September 23, 1909] 



NATURE 





and in pathological or abnormal processes. In fact 

 the one is a supplement to the other, and probably 

 neither is able to exert its full activity without the 

 simultaneous cooperation of the other. 



(i) The first book under review comprises courses 

 of lectures delivered by Prof. Starling- at University 

 College under the auspices of the Mercers' Company, 

 at the Bellevue Hospital, New York, under the 

 foundation of Dr. Herter, and at the Royal College of 

 Surgeons. It is written in a simple and attractive 

 style, and gives an admirable description of such 

 subjects as the physical properties of protoplasm, the 

 osmotic relationships of cells, the intake, exchange, 

 absorption, and output of fluids in the body, and the 

 production of Ivmph (the fluid which bathes the 

 tissues), and the relationship of these normal processes 

 ti) disease processes, such as dropsy. Many important 

 physical and chemical conceptions, such as osmotic 

 pressure, adsorption, the nature of colloids, surface 

 tension, and the like, are here brought together and 

 explained, and their relation to vital processes is ex- 

 amined. In the discussions of the connection between 

 normal and pathological processes many suggestions 

 of value to the medical practitioner are made. Thus 

 the regeneration of the constituents of the blood after 

 bleeding is considered to be due to the stimulus of 

 lack of oxygen, and the value of occasional blood- 

 letting is compared to that of a sojourn at high 

 altitudes, the beneficial and recuperative effects of 

 which are well recognised, and it is suggested that 

 the practice of occasional blood-letting may be restored 

 to the position of honour it once held in medical 

 practice. 



(2) The second book includes numerous papers con- 

 tributed by Sir Almroth Wright, his co-workers, and 

 friends to various journals and societies, and deals 

 more or less directly with the problems of immunisa- 

 tion against disease-producing micro-organisms. The 

 first part of the book deals primarily with the protec- 

 tive elements of the blood, agglutinins, bactericidins, 

 and opsonins ; in the second part the problem of fight- 

 ing bacterial infections by those defensive agencies 

 which the organism itself employs when it contends 

 with microbic invasions, is discussed. The formation 

 of a book by a collection of separate papers, collated 

 together though they be to some extent by numerous 

 foot-notes, necessarily leads to a certain amount of 

 repetition, and to a somewhat irritating use of cross- 

 references. Nevertheless, all workers in this field of 

 research cannot but be grateful to Sir Almroth Wright 

 for thus bringing together and rendering accessible a 

 number of scattered papers. 



Opsonins and vaccine therapy necessarily occupy a 

 prominent place. Opsonins are substances present in 

 the blood which act upon invading microbes, and 

 render these susceptible to phagocytosis, that is, to 

 ingestion by certain amoeboid, wandering, and other 

 cells, which brings about their destruction. By the 

 injection of a certain quantum of a killed bacterial 

 culture the production of opsonins specific for the parti- 

 cular organism injected tends to be increased ; phago- 

 cytosis of the organism in question therefore is also 

 rendered more active, and if an infection with the 

 NO. 2082, VOL. 81] 



organism exists, it tends to be got rid of. The use of 

 bacterial vaccines has been successful or useful in 

 many infections ; this is vaccine therapy. The present- 

 day employment of vaccine therapy must in the main 

 be ascribed to the work of Sir Almroth Wright, his 

 co-workers and pupils, and to them all honour is due. 

 At the same time we cannot help thinking that to 

 some extent a balanced perspective is wanting in some 

 of the statements. Thus the condemnations of the 

 antiseptic system, and of the value of surgical extirpa- 

 tion of infective foci, are too wide and sweeping (pp. 

 280 and 318). The same criticism applies to the re- 

 marks on serum therapy (pp. 300 and 321). 



Whatever be the failures of serum therapy, we 

 cannot help thinking that neutralisation of the existing 

 " poison " at the moment is a goal to be aimed at, 

 however much we strive to reinforce the defensive 

 powers of the body and render it later able to take 

 care of itself. In very acute infections, such as some 

 forms of septicEemia, which may prove fatal in twenty- 

 four to forty-eight hours, or in cholera, in which the 

 patient may be dead in a few hours after the com- 

 mencement of the attack, the direct neutralisation of 

 the " poison " would seem to be the only treatment 

 that affords hope of success. The comparative failure 

 of serum therapy should therefore be a stimulus to 

 the elaboration of new methods of preparation of 

 therapeutic serums rather than an argument for con- 

 sidering serum therapy futile. 



TEXT-BOOKS OF PHYSICS. 

 (i) Heat and other Forces. By Colonel W. F. 

 Badgley. Part i. ; "Heat"; part ii. : "Physical 

 Forces." Pp. 221 + vi. (London: King, Sell and 

 Olding, Ltd., 1907.) Price ss. net. 



(2) An Elementarv Course in Practical Science. By 

 C. Foxcraft and T. Samuel. Part i. Pp. 48- 

 Part ii. Pp. 58. (London : G. Philip and Son, Ltd., 

 n.d.) Price 6d. net each. 



(3) Horbare, Sichtbare, Elektrische tind Rontgen- 

 Strahlen. By Dr. Friedrich Neesen. Pp. 132. 

 (Leipzig: Quelle and Meyer, 1909.) Price 1.25 

 marks. 



(4) .4;! Elementary Text-book of Physics. By Dr. 

 R. W. Stewart. Part ii. : "Sound," pp. iii + 

 141. Part iii. : "Light," pp. vii + 219. (London: 

 C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1909.) Price, part ii., 

 2S. 6d. net; part iii., 35. 6d. net. 



(i) /"^OLONEL BADGLEY'S book is an extra- 

 \-- ordinary production. The contents might be 

 guessed from the title, which implies that heat is a 

 force. The author has evidently read a great deal 

 of current scientific work, to which he frequently 

 refers, but has not the exact knowledge necessary 

 for writing on the subject. Indeed, he suggests that 

 the differences between work, energy, power, force, 

 and motion are only mythical, and that the terms are 

 really interchangeable. Typical, also, is the statement 

 that " the heat given off by the spontaneous decom- 

 position of radium is, perhaps, about a degree and a 

 half centigrade." The preface is very cynical. It is 

 questioned whether men of science believe in one 



