinct. For this the system, and not the author, is to 
blame ; he has performed a good service, the return for 
which will but ill repay him. Gy Bo H. 
BRITISH DAIRY FARMING 
British Dairy Farming. By James Long. (London: 
Chapman and Hall, 1885.) 
HIS very readable volume is from the pen of one who 
evidently understands the highly technical subject 
to which he has devoted himself. Writing upon agri- 
culture has too often been attempted by mere theorists, 
and as an inevitable consequence practical men have been 
contented to cursorily scan and forthwith consign both 
book and author to oblivion. In this department more 
than in many others those who know are not book-writers 
and those who are book-writers do not kaow. Mr. Long 
is happily able to exercise the discernment which comes 
of knowledge in the marshalling of his facts and the 
quality of his suggestions. In his introductory chapter 
he gives solid statistical reasons why we should as a com- 
munity endeavour to “ produce more and import less,” and 
the subsequent chapters are devoted to a review and com- 
parison of our dairy system and those of our Continental 
neighbours, much to the advantage of the latter. The 
genius of the English farmer does not appear to have as 
yet shone into his dairy. His fields, his machines, his 
cattle stalls, his animals, have each and all been the ad- 
miration and the model of Europe and America. But he 
pauses on the threshold of his dairy and, we may add, 
his hen-house. These are, he thinks, the proper domain 
of the dairy-maid or the housewife, and the farmer is 
done with the milk when he has set it down at his dairy 
door. 
It is a case parallel with that of our czzszme. We produce 
the finest beef and mutton, but we are only too constantly 
reminded of the forcible old proverb that while God sends 
meat the Devil sends cooks. There is some ground for 
hope that we shall, if only by force of competition, be 
compelled to further elaborate our products. English 
cheese is excellent, but itis lamentably wanting in variety, 
and certainly is much too apt to be regarded as one of 
the necessaries rather than as one of the amenities of our 
daily fare. Butter-making offers fewer facilities for inno- 
vation, but much requires to be done before we can suc- 
cessfully compete with the butter-makers of Denmark, 
Normandy, and Brittany. It is to cheese-making that 
Mr. Long devotes the largest share of his space. In 
England the principal cheeses may be almost told off 
upon the digits of one hand : they are “Stilton, Cheshire, 
Cheddar, Gloucester, Derby, and Leicester.” The two 
last are, however, a little less definite than the first four, 
and we do not quite see their right to continue a list so 
well begun. Derby and Leicester are, no doubt, very 
good cheeses, but if they are to be admitted to stand 
in the same relation to English dairying as Stilton 
and Cheddar, we think Mr. Long might well have in- 
creased his list by adding Cutherston, Dorset-blue, North 
Wilts, and other cheeses well known to thousands of 
admirers. The principal English cheeses are, however, 
undoubtedly the first four mentioned in Mr. Long’s list, 
and, with the exception of the Stilton, none of them can 
compare, in the estimation of an epicure, commozsseur, or 
gourmand, with the soft, rich, palatable cheeses imported 
to this country under a puzzling variety of appellations. 
The chief interest of Mr. Long’s book consists in his 
minute workable descriptions of the manufacture of a 
large number of cheeses, which indeed appear to be as 
numerous and various as are different sorts of wines. 
The book is well illustrated, and the “ plant” required 
for carrying on the manufacture of some of the cheeses 
is complicated and expensive. Still, there appears to be 
no reason why similar cheeses should not be successfully 
made in England, and it is not improbable that the pro- 
cesses would be further improved in English hands were 
the matter once taken up. 
Take, for example, Camembert :— 
“The rennet is added to the milk at a temperature similar 
to that at whichitis drawn from the cow: itis heated ina 
tub, anda portion of the morning’s milk is added to the milk 
