NOTOMBEB 20, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



733 



f ying insects on page 82 contains many errors ; 

 statements either the reverse of the truth or 

 otherwise faulty occur in six out of the ten 

 short diagnoses of the orders. 



The inaccuracies, of which many more ex- 

 amples could be pointed out, are not the only 

 features that call for criticism. They consti- 

 tute rather a symptom of debility in other 

 directions. Students of science will gain 

 little profit from a book in which there is a 

 lack of clearness and cogency of thought, and 

 the choice of the text in its present condition 

 for a class in zoology would be one to be 

 deplored. 



In dealing with physiology the author is 

 apparently more at home. At least there are 

 fewer errors. There is, however, a very inac- 

 curate original diagram of the sympathetic 

 nervous system, and there are several state- 

 ments that require emendation. The outlines 

 for practical laboratory experiments form a 

 commendable feature of this part of the work, 

 and the general plan of having physiology 

 follow a course in zoology leading gradually 

 up to the study of man is an excellent one, 

 but it is regrettable that it should have fallen 

 so far short of the ideal in its execution. 



S. J. H. 

 Typhoid Fever. Its Causation, Transmission 

 and Prevention. By George C. Whipple, 

 Consulting Engineer. With an Introduc- 

 tory Essay by William T. Sedgwick, Pro- 

 fessor of Biology, Massachusetts Institute 

 of Technology. New York, John Wiley 

 and Sons; London, Chapman and Hall, 

 Limited. 1908. 



The publication of a work by a layman on a 

 subject usually regarded as medical is some- 

 thing of an innovation, and a welcome one. 

 It is curious that the preventable diseases, 

 ■which from the prophylactic standpoint pre- 

 sent so many aspects of a technical, but not 

 a purely medical, character, have not been dis- 

 cussed more frequently by sanitarians in 

 works, like this of Mr. Whipple, which are in 

 a form which commends them to the general 

 reading public. The medical profession has 

 often been accused, and justly so, of being too 

 secretive regarding medical affairs. There is 

 an undoubted and salutary reaction within 

 the profession against this policy of secretive- 



ness, and books like Mr. Whipple's ■will help 

 along this reaction. 



Mr. Whipple's work does not go into details 

 regarding the purely clinical aspects of 

 typhoid fever, but merely sketches this side of 

 the disease, and relates for the most part, as 

 the subtitle indicates, to the causation, trans- 

 mission and prevention of the disease. These 

 subjects are covered in a series of chapters 

 dealing with the life history of the typhoid 

 bacillus within and without the body, the 

 lines of defense against its entrance, statistics 

 dealing with the distribution and epidemiology 

 of the disease, its relation to water supplies, 

 and a brief chapter on the financial loss 

 caused by its prevalence. Useful appendices 

 deal with the use of disinfectants, the role of 

 house flies in the spread of the disease, death 

 rates, water analysis, the viability of the 

 germ, and the literature of the subject. The 

 book is well printed, and is admirably illus- 

 trated by numerous charts, and an ingenious 

 frontispiece which shows the methods of trans- 

 mission and means of protection. 



The work differs from most of those avail- 

 able to the public in the simplicity of its 

 language, which can be understood by any in- 

 telligent lajrman. It differs from most medi- 

 cal treatises on Typhoid Fever in the emphasis 

 placed on the transmission and prevention of 

 the disease, and in the wealth of statistical de- 

 tail available to support the various state- 

 ments. We could have wished that there was 

 more in the book concerning what has actually 

 been accomplished in the prevention of the 

 disease when due to contact rather than water 

 or food transmission. Koch's work at Trier, 

 which shows what can be done to stamp out 

 the disease under certain circumstances, 

 might have been quoted. Though Mr. Whip- 

 ple's profession naturally impresses upon him 

 most forcibly the dangers of water and food 

 transmission, he recognizes the importance of 

 contact, but does not, we believe, emphasize it 

 so forcibly as is desirable. In the main the 

 work is an admirable one, and worthy of the 

 highest commendation. Professor Sedgwick's 

 introduction is an interesting historical sum- 

 mary of the development of our knowledge of 

 the disease. George Blumek 



