Mat 20, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



787 



Poisonous antiseptics should not be trusted to 

 irresponsible children. The chapters on for- 

 eign bodies in the eye, on bandaging, and on 

 poisons and their treatment, contain methods 

 of treatment which would be unsafe in the 

 hands of children. 



3. One would expect a discussion of the 

 " typhoid fly " in book three, " Town and 

 City." Investigations of the last few years 

 indicate that the fly is a most important fac- ' 

 tor in community hygiene. 



The investigations of Meylan on smoking 

 which have appeared since this book was 

 written seem to throw considerable doubt upon 

 the method and conclusions of Dr. Seaver's 

 work, which is so liberally quoted in this 

 book<- Many of our discussions of the injurious 

 effects of tobacco and alcohol need the careful 

 and painstaking supervision of a trained in- 

 vestigator. It is easy to make serious mis- 

 takes in drawing conclusions from experi- 

 ments and observations which are not prop- 

 erly checked with controls, or in comparing 

 effects when the causes are complex and di- 

 verse, and therefore not productive of effects 

 that will permit legitimate comparisons. 



4. Book four, " The Body at Work," em- 

 phasizes good posture. There can be no doubt 

 concerning the evils that accompany marked 

 spinal curvature or a marked flattening of the 

 chest with a great rounding of the shoulders. 

 But so far as I know, we have arrived at our 

 conclusions relative to cause and effect in 

 these conditions philosophically and not sci- 

 entifically. In addition I must admit, no 

 matter how it offends my esthetic taste, that 

 I have seen very few perfectly straight backs 

 and shoulders. Most men have a stoop, and 

 nearly all of us show a spinal deviation. 



It would appear on pages 29 and 30 that 

 the cuts there given represent either smooth 

 muscle fibers, or nucleated forms of lower 

 animals. They are not the human striated 

 variety which is there under discussion. 



Page 31. The soleus and gastrocnemius 

 muscles seem to have exchanged names — a 

 very slight error and of no consequence. 



Thomas A. Storey. 

 College of the City of New Yobk 



Agricultural Bacteriology. By Professor H. 



W. CoN^f, Wesleyan University. 



The second edition of Conn's " Agricul- 

 tural Bacteriology " has been materially re- 

 duced in volume and has been brought more 

 within the compass of a text suitable to the 

 needs of students in agricultural colleges. It 

 rightly emphasizes the great importance of 

 microbes to fermentative activities, as this 

 type of organisms is of much moment in 

 agricultural processes, both favorable and un- 

 favorable. 



While covering the ground on the whole in 

 a thorough manner, the volume is marred, 

 however, by a certain looseness of statement 

 in some of its chapters that is a serious de- 

 fect in a classroom text, and the book con- 

 tains altogether too many typographical and 

 textual errors for a second edition. 



To cite a few : " Fermentation and decay 

 (p. 26) are defined as progressive chemical 

 changes taking place under the influence of 

 organic substances (evidently organized sub- 

 stances is intended), which are present in 

 small quantity in the fermenting mass." 



Decay and putrefaction are characterized 

 as decomposition of proteid matter, the dis- 

 tinction being that decay occurs in the pres- 

 ence of oxygen, while putrefaction takes place 

 in its absence. It is, of course, well recog- 

 nized that decay of carbonaceous matter oc- 

 curs, and that meat and other proteids may 

 also -putrefy in contact with the air. 



The nitrates in the soil are stated (p. 47) 

 as ranging from 0.1-0.2 per cent. This figure 

 accords more nearly with the total nitrogen 

 content of the soil. " Nitrites are changed to 

 nitrates by the addition of another atom of 

 nitrogen" (p. 57), meaning, of course, oxygen. 



Speaking of the Azotohacter type (p. 94) 

 they are regarded as more vigorous than the 

 aerobic type {Clostridium), meaning anaero- 

 bic. The bacteroids of legumes are repeatedly 

 referred to (p. 99) as bacterioids. The bac- 

 teria concerned in manure production are all 

 regarded as putrefying organisms (p. 109), 

 while, of course, it is well recognized that 



