298 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 30. 



diseases that have been the subject of a thorough 

 investigation has led biologists to the conclusion 

 that they were caused by the development, in the body 

 of man or the animals, of a microscopic animal, caus- 

 ing therein disturbances frequently fatal. All the 

 symptoms of the disease, all the causes of death, are 

 directly under the influence of the physiological prop- ' 

 ferties of the microbes. What is needed at present 

 to meet the requirements of science, is to ascertaiTi 

 the primary cause of the scourge. Now, the present 

 state of our knowledge indicates that we should direct 

 all our attention to the possible existence in the blood, 

 or in such or such an organ, of an infinitesimally 

 small being whose nature and properties would in all 

 likelihood account for all the peculiarities of cholera, 

 'both as regards its morbid symptoms and the mode 

 of its propagation. The existence of that microbe 

 once ascertained would speedily settle the question 

 as to the measures to be taken to check the spread of 

 the disease, and might possil)ly suggest new thera- 

 peutic means to cure it." The mission consists of 

 four young savants, doctors, and biologists, — Drs. 

 Roux, Thuillier, Straus, and Nocard. M. Pasteur 

 hopes, that, by scrupulously attending to the hygienic 

 precautions he has written down for them, the great 

 danger they are incurring may be minimized. 



— The September Century has several papers to 

 which our readers' attention may be called. One of 

 the illustrated articles relates Lieut. Schwatka's 

 personal adventures in the hunt for the musk-ox. 

 Ernest Ingersoll gives an excellent account of Mr.' 

 Agassiz' private laboratory at Newport, and of the 

 methods he has so successfully introduced for carry- 

 ing delicate sea-animals through their earlier stages. 

 An admirable portrait, engraved by Velten, from a 

 photograph of Notman's, will interest many. It has 

 more spirit than one formerly published in the Har- 

 vard regUter. Under the title, ' The tragedies of 

 the nests,' .John Burroughs writes of the difliculties 

 birds encounter in rearing their young. The at- 

 tempts toward the unification in railway time in 

 this country are briefly discussed by W. F. Allen. 



A writer on ornamental forms in nature gives 

 several striking illustrations of the effects pro- 

 ducible, with due study, by 'the naturalistic school' 

 of decorators. With eyes capable of seeing the 

 stream, moth, vine, and skunk-cabbage 'in nature' 

 as they appear to our writer, we may doubt the 

 possibility of their evolutionary limit in art being 

 ever reached. Like the Spanish-Moorish designer, 

 he 'evidently did not care three straws for what 

 all the botanists and florists on earth might think 

 of his work,' so long as it teach us to regard nature 

 from the standpoint of art, and tend in some 

 measure to straighten the devious paths of the 

 modern conventionalizer. 



— The Tribune of Minneapolis, for Aug 16, printed 

 Dr. Dawson's address before the American associa- 

 tion in full, as well as long abstracts of several of the 

 sectional addresses. Subsequent issues gave very 

 fair reports of the papers read. 



— The first number of Kobelt's Iconographie der 

 sckalentragenden turopaischen Meeres conchylien has 



appeared. It is in quarto, with colored plates, and 

 this number is devoted to species of Muricidae. The 

 descriptions are in Latin, with German text. 



— The Washington, of the Italian navy, under 

 command of Capt. Magnaghi, is engaged in its 

 annual cruise for the study of the western Mediter- 

 ranean. 



— One of the Akkas (African pygmies) taken to 

 Italy in 1873 by Miani has just died of consumption 

 at Verona. 



— The newspapers of yesterday announce that Mr. 

 J. A. Ryder has succeeded in rearing the American 

 oyster from the egg. His experiments were made in 

 natural enclosuies, and so conducted as to preclude 

 any doubt that the spat obtained has been derived 

 from any source except that of the spawn artificially 

 fertilized and introduced into the enclosure. The 

 greatest obstacle to the cultivation of the oyster is 

 now removed. 



RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS. 



i. 



Delpino, F. Teoria generate della fillotaasi. Genova, 18S3. 

 345 p. 4°. 



Dep^rais, C. Hys;i6ne publique : nouvcau traiteraent des 

 cadavres ayant pour but la destruction des gerraes eontagieux 

 qu'ils peuvent contenir. Naples, hint. roy. d'encouragement, 

 18S3. 19 p., pi. autogr. 8°. 



Drinker's Explosive compounds and rock drills. Forming 

 a supplementary volume to the first edition of Drinker's Tun- 

 nelling. N.Y., 18S3. 4°. 



Duclaux. Microbiologic. Paris, 1883. 908 p.. Ill fig. 8°. 



Garland, E. Der leere raura, die constitution der korper 

 und der aetber. Berlin, 1883. 8°. 



G-rindon, L. H. The Shakspeare flora. Guide to all the 

 principal passages in -which mention is made of trees, plants, 

 flowers, and vegetable productions. With comments and botan- 

 ical particulars. Manchester, 1883. 330 p. 8°. 



Henrivaux, J. Le verre et Ic cristal. Paris, 1883. atlas, 

 26 pi. 8°. 



Heriz, E. Construccitfn de mapas. Barcelona, Ramirez, 

 1882. 12 p., 8 pi. 4°. 



Herrmann, G. Der reibungswinkel. Aachen, 1883. flg. 4°. 



Heukels. H. Schoolflora van Nederland. Bewerkt naar O. 

 WUnsche's Schulflora von Deutscblaud. Groningen, 1883. 62-h 

 36S p. 8°. 



Israels, A. H., en Daniels, C. E. De verdiensten der 

 hollandsche geleerden ten opzichte van Harvey's leer van den 

 bloedsomloop. Utrecht, 1S83. 143 p. 8°. 



Jordan. D. S , and Gilbert, C. H. Synopsis of the fishes 

 of North America. Washington, 1883. 1,U18 p. 8°. 



Jordan, W. X.. New principles of natural phllosopby. 

 London, 1SS3. illustr. S°. 



Koehler, R. Rocherches sur les echinides des c6te« do 

 Provence. Miirseille, 1883. 167 p., 7 pi. 4°. 



Kohlfiirst, L. Die elektrischen einrichtungen der eisen- 

 bahnen und das signahvesen. Wien, 1883. (elektro-techn. bibl., 

 xii.) 288 p., illustr. 8°. 



Lambert, E. Tr.aitd pratique de botanique. Proprietes 

 des plantes, leur utilite et leur emploi dans la mcdecine, i'indus- 

 trie, etc. Paris, 18S3. illustr. 8°. 



Larden, W. School course on heat. N.Y., 1883. 321 p., 

 illustr. 8°. 



List of British birds. Co.mpiled by a committee of the British 

 ornithologists* union. London, 1883. 258 p. 8". 



Lubbock, J. Fourmis, .abeilles et guSpos. foudes cxpiiri- 

 raentales sur I'organisation et les moeurs des insectes hymcnop- 

 teres. 2 vols. Paris, 1883. illustr. 8°. 



Martini, A. Manuale di metrologia, ossia misure, pesi e 

 monete in uso attualmente e anticamente presso tutti i popoli. 

 Torino, 1883. 912 p. 8°. 



