828 
tured but ignorant fanatic and aid the worker, 
a devotion to the cause, and a well-trained 
band of helpers.” In the Sudan where for 
many years smallpox was a dread calamity, it 
is now well-nigh as extinct as the dodo. The 
native is convinced of the beneficent results 
of Jenner’s discovery and the anti-vaccina- 
tionist has not yet raised his voice in the 
desert. 
The water supply of towns in the tropics and 
the bacterial standards to be enforced are dis- 
cussed at length, with the general conclusion 
that the conditions are utterly different from 
those of civilized lands of temperate climates 
so that the problem of standards must be 
worked out anew in the tropics. Despite 
Clemesha’s conclusions from analysis in India 
where soil contamination is great and sewage 
in streams relatively small, that the use of 
Bacillus coli communis in wider elastic sense 
as an indicator of contamination of water 
supplies in the tropics is inadequate and mis- 
leading, Dr. Balfour still concludes that this 
criterion gave useful results in detecting con- 
tamination in the municipal supply at Khar- 
toum. 
The second volume, devoted to general sci- 
ence, contains a wider range of articles, from 
a treatise on municipal engineering in the 
tropics by members of the staff of Gordon 
Memorial College, to a treatise on the venom 
of the spitting snakes of Rhodesia and the 
Sudan. Here are the reports of the staff 
chemist, Dr. Wm. Bean, and the entomologist, 
Dr. H. H. King, the former dealing with soil 
analysis, gum production, hashish and native 
poisons, and the latter treating of the insects 
destructive to crops, mosquito control and the 
relation of birds to insects. Experiments in 
exterminating mosquitoes in irrigation ditches 
by a small minnow of similar habit to “ Mil- 
lions ” of the Barbados, known as Cyprinodon 
dispar, have been successful. Other biological 
papers deal with the mosquitoes, birds and 
scorpions of the region. 
The anthropological interests are repre- 
sented by an account of the ancient gold 
mines of the Sudan by Mr. S. C. Dunn, govy- 
SCIENCE 
[N.S. Von. XXXV. No. 908 
ernment geologist. The Turin papyrus (14th 
century B.C.) describes these mines and is ac- 
companied by the oldest maps in existence. 
The cult of the Nyakang and the divine kings 
of the Shilluk peoples are investigated by 
Dr. C. G. Seligmann. The king is killed 
when old age or sickness threatens. Captain 
Anderson gives an interesting analysis of the 
tribal customs in their relation to medicine 
and morals of the Nyam Nyam and Goor 
peoples of the upper Sudan. 
These two volumes are full of varied infor- 
mation, much of it of great interest and 
promise of permanent value. Jt is magnifi- 
cently suggestive in its portrayal of the war- 
fare of science on the firing line of civilization 
and full of incentive to the reserves at the 
rear. 
Cuartes Arwoop KoFrorp 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
A History of the Birds of Colorado. By 
Wittiam Luttey Scrarer, M.A. (Oxon.), 
M.B.O.U., Hon. M.A.0.U. (lately Di- 
rector of the Colorado College Museum). 
With 17 plates and a map. Witherby & 
Co., 326 High Holborn, London. 1912. 
8vo. Pp. xxiv+576. For United States, 
$5. Edition limited to 550 copies. 
This is a well-planned and thoroughly up- 
to-date manual of the birds of Colorado, 
printed on light-weight paper, and, though a 
bulky volume of 600 pages, is easy and com- 
fortable to handle. The work is based pri- 
marily on the collection of Colorado birds 
formed by Mr. C. E. Aiken during the last 
thirty-five years, recently acquired by the late 
General William J. Palmer and presented by 
him to the Museum of Colorado College, of 
which the author of the present book was re- 
cently for some years the director. 
The introduction deals briefly with the phys- 
ical features of Colorado, and contains an 
analysis of its bird fauna, with (1) respect to 
the season of occurrence of the species and 
(2) their distribution in the state with re- 
spect to altitude. Of the 392 species thus far 
recorded, about 17 per cent. are resident 
throughout the year, while the summer resi- 
