856 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 989 



Experiment Station. The Macmillan Com- 

 pany. Cloth, 8vo. XV + 536 pp., index. 

 $2.25 net. 



During the last decade, the science of house- 

 hold bacteriology has made very wonderful 

 progress as an independent study and as a 

 result we feel to-day a very clear and constant 

 demand for suitable text-books and manuals 

 for use in this new but important field of 

 bacteriology. 



The book as presented by the Buchanans 

 consists of a neatly bound volume of 536 pages 

 clearly but simply written. The text is pro- 

 fusely illustrated by original drawings and 

 photographs which add greatly to the attrac- 

 tiveness and usefulness of the book. 



" The volume has been divided somewhat 

 arbitrarily into five sections," by the authors. 

 The first three chapters are of an introductory 

 nature and cover the general topic of bacterio- 

 logical technique. In Section II. more empha- 

 sis ought to have been laid on standard meth- 

 ods for the preparation of culture media and 

 more space should have been allotted to the 

 discussion of the cultural characteristics of the 

 yeasts and molds. 



Section IV. is given over to fermentation or 

 zymotechnique, as it is called by the authors, 

 and is the best chapter of the book. This sec- 

 tion consists of 114 pages and covers the sub- 

 ject of enzymes and their fermentative activ- 

 ities and is characterized by its clear descrip- 

 tions and explanations of this most complex 

 but interesting subject. The book closes with 

 a section entitled " Microorganisms and 

 Health," consisting of a general discussion of 

 the theory of disease followed by a detailed 

 description of the pathogenic bacteria yeasts 

 and molds. The chapters of this section deal- 

 ing with the examination of air, water and 

 food might have been elaborated upon and 

 formed into a new section. The volume is 

 supplemented by an appendix containing a key 

 (37 pages) to the families and genera of the 

 common molds which is fully illustrated and 

 must be very useful as a ready means of iden- 

 tifying the common molds of the laboratory. 

 The main criticism of this volume lies in the 

 title " Household Bacteriology." It is inade- 



quate for two reasons. The book in its present 

 form is too broad to be called a bacteriology 

 and should have been called a microbiology or 

 by some other suitable title. The authors have 

 realized this narrowness of title by using the 

 term microorganism in the heading of every 

 section. Then again this volume is merely a 

 general bacteriology whose title has been ex- 

 tended to cover the field of household bacteri- 

 ology. With the exception of the poor choice 

 of title, the volume is well written and well 

 adapted for courses in general bacteriology. 



William W. Browne 

 The College of the City op New York 



Elements of Water Bacteriology. By Pro- 

 fessor S. C. Prescott and Professor C. E. A. 



WiNSLOW. 



Prescott and Winslow's " Water Bacteriol- 

 ogy " is the best known book on the subject iu 

 America, and it may also be added that it is 

 the best book. This third edition has been 

 entirely rewritten and very much enlarged. 

 The authors state that the revision has been 

 made necessary by the newer ideas on the effect 

 of temperature upon the viability of bacteria 

 in water, the new methods of isolation of 

 specific pathogenic organisms, and the recent 

 recommendations of the Committee on Stand- 

 ard Methods of Water Analysis of the Amer- 

 ican Public Health Association. The authors 

 do not approve of the recent recommendation 

 of this committee to replace the 20 deg. gela- 

 tine count by the 37 deg. agar count. This 

 recommendation has received unfavorable com- 

 ment at the hands of many American bacteri- 

 ologists, and has resulted in producing an un- 

 fortunate condition of confusion. The authors 

 hold that both the 20 deg. gelatine count and 

 the 37 deg. agar count should be used, and this 

 idea was approved by the Laboratory Section 

 of the American Public Health Association in 

 1912. 



The authors also take issue with the Stand- 

 ard Methods Committee on the subject of the 

 test for B. coli. The discussion is too long 

 to be referred to in this review, but it is one of 

 great interest and importance to every bacteri- 

 ologist and sanitary engineer, and should be 



