636 
Oxford. With one hundred and eight illus- 
trations. Edinburgh and London, Young J. 
Pentland ; New York, The Macmillan Com- 
pany. 1897. Price, $3.25. 
Bacteriology as a distinct domain in biology 
has developed with amazing rapidity within the 
past few years, owing partly to the stimulus 
which a new technique has afforded, partly to 
the keener appreciation of the importance in 
biology of a knowledge of the simpler life pro. 
cess down near the border line; but more than 
all, perhaps, to the fact that among the bac- 
teria are a few forms which cause a large part 
of the acute diseases of men and animals. For 
the latter reason bacteriology has been a foster 
child of medicine and, in the minds of many, is 
only one of the congeries of disciplines which 
we call medical science. But as our knowl- 
edge grows, we realize that the relationships of 
bacteriology to medicine embrace but a small 
part of bacteriological lore, which reaches far 
away from disease and deals with most sig- 
nificant phases of organic life throughout the 
earth. 
In reality, the book before us is not a manual 
of bacteriology, but a manual dealing with 
those phases of bacteriology which concern dis- 
ease, or medical bacteriology. 
About one-fourth of the text relates to the 
general subject of the morphology, biology and 
technical methods of study of the bacteria; a 
few pages are devoted to non-pathogenic micro- 
organisms, while the remainder is given to a 
general consideration of the relationship of bac- 
teria to disease, and to an epitomized descrip- 
tion of the more important infectious diseases, 
especially of man. A discussion of the sig- 
nificant subject of immunity follows and, finally, 
in a series of appendices, certain of the impor- 
tant infectious diseases are reviewed whose 
etiological factors are not bacterial or are as 
yet unknown. 
There are many manuals of medical bac- 
teriology in many languages and of all grades 
of excellence, and this phase of bacteriology is 
growing so rapidly that new books and new 
editions are necessary. 
This book of Muir and Ritchie is a most valu- 
able addition to the list and might wisely super- 
sede many of the current elementary works. 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Von. VI. No. 147. 
It is a well-digested, well-arranged and wisely 
and clearly expressed epitome of the medical 
phases of bacteriology and of the bacteriological 
phases of disease. The historical glimpses of 
recent studies upon some of the infectious dis- 
eases aid greatly in the comprehension of the 
present point of view regarding them and afford 
clues which, in connection with the judiciously 
limited bibliography at the end, may lure and 
guide the student into a deeper acquaintance 
with his theme. The illustrations, over one 
hundred in number, are largely from photo-mi- 
crographs and the half-tone reproductions are 
for the most part as satisfactory as the technical 
limitations will permit. 
The book is altogether excellent, and is really 
a model epitome of a difficult and complex 
theme, a safe and stimulating guide to the 
student and a boon to the busy practitioner 
who must read as he runs, if he reads at all. 
405 Wil, IR, 
NEW BOOKS. 
The Founders of Geology. SiR ARCHIBALD 
‘GEIKIE. London and New York, The Mac- 
millan Co. 1897. Pp. x+297. $2.00. 
Les ballons-sondes de Mm. Hermite et Besancon et 
les ascensions internationales. Paris, Gauthier- 
Villars et fils. 1898. 
The Story of Germ Life. H. W. Conn. New 
York, D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 199. 
Health of Body and Mind. T. W. TopHamM. 
1897. Pp. 296. 
_ Elements of Plane and Spherical Trigonometry. 
EDWIN S. CRAWLEY, University of Pennsyl- 
vania. 1897. Second edition. Pp. 178. 
Physical Experiments. ALFRED P. GAGE. Bos- 
ton and London, Ginn & Co. 1897. Pp. 
ix+97. 
Sixteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Amer- 
ican Ethnology, 1894-1895. J. W. POWELL. 
' Washington, Government Printing Office. 
1897. Pp. cxix+326. 
A Correction: We have been requested to call at- 
tention to the fact that the sentence on p. 534, at the 
bottom of the first column of SctENCE for October 8th 
last, beginning ‘The Boston Trustees,’ owing to an 
oversight was not omitted, as it should have been. 
