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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVT. No. 920 



is editor, there have been brought together and 

 collated as one, a large number of separate 

 articles upon various phases of bacteriology, 

 mycology and protozoology. The plan of the 

 editor has been to have the various phases of 

 these extensive subjects written up by such 

 persons among our American scientists as 

 have made them specialties, and then to have 

 them edited and collated so as to constitute a 

 logical vchole. The result has been to produce 

 a very remarkable book. Other books upon 

 bacteriology, because of the many phases of 

 the subject, have the fault of being one-sided, 

 since each author inevitably knovps his own 

 phase of the subject best, and not only writes 

 this part best, but is almost sure to exaggerate 

 its importance. If he has been especially in- 

 terested in the pathological side, pathological 

 bacteriology becomes too prominent, while if 

 he has worked himself upon soils, soil bacteri- 

 ology becomes over-emphasized. By the plan 

 of Marshall this becomes impossible, since each 

 author is expected to write upon his specialty 

 alone and to give it all the emphasis he can 

 in the space allotted to him. Any error in 

 perspective can thus come only from an error 

 in the space allotted to each subject. In the 

 balancing of the various topics presented in 

 the work excellent judgment is shown, though 

 perhaps, considering its immense importance, 

 comparatively too little space is devoted to 

 pathological microbiology. The result is a 

 book treating of a large variety of subjects 

 and all written by specialists who know their 

 subjects so thoroughly that they can speak 

 with authority. Under these conditions not 

 only are the subjects efficiently handled, but 

 there is a minimum of error, since no part of 

 the book is the product of one writing except 

 on familiar ground. 



On the other hand the plan has the disad- 

 vantage of showing considerable inequality in 

 the skill of the treatment of its difFerent parts. 

 Twenty different axithors can not be equally 

 successful in the presentation of their sub- 

 ject, and no amount of editing can avoid dis- 

 crepancies in the manner and skill of treat- 

 ment. Another result has been to produce a 



book of a size almost unmanageable for its 

 original purpose. Designed as a text-book 

 for agricultural and domestic science students, 

 it has become what might almost be called a 

 collection of monographs. It is a book of 700 

 pages, of large size, small print, narrow spac- 

 ing and with matter form condensed to the 

 smallest possible number of words, and to- 

 gether forms a bulk of material practically 

 hopeless to expect an ordinary college class to 

 master. As a book of reference it is invalu- 

 able, but the substance is too great to expect 

 it can be handled by any class. But recogniz- 

 ing these limitations, the book becomes a most 

 extremely valuable addition to the literature 

 of bacteriology, perhaps the most valuable 

 single publication that has yet appeared. The 

 various authors are particularly to be thanked 

 for the time and care taken in what must at 

 best be a work of love. 



A better idea of the scope of the work may 

 be obtained from the following condensed out- 

 line: 



Part I. Morphology and culture of microorgan- 

 isms, including molds (Thom), yeasts (Bioletti), 

 bacteria (Dorset) and protozoa (Todd). 

 Part II. Physiology of microorganisms (Rahn). 

 Nutrition and metabolism. 

 Physical influences. 

 Chemical influences. 

 Mutual influences. 

 Part III. Applied microbiology, including micro- 

 biology of the air (Buchanan), of water (Har- 

 rison), sewage (Phelps), the soil (Lipman), of 

 milk (Stocking), of butter and cheese (Has- 

 tings), of special dairy products (Stocking), of 

 desiccation of foods (Buchanan), of preserva- 

 tion by heat (Edwards), by cold (MacNeal), by 

 chemicals (MacNeal), food poisoning (Mac- 

 Neal), alcoholic products (Bioletti), vinegar 

 (Bioletti), other fermented products (Bioletti), 

 vaccines (King), antisera and other products 

 (King), diseases of plants (Saekett), methods 

 and channels of infection in man and animals 

 (McCampbell), immunity and susceptibility 

 (McCampbell), microbial diseases of man and 

 animals by various authors and control of in- 

 fectious diseases (Hill). 



This outline gives an idea of the compre- 

 hensiveness with which the subjects are 



