May 31, 1912] 
better-known bacterial diseases and the most 
modern preventive methods; and lastly a sug- 
gestion is given for the equipment of a mod- 
erate sized laboratory for the pharmacy. 
The book in general is well written, well il- 
lustrated, and will be useful for the people for 
whom it is particularly designed. As a book 
on bacteriology for the general student, how- 
ever, it is too narrow in its scope to be of any 
great value or interest. As its title indicates, 
it is a pharmaceutical bacteriology, and its 
place is simply in schools of pharmacy and in 
the hands of pharmacists. 
H. W. C. 
The American Year Book. 1911. Edited by 
Francois G. Wickwark, B.A., B.Sc. New 
York, D. Appleton & Co. 
The American Year Book in its second is- 
sue presents a carefully collected and com- 
piled record of events and progress, largely 
with reference to the year 1911. There are 
here gathered facts of use to writers of many 
kinds, covering many fields, scientific, some- 
what aside from science, like history and poli- 
tics, and others into which science is to-day 
entering, like economics and the social ques- 
tions. Industries and occupations are con- 
sidered under a number of grouped heads, 
while the sciences themselves and engineering 
are ranged in some seven groups. There fol- 
low the humanities, an epitome of chronol- 
ogy and necrology and some references to the 
volume of 1910, which, being the first, re- 
viewed and outlined a number of subjects. 
There are two criteria for determining the 
quality of a volume like this; one its actual 
fitness for the purpose for which it is intended 
and the other the list of contributors. The 
first-named can be reliable only after a 
season of trial, and the excellences or demer- 
its may not be apparent on cursory inspec- 
tion. Taking the list of names of the au- 
thors of the various essays, they should stand 
for a superlative product. It was Dr. Walter 
Wyman who prepared the article on Public 
Health and Hygiene, the revision after his 
death being done by Dr. Schereschewsky. 
SCIENCE 
869 
There are here reviewed the world movements 
of epidemic diseases and the incidence and 
movements of the same within the United 
States. The writer does not fail to note in 
an authoritative way the measures of defense 
against the threatened invasion of cholera 
during the year, the unusual prevalence of 
smallpox, the improvement in the mortality 
rate of tuberculosis, the story of anti-typhoid 
vaccination, not forgetting a word of warn- 
ing against measles and other diseases so 
common that no one fears them, yet which 
take large toll. In this connection it is in- 
teresting to note that the infant mortality 
ean be given for eight states, only, Michigan 
being the sole one away from the Atlantic 
coast in which the registration is sufticiently 
good. 
International statistics for world and 
country are presented from authoritative 
sources, government reports, local bulletins 
and the like. Some of the items are popula- 
tions, national revenues and expenditures, 
products like cotton and wool, grains, coal and 
iron. These will be invaluable to persons 
needing such data. The international mor- 
tality rates given in the first grouping of fig- 
ures is from an English source, the Registrar 
General’s Annual Summary. It is curious 
that while taking places of as low rank in 
point of population as Stockholm and Bucha- 
rest, Prague, Trieste and Melbourne, the 
latter somewhere not far above 100,000, there 
are omitted such places as Tokio, Buenos 
Ayres, Liverpool, Warsaw, Manchester, Naples, 
ete., so that only about one third of the cities 
above half a million are represented. There 
must be better sources than that selected if 
full information is desired. 
The third group, the Problems of Popula- 
tion, takes up many matters, one interesting 
one being the change in the shape of the head 
noticeable among the children of immigrants. 
For history there is a résumé of the political 
parties and their changes, some words on 
reciprocity and the tariff; conservation is con- 
sidered and trusts and court decisions affect- 
ing corporations, etc. There is a good deal of 
space devoted to foreign history. Govern- 
