446 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 



Prevention and Control of Disease. By 



Francis Eamaley and Clay E. Griffin. 



Copyright by Francis Eamaley, Boulder, 



Colorado. 1913. 



In the preface to the book the authors state 

 the purpose for which it has been written. 

 The work of investigators, physicians and 

 public health oiEcers should be more widely 

 known in order that an intelligent body pi 

 citizens may cooperate in its extension. The 

 book is intended for the general public and as 

 a text for college classes. It is not written 

 for medical students or biologists. After dis- 

 cussion of death rate, types of disease and cer- 

 tain hygienic considerations nine chapters, con- 

 stituting almost half of the book, are given to 

 a concise summary of the " germ theory of dis- 

 ease," the nature, life-history, metabolic ac- 

 tivity and distribution of animal and vege- 

 table parasites, the mode of infection and 

 spread of infectious diseases, disinfection, 

 susceptibility and resistance, immunity and 

 specifics in the treatment of disease. One 

 familiar with the complexity of any biological 

 science may doubt the possibility of conveying 

 to the general reader a conception of the 

 nature of the objects or of the phenomena 

 described or in the absence of a clear under- 

 standing of the subject the possibility of 

 maintaining his interest. For those who wish 

 this information a satisfactory synopsis is 

 furnished. It is even more doubtful if matter 

 described in this part of the book can be used 

 as the basis of a collegiate course. To appre- 

 ciate the form and life-history of bacteria and 

 protozoa and the chemical changes caused by 

 them both preliminary biological training and 

 objective demonstration of selected forms may 

 be regarded as essential. Study of the phe- 

 nomena of immunity including the intricacies 

 of Ehrlich's side-chain theory or of phagocy- 

 tosis and opsonic action must be relegated to 

 the biological student who wishes to acquire 

 technical training and superficial information 

 may leave the impression of occult mystery in 

 the mind of the general reader. The book 

 contains a large amount of information which 

 the layman should have and it is presented in 

 interesting form. The statements concerning 



medical practise are generally accurate, but 

 occasionally an indefinite or erroneous im- 

 pression is produced. Advice to eat moder- 

 ately at the beginning of a " cold " may be 

 worth heeding, but its value is not strength- 

 ened by the suggestion that side-chain recep- 

 tors become coupled to toxins when intoxica- 

 tion takes place and the body is unable to 

 assimilate food until new side chains are de- 

 veloped. The cause, dissemination and pre- 

 vention by personal and governmental pre- 

 cautions of " cold," diphtheria, contagious 

 diseases of childhood, tuberculosis and other 

 diseases are adequately discussed. The value 

 of vaccination and of the serum treatment of 

 diphtheria is emphasized with the purpose of 

 overcoming lingering prejudice. As an illus- 

 tration of desirable information which may 

 aid the layman to judge his professional at- 

 tendant may be cited the author's discussion 

 of the importance of surgical cleanliness on 

 the part of dentists. Historical data defining 

 the changes that have occurred in the preva- 

 lence of certain diseases or describing the 

 progress of medical discovery add interest and 

 clearness to the book. E. L. Opie 



SPECIAL AETICLES 



on inducing development in the sea-urchin 



(arbacia punctulata), together with 



considerations on the initiatory 



effect of FERTILIZATION^ 



I. THE INITIATION OF DEVELOPMENT WITH DILUTE 



SEA WATER 



In the course of work on the energetics of 

 development, it became necessary to study in 

 detail the question of water absorption at 

 various stages of embryogeny. For certain 

 phases of these studies the eggs of Arhacia 

 punctulata proved extremely favorable. In 

 various concentrations of sea water these eggs 

 behave exactly as expected, but in 25 per cent. 

 sea water (25 c.c. sea water -1-Y5 c.c. H^O 

 dist.) fertilization membranes appear. The 

 process takes place in from one to one and a 

 half minutes at ordinary temperatures. In 

 two minutes many eggs as well as their nuclei 



" Preliminary communication. 



