216 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 8. 



devoted to reflection fi-om plane surfaces are 

 excellent, and those in which refraction is 

 treated are particularly thorough and good. 

 The simpler geometrical treatment of lenses 

 is very satisfactory ; optical instruments and 

 ' aids to vision ' receive rather more atten- 

 tion (especially the latter) than is usual in 

 books of this class. There are also a num- 

 ber of interesting and rather uncommon ex- 

 periments and exercises combining the eye 

 and lenses of various forms, by means of 

 which many problems relating to vision are 

 made clear. There is a chapter on the 

 spectrum and color, with which the volume 

 ends. 



Both of these volumes can confidently 

 be recommended for courses in secondary 

 schools, or in colleges where a limited 

 amount of elementary instruction in physics 

 is required. T. C. M. 



Electricity, One Hundred Yea7-s Ago and To- 

 day. Edwin J. Houston. New York, 

 W. J. Johnston & Co., Limited. 12mo., 

 pp. 200. 



This volume is built around or upon a 

 lecture having the same title which was de- 

 livered in 1892. It was a historical discus- 

 sion of the growth and development of elec- 

 tricity from the beginning (not one hundred 

 years ago ) to the present time. In preparing 

 it for publication the author has increased its 

 volume several times, and its interest and 

 value proportionately by the addition of an 

 extensive series of historical foot-notes. 

 Many of these consist of long quotations from 

 original authorities which would have been 

 hardly suitable for a popular address, but 

 which greatly enhance the worth of the ad- 

 dress when printed. Some discussions of 

 quite recent date are extensively quoted, 

 and this volume includes, in comparatively 

 small space, the results of much labor ex- 

 pended in the pursuit of exact information 

 by reference to original papers. For this 

 reason, if for no other, it will be welcome to 



all interested in the science of electricity or 

 the art of its application. T. C. M. 



Hygiene. By I. Lane Nottee and R. H. 



FiETH. London, Longmans, Green & Co. 



1894. 



This manual, of 374 pp. 8°, is a very con- 

 cise and clear summary of what a non-pro- 

 fessional, well educated man should know 

 with regard to the general laws of health, 

 the causes of disease, and the best means 

 of combating the latter. Dr. Notter is the 

 Professor of Hygiene in the Army Medical 

 School at Netley, and Examiner in Hygiene 

 in the Science and Art Department at South 

 Kensington, and Dr. Firth is his assistant 

 in each of these positions, hence this manual 

 may be considered as a summary of the 

 latest English teaching on tliis subject. In 

 such subjects as heating and ventilation, 

 house drainage, construction of buildings, 

 hospitals, etc., its recommendations are 

 adapted especially to the climate and cus- 

 toms of England, and the illustrations are 

 solely of English appliances and methods, 

 and this must be borne in mind by Americaa 

 readers. 



Galton's gi-ates, Tobin's tubes, Shertng- 

 ham valves, Buchan's traps, etc., are not to 

 be found in the market in this country, 

 where other equally satisfactory appliances 

 take their place. 



It is not a book to be resorted to for tliril- 

 ling and sensational quotations, but it will 

 be found to give sound common sense advice 

 upon the subjects of which it ti-eats, and is 

 commended to the readers of Science as a 

 good manual of reference. 



An Illustrated Dictionary of Medicine, Biology 

 and Allied Sciences. By George M. Gould, 

 A. B., M. D. Philadelphia, P. Blakis- 

 ton. Son & Co. 1894. 4°, pp. 1633. 

 This is a veiy hiH and complete diction- 

 ary of medicine, printed clearly on good pa- 

 per, and so bound that it will remain open 

 at any page, a convenience not always 



