I'EBRUAKY 23, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



191 



heating milk and the presence of pathogenic 

 bacteria in butter and cheese. 



Foreign sources have been drawn upon ex- 

 haustively, and complete bibliographies are 

 listed at the end of each chapter. 



Of special interest are the chapters dealing 

 with the nutritive value of raw, boiled and 

 dried milk in infant feeding. A strong case 

 is made in favor of boiled milk, which will 

 be a matter of gratification and confirmation 

 to pediatricians who are championing this 

 cause in America. The evidence for dried 

 milk is not convincing, but in general is 

 favorable. 



The chapters on the production of milk and 

 " Methods Commonly Used in Heating Milk " 

 are disappointing. In the former we are sur- 

 prised to learn that in England " there are no 

 means for keeping milk cool during transit " 

 and the author does not insist upon the need 

 for this. So important a matter as the grading 

 of milk is relegated to the appendix ! Pasteur- 

 ization is inadequately treated. The practise 

 is exceptional in England, but this seems no 

 excuse for not presenting a fuller discussion. 



The text includes 348 pages and 8 plates. 

 iNon-technical summaries of each chapter pre- 

 cede the more detailed discussion, which is a 

 great convenience to the reader. The book is 

 a most valuable contribution to our literature 

 on milk. C. M. Hilliabd 



Simmons College 



Fungoid and Insect Pests. By F. E. Pethee- 

 BRffiGB. Edited by Messrs. T. B. Wood and 

 E. J. Russell, under the Earm Institute 

 Series, 1916. Pp. 1Y4. Cambridge Univer- 

 sity Press. 



This little book is well printed and well 

 illustrated but is not extensive enough as to 

 the number of diseases and pests discussed to 

 justify the title. It can hardly serve as a very 

 general reference for farmers and market 

 gardeners as the authors have hoped. The 

 life histories and remedial measures for some 

 fungus and insect pests are taken up. As a 

 short reading text or bulletin to familiarize 

 the public with mycological methods and to 

 indicate possible remedial measures for con- 



trol of a few pests, it contains interesting 

 matter. 



In their introductory parts — 1 and 2 — ^the 

 authors have not drawn as close distinctions 

 as to what constitutes diseases as might be 

 wished. It is now hardly allowable to teach 

 that plant diseases may be caiised by "un- 

 suitable surroundings such as unfavorable 

 conditions of soil or weather," nor have they 

 made very clear the distinction between infec- 

 tious diseases and the ravages of animal or 

 insect pests. ISTote for example : " We have 

 dealt with some of the plant diseases caused 

 by fungi and will now turn our attention to 

 those caused by members of the animal king- 

 dom. By far the greater number of these 

 diseases are due to the ravages of insects." 



Insects are effective carriers of disease, but 

 it is safe to say that there are few farmers 

 who would think of the work of the cabbage- 

 leaf butterfly, the wire worm, the army worm, 

 the May beetle or of grain weevils as diseases. 



The strongest feature, perhaps, consists in 

 the suggestive statement of remedial measures 

 associated with each disease or insect under 

 consideration. The facts are, generally, well 

 grouped, though in some eases the subjects of 

 chapters and the text overlap, as in Chapters 

 2 and 3. On page 46 there is a particularly 

 good photograph of common potato scab over 

 the legend: " Eigure 15. Potato Scab — the 

 cause of which is not known." No other dis- 

 cussion is given upon this disease and thus 

 the facts are not properly conveyed. Bearing 

 further on the limited scope of the text, no 

 mention is made of any diseases of small 

 fruits or of orchard and shade trees and but 

 slight attention is given to the commonest 

 garden crops. 



h. l. bollet 



North Dakota Agricultukal College 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



IS SPECIES-SPECIFICITY A MENDELIAN 

 CHARACTER? 



In a recent book^ the writer raised the ques- 

 tion whether or not the phenomena described 



1 ' ' The Organism as a Whole, " G. P. Putnam 's 

 Sons, New York, 1916. 



