564 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 954 



ratus and galvanometers — by the men engaged 

 in commercial testing because of the descrip- 

 tion of the methods suited to the needs and 

 the good advice given in regard to the selec- 

 tion of apparatus for different kinds of work; 

 by the instructor in our educational institu- 

 tions because it constitutes a valuable refer- 

 ence book for him and his students; by the 

 specialist because to him the author succeeds 

 in a marked degree in giving the benefit of his 

 wide experience in the design, construction, 

 and use of resistance and electrical measuring 

 apparatus. Fr.\nk Wenner 



BuEEAD OF Standards 



Metabolic Water: Its Production and Role in 

 Vital Phenomena. By S. M. Babcook. 

 Research Bulletin ISTo. 22, The University 

 of Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion, March, 1912. 



The purpose of the author in this paper of 

 181 pages is to show that metabolic water is 

 not' only produced in considerable quantity 

 from the organic constituents of the foods 

 and tissues of plants and animals by oxida- 

 tion and hydration, but also that water from 

 such sources exercises a different function 

 from imbibed water, and that in very many 

 cases is essential to the growth and continued 

 life of the organism in question. The studies 

 were conducted with corn plants for the most 

 part. The studies from the zoological stand- 

 point were not so extensive. The animals 

 used were clothes moth {Tinea pellionella) ; 

 bee moth (Galleria mellonella) ; pea weevil 

 (Bruchus quadri-maculatus) ; flour beetle 

 {Tribolium confusum and Ephestia Tcueh- 

 niella) . 



The scope of the study is indicated by the 

 following selected headings taken from the 

 table of contents : Sources of metabolic water 

 (respiration, etc.); metabolic water in seeds; 

 germination phenomena; metabolic water in 

 mature plants; composition of plant tissues; 

 development of hydrolytic ferments in seeds; 

 imbibition; reserve nutrients in plants; water 

 content of green and ripe fruits; intramolecu- 

 lar respiration; water produced in animal 

 metabolism ; water requirements of animals. 



The author seems to have shown in a rather 

 convincing manner that metabolic water 

 plays an immensely important role in the life 

 of both plants and animals. The paper con- 

 tains many facts collected together in a form 

 such that they should be interesting to every 

 plant physiologist. 



Eaymond J. Pool 

 The UNrvERsiTT of Nebraska 



Fresh Air and How to Use It. By Thomas 

 Spees Carrington, M.D. The National As- 

 sociation for the Study and Prevention of 

 Tuberculosis. 1912. 



This little book is timely and well con- 

 ceived. It finds an enormous audience pre- 

 pared to welcome it through sanitary precepts 

 from press and platform for many years. 

 Therefore the responsibility of the author is 

 somewhat unique. One could wish that the 

 execution of the work might deserve unquali- 

 fied praise. Fortunately it should be easy for 

 the author to correct such matters as call for 

 adverse criticism. 



We believe that it is better to be true than 

 to be convincing. Our author's introduction 

 needs rewriting, for it is founded on the old 

 conception that the prime danger from " bad 

 air " lies in its chemical composition. His ef- 

 fort to put a known good thing on a scientific 

 basis suggests the abominable method of in- 

 struction by which many popular school physi- 

 ologies have been perverted for the purpose of 

 lambasting narcotic drugs and alcohol. 



In spite of a vast amount of research we 

 are still none too well informed as to the es- 

 sential physiological relations of " pure " air. 

 But it seems to have been demonstrated that 

 all morbid sensations attributable to " foul 

 air " depend wholly upon the effects of com- 

 bined humidity and heat upon the skin. Mov- 

 ing air — a breeze — accelerates heat loss from 

 the body, stimulates the skin in other ways 

 and brings subjective comfort. Now in na- 

 ture moving air is found most easily in the 

 open or at least in apartments exposed to the 

 open. Sanitary architects — God save the 

 mark — find their task in evolving intricacies 

 of construction whose design it is to obviate 



