830 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 676 



of data pertaining to all phases of chemical 

 biology. 



The clinician will find in Professor Wells's 

 book not only much that is very instructive, 

 but also, if he be so minded, much that will 

 stimulate him along lines of individual investi- 

 gation. The chapters devoted to the diseases 

 of metabolism, such as diabetes, while less 

 exhaustive than they might be, are excellent 

 in the compact, condensed style in which they 

 are written. Preceding the study of each dis- 

 ease is given a short description of the chem- 

 istry of related normal metabolic changes and 

 the various pertinent theories of importance. 

 It is a question whether future editions of 

 Professor Wells's book might not be improved 

 if more space should be devoted to such dis- 

 eases as gout than they receive in this edition. 

 While it is true that there are exhaustive 

 works on such subjects, Minkowski's, for ex- 

 ample, they are not much read by practising 

 physicians nor by students, perhaps because 

 they are too full of details, while a book like 

 Professor Wells's is almost sure to be in large 

 demand. 



One is often led to wish that the author 

 were less reticent in stating his own ideas 

 relative to many questions. The writer of a 

 book like this steps out of proximity to any 

 one problem and, by virtue of his apartness, 

 he is apt to have a correct perspective of the 

 results of its investigation and of the relations 

 that such results bear to each other and related 

 data. From such a vantage point, the criti- 

 cisms of a man who has himseK been a labora- 

 tory worker are valuable to student and in- 

 vestigator alike. As Professor Wells says, 

 what the investigator in scientific fields most 

 requires is effective guidance, and ready ac- 

 cess, to original publications. The excellent 

 bibliography in the book under discussion af- 

 fords thatl- 



When one considers the extent of the field 

 that must be covered by a book dealing with 

 chemical pathology, it is surprising to note 

 the large amount of matter that Professor 

 Wells has compressed into a relatively small 

 volume. It is our opinion that the demand 

 for Professor Wells's book will be a cumulative 

 one and that his successful authorship will 



induce him to include, in future editions, dis- 

 cussions of various additional pathological 

 matters of importance that could not be en- 

 compassed in the original volume. 



Nellis B. Foster 

 Columbia Univebsity, 

 November 18, 1907 



Physiography. By Eollin D. Salisbury. 



American Science Series — Advanced Course. 



New York, Henry Holt and Company. 



1907. Pp. 770, plates, figures, maps. 



Object. — As Professor Salisbury states in 

 the preface of his " Physiography," the book is 

 intended for students of early college or nor- 

 mal school grade who have received elementary 

 instruction in the subject, but who do not ex- 

 pect to pursue the study further. There are a 

 number of text-books on this subject which 

 have been published from time to time within 

 recent years but none of them has been de- 

 voted especially to this class of students. 

 Professor Salisbury's book, therefore, meets a 

 real want and the character of its compilation, 

 based as it is, on many years of experience in 

 teaching, gives the book a completeness far 

 beyond any other physiography published up 

 to this time. 



Plan. — The book is a companion volume to 

 " Geologic Processes " which appeared in 1905, 

 and much the same plan of treatment is 

 adopted in both. In the " processes " the em- 

 phasis is thrown on the discussion of the 

 agencies which have brought about changes in 

 the earth's crust. In the " Physiography " 

 topographic forms are brought into greater 

 relative importance and less discussion given 

 to the processes which have produced them. 

 Part I. is devoted to the Lithosphere, part H. 

 to the Earth Relations, part 111. to the Atmos- 

 phere, part rV. to the Oceans. Each one of 

 these major divisions is subdivided into appro- 

 priate chapters. 



Illustrations. — The " Physiography " is as 

 fine an example of text-book making as has yet 

 appeared on the subject, and it is difficult to 

 see where it could be improved. The figures 

 which are both halftones and line engravings, 

 are well selected, numerous, and beautifully 

 reproduced. The maps are in great measure 



