June 26, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



10U5 



ever seeing any mammalian generic names of 

 the present day composed of three words or 

 in the plural number. It is of course per- 

 fectly open to any one to accept Meuschen's 

 polynomial plurals as ' genera,' if it seems 

 good to them; the point here made is that 

 a perfectly satisfactory bibliography should 

 state the exact facts and leave the reader to 

 apply them according to his own judgment. 



Appreciating the immense and self-sacri- 

 ficing labor devoted to this work by Mr. Sher- 

 born and the committee, and the very great 

 value to all working zoologists of the result; 

 while feeling that any criticism must seem 

 ungracious, we nevertheless believe that it is a 

 matter of duty to insist on the importance of 

 greater fulness in description and exactitude 

 in citation of works in regard to which any 

 doubt can exist. Otherwise an uncertainty 

 which would be deplorable must rest on the 

 published results, of such importance to every 

 zoologist. Wm. H. Dall. 



A Manual of Bacteriology. By Robert Mdir, 

 M.A., M.D., F.RC.P. (Edinburgh), Pro- 

 fessor of Pathology, University of Glasgow, 

 and James Ritchie, M.A., M.D., B.Sc, 

 Reader in Pathology, University of Oxford. 

 American edition (with additions), revised 

 and edited from the third English edition 

 by Norman MacLeod Harris, M.B. (Tor- 

 onto), Associate in Bacteriology, the Johns 

 Hopkins University at Baltimore. JSTew 

 York, The Macmillan Company. 1903. 170 

 illustrations. 



Every student of bacteriology is familiar 

 with this excellent work of Muir and Ritchie, 

 which must be regarded as one of the most 

 comprehensive and most useful writings upon 

 the subject, and every American student of 

 bacteriology will welcome Dr. Harris's edition. 

 In the preface of the American edition. Dr. 

 Harris assures us that an endeavor has been 

 made to add to the value of the book by giv- 

 ing practical expression of the best American 

 laboratory methods and research, and at the 

 same time to augment the general scope of the 

 work without eliminating the personal impress 

 of the author. Therefore, occasional altera- 

 tions and additions of greater or lesser mag- 



nitude have been made throughout the book 

 in general, but more especially in the chapters 

 upon ' Methods of Cultivation of Bacteria,' 

 'Microscopic Methods — General Bacteriolog- 

 ical Diagnosis — Inoculation of Animals,' 

 ' Bacteria of the Air, Soil and Water — Anti- 

 septics,' ' Typhoid Pever — Bacilli Allied to 

 the Typhoid Bacillus ' and ' Tetanus.' 



Dr. Harris has so successfully introduced 

 the added matter that it is practically impos- 

 sible to differentiate his insertions from the 

 original text, and we are pleased to observe 

 that the original general arrangement and 

 treatment of subjects has not been departed 

 from. We are impressed with the care exer- 

 cised by Dr. Harris in introducing new mat- 

 ter and bringing the book up to date, as well 

 as by his selection of the important contribu- 

 tions of American writers to be introduced. 

 We find the chapter upon ' The Methods of 

 Cultivation of Bacteria ' containing sufficient 

 references to the work of Mr. Fuller upon 

 ' The Standardization of Media ' and the 

 recommendations of the laboratory committee 

 of the American Public Health Association 

 upon the same subject. We also note with 

 pleasure a description of Hill's ' Hanging 

 Block Cultures,' by which the growth of bac- 

 teria upon solid media can be observed under 

 the microscope. Stuart's ' Cover Glass For- 

 ceps ' appear in the chapter upon ' Microscopic 

 Methods.' Bitfield's method of staining fla- 

 gella is considered with care. The chapter 

 upon ' The Relation of Bacteria to Disease ' 

 has lost none of its excellency, though this 

 chapter has always been of such a superior 

 quality that it would be hard to find any way 

 to improve it. Throughout the special part 

 of the work we notice that matters of recent 

 controversial interest are carefully, though 

 not dogmatically, treated. The various toxic 

 products of bacteria are mentioned in brief, 

 commonly with the conclusion that very little 

 is known about them, so that the student is 

 not led astray. Likewise the importance of 

 antitoxins and antiserums in those diseases 

 in which their virtue is not proved, are but 

 briefly dwelt upon. Koch's suggestion that 

 the bovine tubercle bacillus does not infect 

 man is discussed and Theobald Smith's pre- 



