5o6 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 334 



work of its kind in the English language), over one hundred and 

 twenty thousand copies of the Lomb Prize essays, besides numerous 

 reprints. The influence of this great work upon the public-health 

 interests of the country can scarcely be estimated. 



Ice-Water. — In the opinion of the editor of The Sa?iitary 

 Volimteer, the official organ of the New Hampshire Board of 

 Health, there is a great deal of sentiment and many opinions, re- 

 garding the use of ice-water, that vanish when the light of reason 

 and experience is turned upon them. The fact is, that ice-water, 

 drank slowly and in moderate quantities, constitutes a healthful 

 and invigorating drink. There is no doubt that ice is a great sani- 

 tary agent, and every family ought to be provided with it during 

 the warmer months of the year. It is true that the inordinate use 

 of ice-water, or its use under some special conditions and circum- 

 stances, is attended with great danger : so is the improper use of 

 any other drink or food. The assumption that iced water is dan- 

 gerous, and that iced tea, or iced coffee, or iced lemonade is a 

 harmless substitute, is simply a delusion. As the source of danger 

 feared by some is the degree of cold, we fail to see clearly how 

 flavor modifies the effect of temperature. There are some indi- 

 viduals, undoubtedly, who cannot drink ice-water without injury, 

 and who ought never to use it, but to a great majority of persons 

 it is refreshing and healthful. Its use, temperate and discreet, is 

 in no way to be condemned, which cannot be said of some of its 

 substitutes. 



The JVIORTALITY AMONG NuRSES. — The advocates of the 

 non-bacillary origin of tuberculosis have sought support for their 

 position in the immunity often enjoyed by nurses and attendants 

 on the phthisical. That this immunity is the exception, and not 

 the rule, seems indicated by recent studies by Cornet. In the 

 Zeitschrift fiir Hygiene, Cornet publishes the tabulated results of 

 his comparison of the mortality rates in the population of towns 

 and cities and in nurses. These results are summarized in The 

 Medical News. A large proportion of German nurses are mem- 

 bers of religious orders, who, by reason of their secluded, regular 

 lives, are removed from many causes of acute disease. Such nurses 

 are in the best mental and moral condition to insure health, for 

 which and other reasons the infective diseases ought not to be espe- 

 cially prevalent among them. Care was taken to select orders 

 whose members serve for life and remain celibate. The material 

 collected was from 38 cloisters, embracing an average yearly service 

 of 4,028 women, whose aggregate service in years was 87,450. An 

 e.xamination of this material during twenty-five years revealed 

 2,099 deaths, 62.88 per cent of which were from tuberculosis, or 

 nearly two-thirds. The usual proportion of deaths from tubercu- 

 losis is from one-seventh to one-fifth. Ne.xt to tuberculosis comes 

 typhoid, while cancer shows a slightly increased rate of mortality. 

 Death occurred among these nurses at an average age of 36.27 

 years, an average shorter Ufe than that of workmen exposed to the 

 inhalation of injurious dust, by eight or ten years. The death-rate 

 from tuberculosis among nurses attains its maximum between 

 the thirtieth and fortieth years, and then steadily declines. When 

 a comparison of the death-rate of nurses and the population of a 

 town is made, it is found that between the ages of 15 and 20 the 

 mortaUty among nurses is four times that of other population ; 

 from 20 to 30, three times ; from 30 to 40, twice as great ; after- 

 ward becoming about equal. The explanation of these facts is 

 found in the prevalence of tuberculosis among nurses, it being 

 nine times more frequent than among other classes. All infectious 

 diseases are more frequent among nurses until the fortieth year of 

 life, after which their death-rate is lower than that of other classes. 

 It is further shown that during the first six months of service the 

 nurse enjoys comparative immunity from infection. After that, the 

 mortality and morbidity rate steadily rises for three years, during 

 which the greatest number of deaths occur. The life chances of 

 nurses do not compare favorably with others. A nurse beginning 

 her profession at seventeen has twenty-one and a half years of life 

 less than a woman of the same age not exposed to infective dis- 

 eases. So far as relative age is concerned, a nurse at twenty-five 

 has the chance for life commonly enjoyed at fifty-eight ; at thirty- 

 three years, the outlook of a person aged sixty-two. 



