Mat 17, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



787 



intensely academic character; and an ad- 

 herence to one or another depends upon the 

 bent of one's philosophic allegiance and 

 temper. 



Joseph Jastrow 



The Value of Pure Water. By George C. 



Whipple. New York : John Wiley & Sons. 



Pp. 84. Price, $1.00. 



This small publication, which contains 

 much material of both interest and yalue, is 

 practically a reprint of portions of three 

 earlier papers by the author. One from ' Bio- 

 logical Studies by the Pupils of William 

 Thompson Sedgwick,' another from ' The Pol- 

 lution of Streams and the Natural Agencies 

 of Purification' and a third on 'The Dis- 

 advantages of Hard Water.' 



Among the qualities of a public supply 

 which affect the consumer ' temperature ' is 

 included. This is well, for that item receives 

 far too little attention from those who forget 

 that the great bulk of the people can not 

 afford the luxury of ice. 



As showing the advantages of filtration, a 

 comparison between the typhoid rates in 

 Albany and Troy is striking, but it should be 

 noted that Troy never drew Hudson River 

 water from below the mouth of the polluted 

 Mohawk, and now takes no river water at all. 

 In showing the pecuniary loss to a community 

 due to water-borne typhoid, the author places 

 the ' residual typhoid,' or number of yearly 

 deaths not traceable to water, at a probable 

 value of 20 per 100,000. He adds, however, 

 that, this value will doubtless diminish in the 

 future because of a gradual decrease in the 

 number of foci of infection. A good table is 

 given showing the increase in cost to the 

 laundry interests resulting from the use of 

 hard water, and a formula is added whereby 

 may be calculated the depreciation of the 

 money value of a water for soap users because 

 of hardness. 



Additional formulae are given which sever- 

 ally state the depreciation due to ' sanitary 

 quality ' to ' temperature ' and to ' physical 

 characteristics,' under which latter head are 

 included ' turbidity,' ' color ' and ' odor.' 

 Odor is again divided into that due to ' organ- 



isms,' to ' decomposition ' and to ' vegetable 

 odors.' 



This is all well enough, but the resulting 

 complexity of formula is somewhat more than 

 the average water purveyor might wish for. 



" Habit and association have much to do 

 with a person's views as to the attractiveness 

 of water " is a most true statement, and upon 

 it depends the success with which many an 

 indifferent supply is now offered to the public. 



The book is well worth its price and should 

 be found in every water library. 



W. P. Mason 



Alcohol — The Sanction for Its Use Scientific- 

 ally Established and Popularly Expounded 

 hy a Physiologist. Translated from the 

 German of Dr. J. Starke. New York, G. 

 P. Putnam's Sons. 1907. 

 This book, written in defense of the use of 

 alcohol, appears at a time when there is a 

 world-wide movement in favor of a stricter 

 temperance. By alcohol the author means the 

 substanee as contained in the purer beverages, 

 not such concoctions as absinth which are 

 compared to alcoholic solutions of opium. 



The moderate drinker who experiences ' in- 

 ternal mental exaltation with perfectly clear 

 consciousness ' has no poisoning of the brain 

 provided it is only occasionally that he gets 

 ' elevated.' The book claims that a medium 

 amount of alcohol is favorable to the per- 

 formance of muscular work, and a medium 

 allowance is put at 560 c.c. of absolute alcohol 

 or two and three quarter pints of brandy for 

 a man weighing 140 pounds. The author 

 states that caffein constricts the cutaneous 

 blood vessels and enlarges those of the in- 

 terior, and since alcohol behaves in the op- 

 posite manner, therefore rum should be taken 

 in tea and a liqueur after coffee. 



While this volume will scarcely meet with 

 unanimous approval, it might still be recom- 

 mended as an antidote to the attenuated non- 

 sense of the ' scientific temperance ' of the 

 school books. Graham Lusk 



SGIEWTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The American Museum Journal for April 

 contains illustrated accounts of the 'Habitat 



