OcroBEB 23, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



567 



Almroth E. Wright, of London, whose work 

 on the opsonic index has opened a new field 

 of many possibilities, discusses the principles 

 of vaccine therapy, especially under the guid- 

 ance of the opsonic index; while Professor 

 Miiller, the eminent clinician of Munich, re- 

 views the nervous affections of the heart, from 

 the standpoint of one who is familiar with 

 modern cardiac physiology and pathology. 

 Professor Herter, of Columbia, discusses the 

 common bacterial infections of the digestive 

 tract and the intoxications arising from them 

 — a subject which his researches have made 

 largely his own. Professor Porter, of Har- 

 vard, discusses vasomotor relations in animals 

 and men, partly with reference to the theory 

 of vasomotor depression in shock, and pre- 

 sents many results of his own experiments. 

 Professor Adami, of McGill, deals with the 

 myelins and potential fluid crystalline bodies 

 of the organism, showing their wide distribu- 

 tion and their physical and chemical relations. 

 Dr. Meltzer, of the Rockefeller Institute, 

 under the title " The factors of safety in 

 animal structure and animal economy," 

 raises the question whether in the structures 

 and functions of the animal organism con- 

 siderations of economy or of luxury, the latter 

 involving the factor of safety, are paramount, 

 and demonstrates the wide occurrence of 

 safety mechanisms. Professor Benedict, the 

 director of the Nutrition Laboratory of the 

 Carnegie Institution, presents the results of a 

 long series of observations on the metabolism 

 of human beings during inanition, the work 

 having been done with the aid of the large 

 respiration calorimeter at Wesleyan Univer- 

 sity. Professor Wilson, of Columbia, sum- 

 marizes the results of some recent studies of 

 heredity, especially certain researches on the 

 chromosomes, which may prove to furnish a 

 physical explanation of the main facts of 

 Mendelian heredity. Professor Huntington, 

 of Columbia, presents the standpoint of the 

 modern anatomist in an article, accompanied 

 by many illustrations from his own prepara- 

 tions, on " The genetic interpretation and 

 surgical significance of some variations of the 

 genito-urinary tract." Professor Councilman, 

 of Harvard, describes the changes in the 



lymphoid tissue in certain of the infectious 

 diseases, particularly in diphtheria, scarlet 

 fever and small-pox. 



Each lecture represents a valuable summary 

 of present knowledge in its specific field. 

 Furthermore, the lack and uncertainties of 

 present knowledge are often indicated, and 

 the possibilities of investigation along spe- 

 cific lines are emphasized. It is in the ele- 

 ment of stimulating suggestiveness that the 

 value and charm of the book largely lie. 

 Each author writes as a master in his own 

 subject, and the reader can not fail to feel 

 this. The whole volume reflects the spirit of 

 the modem scientific method, of which each 

 author is an able exponent. 



The Harvey Society has already received 

 wide attention and approbation outside the 

 immediate circle of its auditors. With its 

 annual output from the leaders in the medical 

 sciences it is doing a most important work in 

 bridging the gap, which ought never to exist 

 unbridged, between the laboratory investi- 

 gator and the medical practitioner. Its an- 

 nual volume of lectures can not fail to find 

 a wide circle of readers. 



Frederic S. Lee 



Columbia Univeesity 



Pollution of New Yorlc Harhor as a Menace 

 to Health hy the Dissemination of Intes- 

 tinal Diseases through the Agency of the 

 Common House Fly. A report by Daniel 

 D. Jackson, S.B., to the Committee on 

 Pollution of the Merchants' Association of 

 New Tork. The Merchants' Association of 

 New Tork, New Tork City, N. T, July, 

 1908. 22 pp.; maps Nos. 1 and 2, 3 dia- 

 grams, 2 plates, 1 table. 

 This attractive little report of an investiga- 

 tion of the sanitary conditions of the water- 

 front of New Tork City made during the 

 breeding season of 1907 deserves attention, 

 especially from the sanitarian and the medical 

 profession if not from the general biologist 

 and the laity. 



The investigation consisted of an inspec- 

 tion of the entire water-front of the city in 

 order to show the presence of numerous 

 sources of infection and breeding places for 