Underground Water and Bacteria. —Underground water 

 and bacteria were the theme of a recent lecture delivered by Dr. C. 

 Fraenkel, assistant to the famous bacteriologist. Dr. Robert Koch, 

 in the Hygienic Institute at Berlin. The gist of the lecture was 

 that the underground water of Berlin is free from bacteria, that 

 this surprising fact is due to the great filtering-power of the ground, 

 and that consequently the water drawn from the artesian wells is 

 perfectly wholesome. These results do not correspond with those 

 obtained in New York, where the water from artesian wells has in 

 many, if not all, cases proved to be impure. 



The Fly as a Disease-Carrier. — With the bacteriologists, 

 another domestic animal, the fly, is coming in for his share of in- 

 crimination for spreading infectious diseases. It has long been 

 known that, if not the house-fly, at least some kinds which are 

 near relations of his, have sometimes been guilty of causing malig- 

 nant pustule by carrying the contagion of anthrax from diseased 

 animals or animal substances to man. During the past year Dr. 

 Alessi has been experimenting with flies to determine their liability 

 to spread the infection of tuberculosis. The bacillus of this dis- 

 ease was found in the intestines and the excrement of flies which 

 had feasted on tuberculous sputa ; and their dried fasces, in which, 

 with the aid of the microscope, the bacillus was known to exist, 

 was used for inoculating rabbits, and the animals became tubercu- 

 lous. Thus it is found that the digestive tract of the fly is harm- 

 less to the germ. Spillmann and Haushalter have also made simi- 

 lar researches, with the same results ; and lately, according to the 

 A7ina!s d' Hygiene Pnbliqne, a Mr. Howe, who has studied the 

 subject in the Nile country, has found that the granular ophthalmia 

 of that region can be spread by means of house-flies passing from 

 the eyes of those who are affected with the disease to other per- 

 sons. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Principles of the History of Language. By HERMANN PAUL. 

 Tr. by H. A. Strong. New York, Macmillan. 8°., S3. 



Professor Strong has done a service to English readers by 

 translating this work, which contains a more comprehensive survey 

 of the principles of linguistic science and of the methods of study- 

 ing it than can readily be found elsewhere. It maybe said to con- 

 sist of two parts, though they are not sharply separated. The 

 earlier chapters deal mainly with the general principles of language 

 and the chief determining causes of its development, while in the 

 later ones these principles are followed out into their applications, 

 and discussed with great fulness of detail, and wealth of illustra- 

 tion. Professor Paul has a very clear and correct conception of 

 his favorite science, of its relation to the other sciences, and of the 

 right mode of studying it. The science of language is not an exact 

 science, much less a physical science, as Professor Max Muller 

 maintains, but a department of history. Its principal basis is psy- 

 chology, and the leading facts with which it deals are groups of 

 ideas. The physical factor, however, must not be ignored ; for 

 language consists of spoken sounds, and it is only through the 

 medium of the material world that we are able to communicate 

 with our fellowmen. Nevertheless, the chief factor in its develop- 

 ment is not the body, but the mind, and mind as it exists in so- 

 ciety. 



Having thus clearly indicated the scope and method of the sci- 

 ence. Professor Paul goes on to state the leading causes of linguis- 

 tic development. One of the chief of these is the tendency to 

 sound-change ; that is, to variability of pronunciation, which arises 

 from slight changes in muscular action due to variations in the 

 sensations attending such action. Another potent cause is change 

 in the signification of words, which is perpetually going on, and 

 which enriches the expressive power of language incalculably with- 

 out adding any new words. This change in the signification of 

 words is sometimes a restriction of the original meaning, sometimes^ 

 an extension of it ; while in other cases it takes the form of meta- 

 phor or some other figure of speech. Analogous to those develop- 

 ments are the numerous changes in syntax, while another and per- 

 haps still more potent agent in the development of speech is 

 composition, leading to inflection and word-formation. Professor 



