Januaey 21, 1910] 



■SCIENCE 



111 



authentic cases of human tuberculosis from 

 this source. 



A special eifort is made throughout this 

 book to present the evil effects of the use of 

 alcohol and tobacco. This is legitimate and 

 worthy, but one can not help asking if it is 

 not overdone. Young people are not stupid. 

 It is not wise to place extreme statements 

 before them. They are very likely to discover 

 that some of the most successful men in every 

 branch of life smoke or drink more or less. 

 They may find the practise in their own de- 

 servingly respected parents. They are likely 

 to ask if the fishes on pages Y2 and 111, which 

 died in twenty-five minutes from the poison 

 soaked out of tobacco placed in their aquaria 

 would not have died just as quickly if tea 

 leaves or cofPee grounds or boiled cauliflower, 

 onions or table olives had been substituted for 

 the tobacco; or if any other smoke passed 

 through the aquarium of the fish on page 168 

 would not have been as disastrous as the 

 tobacco smoke which took that fish's life. 

 These experiments should be checked up with 

 controls. There are enough indisputable facts 

 pointing to the evil eilects of alcohol and 

 tobacco to furnish sufiieient argument against 

 their unwise use. Thomas A. Storey 



College of the City of New Yoek 



Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalwnw in the 

 British Museum. Volume VII., 1908; Vol- 

 ume VIII., 1909. By Sir George F. Hamp- 

 SON, Bart. 



The present volumes deal with part of the 

 subfamily Acronyctinse of the family Noc- 

 tuidte. This subfamily will be treated in 

 three volumes, of which these are the first 

 and second. Volume VII. comprises 843 

 species in 96 genera, Volume VIII., Y20 

 species in 104 genera. The key to the genera 

 of the AcronyctinaB given in Volume VII. is 

 reprinted in Volume VIII. with some addi- 

 tions and corrections and with the references 

 to pages added. A large number of the gen- 

 era are new, and their appearance in print 

 without citation of species under them is 

 rather unfortunate, as the proper citation of 

 species will not occur until Volume IX. ap- 

 pears. In the meantime, students using the 



tables are liable to make use of these names. 

 As we understand the rules, such use would 

 appropriate the authorship of the generic 

 names, and we have ourselves avoided using 

 them on several occasions. Sir George Hamp- 

 son follows the general plan of the preceding 

 volumes, so useful and well received by the 

 entomological public. It goes without saying 

 that the majority of our familiar names are 

 changed. But this is something that we have 

 learned to expect and is, indeed, quite un- 

 avoidable, as never before have the moths of 

 the world been consistently classified by an 

 author so capable in the subject and so well 

 supplied with material. An incidental result 

 of the continued appearance of these volumes 

 is the enabling of the general student to de- 

 termine North American noctuids independ- 

 ently. Heretofore, there have existed no gen- 

 eral tables of genera and species anywhere 

 nearly up to date, so that it has been practi- 

 cally necessary for the last thirty years to 

 refer doubtful specimens to a single student 

 who has made this field his own. The relief 

 now being afforded from this condition is 

 gratifying. Harrison G. Dyar 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 

 VII., No. 1, issued December 21, contains the 

 following : " The Iodine Complex in Sponges 

 (3,5-Diiodotyrosine)," by Henry L. Wheeler 

 and Lafayette B. Mendel. Decomposition of 

 ordinary bath sponges by barium hydrate 

 yields 3,5-diiodotyrosine (iodgorgoric acid). 

 " On the Preparation and Properties of lodo- 

 mucoids," by Gustavo M. Meyer. Treatment 

 of tendomucoid with iodine in alkaline solu- 

 tion produces iodo-mucoids, containing about 

 14 per cent, of organic iodine. " Lactic Acid 

 in the Autolyzed Dog's Liver," by Tadasu 

 Saiki. The lactic acid formed in liver au- 

 tolysis is largely sarcolactic acid. " Liquid 

 Extraction with the Aid of Soxhlet's Appa- 

 ratus," by Tadasu Saiki. An adaptation of 

 the usual form of Soxhlet's apparatus for ex- 

 traction of liquids. " A Study of the Chem- 

 istry of Cancer : II., Purin Bases, Creatin and 

 Creatinin," by Tadasu Saiki. Analyses of 



