Septembee 15, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



351 



land. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston's Son & 



Co. 1911. Pp. 114, with eighteen maps 



and illustrations. 



This is an attractive and well-printed work, 

 yet withal a great disappointment. The prin- 

 cipal title, " The Eeduction of Domestic Mos- 

 quitoes," covers so fully one of the present 

 great needs in the book line, that it is a dis- 

 tinct shock to discover that it practically 

 applies " in warm climates " only. Mr. 

 Eoss was "late health officer. Port Said and 

 Suez Canal District," and his practical ex- 

 perience seems all to have been gained in those 

 localities. He tells, most interestingly, of the 

 methods there adopted, of the difficulties en- 

 countered with the native population and of 

 the successes attained. But the smallest por- 

 tion of all this is applicable, except in the 

 most general way, to American (United 

 States) conditions. 



Nearly half the book is taken up with gen- 

 eralities, telling of the life history of the do- 

 mestic mosquitoes, by which he means chiefly 

 the Stegomyia fasciata (yellow fever carrier) 

 and Gulex fatigans or pipiens (ordinary rain- 

 barrel mosquito) and how objectionable they 

 are. There is nothing new in this and the 

 information is not even reasonably complete. 

 American work is scarcely referred to at all 

 and even the New Orleans, Havana and 

 Panama work receives only more than a mere 

 mention. It is perhaps natural that Theo- 

 bald's work should be the only one considered 

 worthy of mention from the systematic stand- 

 point; but surely from the practical point of 

 view the work done by Dr. Howard and his 

 assistants in the U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture deserves at least some notice. 



Some of the statements concerning the life 

 cycle are perhaps open to question, unless 

 there is a greater difference between C. fati- 

 gans and 0. pipiens than is usually supposed, 

 and so in the brief consideration of natural 

 enemies, not all can be considered strictly 

 applicable to our conditions. Some of the 

 matters are absolutely incorrect, as where 

 waterboatmen or " backswimmers " (Noto- 

 necta) are credited with catching wrigglers 

 and pupse in their " jaws " — appendages which 



they do not possess. That there may be no 

 doubt of the mix-up, it is said that " it is a 

 water-beetle," instead of as should be, a water- 

 bug. 



The importance of the mosquito work and 

 the difficulties are not minimized and that a 

 really effective campaign is an expensive mat- 

 ter is well brought out; but unfortunately 

 the calculations and the preliminary work re- 

 quired do not fit or even serve as fairly accu- 

 rate guides to conditions in those sections of 

 the United States where "the reduction of 

 domestic mosquitoes " is just now considered 

 rather a timely matter, and the figures sup- 

 plied would discourage the average American 

 municipality if offered as a basis of an ef- 

 fective campaign. 



John B. Smith 

 New Brunswick, N. J., 

 August 23, 1911 



SCIENTIFIC JOUENALS AND ABTICLES 



The number of the Journal of Medical Re- 

 search issued in September contains the fol- 

 lowing articles : 



"The Vaccination of Cattle against Tubercu- 

 losis. II.," Theobald Smith. 



"Organic Matter in the Expired Breath," 

 Milton J. Rosenau and Harold L. Amoss. 



"A Study of Primary Intimal Arteritis of 

 Syphilitic Origin" (with one plate), Fraser B. 

 Gnrd and H. W. Wade. 



"The Rapid Isolation of Typhoid, Paratyphoid 

 and Dysentery Bacilli," Arthur I. Kendall and 

 Alexander A. Day. 



"An Investigation on the Permeability of Slow 

 Sand Filters to Bacillus Typhosus," Edward B. 



"Certain Fundamental Principles Relating to 

 the Activity of Bacteria in the Intestinal Tract, ' '' 

 Arthur I. Kendall. 



"Tuberculosis among Ground Squirrels (Citel- 

 lus heecheyi Richardson)," George W. McCoy 

 and Charles W. Chapin. 



"Precipitation Tests for Syphilis," Lawrence 

 W. Strong. 



"Notes on Twenty-two Spontaneous Tumors in 

 Wild Rats {M. Norvegicus)" (with one plate) 

 Paul G. Wooley and Wm. B. Wherry. 



"The Isolation of Typhoid Bacilli from Urine 

 and Feces," F. F. Russell. 



