November lo, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



261 



MediiEval and Modern," is reviewed, and the law-giver 

 of the Jews suffers not less than the modern inspector 

 as he comes under the author's withering sarcasm. The 

 birth of sanitary science in the great sanitary awakening- 

 is then described. The next four chapters are devoted 

 to "the tripod on which sanitary science rests" — air, 

 water and soil. The general arrangement of these 

 chapters, as of others throughout the book, is: to first 

 introduce the subject with general remarks; second, 

 to repeat numerous cases where disease has been sap- 

 posed to originate in filth, then to analyze these cases, 

 expose their feebleness, and, finally, to close with an 

 array of scientific experiments which tend to show that 

 no connection whatever can have existed between this 

 filth and the diseases presumed to have arisen there- 

 from. Most prominent among these scientists are; 

 P'liigge, Pettenkofer, Koch, Miquel, Karlinski, Kraus, 

 Crookes, Tidy, Odling, and Hueppe. Water is attacked 

 through the weakness of the chemical methods in vogue, 

 and also in the fact that typhoid bacilli, etc., according 

 to the testimony of a number of the writers above men- 

 tioned, flourish in pure and sterilized water, but quickly 

 disappear in water contaminated with sewage and con- 

 taining putrefactive bacteria. The same idea is 

 worked out in the discussion of the air and soil. Sewer 

 gas is described as the result of the earlier sanitary 

 measures, and we have it now produced and laid in our 

 houses. The triple alliance the reformers had made 

 with the ladies and clergy was now reinforced by the 

 plumber, who became the "sanitary plumber." Nu- 

 merous cases are cited in towns, jails, etc., and among 

 workmen employed in the sewers where the sewer gas 

 failed to produce zymotic disease. The sewer gas doc- 

 trine is spoken of as "a pure creation, begotten in and 

 floated from the sanitary brain without any investiga- 

 tion, it was, without any examination, accepted and 

 devoutly cherished by almost the entire people, wise 

 and simple, of Great Britain and America — a creation 

 that from the first was viewed with contempt by scien- 

 tific men of other countries. Pettenkofer said that it 

 was as easy to show that infectious diseases had the 

 same relations to lines of illuminating gas tubes and 

 telegraph wires as to lines of sewers." 



Cemeteries, "chronologically the first which the sani- 

 tarians erected to affright and torment the people about 

 the health," forms the subject-matter of chapter VIII., 

 with the same discussion as before and the same con- 

 clusions. The dangers supposed to lurk in diseased 

 meats and in adulterated and contaminated milk are 

 disposed of in two chapters, and then we have a discus- 

 sion of filth and fecal diseases, typhoid fever, etc., 

 yellow fever, cholera, and diphtheria. 'In the case of 

 the first mentioned, typhoid, its parallel development 

 with the sanitary reform is spoken of, the history of the 

 disease is given, and, as before, numerous examples of 

 imperfect identification of the cause. The chapter on 

 cholera containing the testimony of Koch is interesting. 

 A brief history of the world's greatest epidemics is fol- 

 lowed by a scorching section on Boards of Health. Dr. 

 Dibble holds "that in so far as they have directed their 

 efforts and consumed their energies on subjects which 

 have no influence on individual or public health, 

 and in so far as they have diverted the attention 

 of the people thereto, just so far have they retard- 

 ed and obstructed true progress in that branch of 

 medical science which is devoted to hygiene, and just 

 so far they have been a positive detriment to the public 

 health." 



Dangerous as the book would undoubtedly be in the 

 popular hand, to the thinking physician it sounds a note 

 of warning, a call for scientific investigation in place of 

 mute acceptance of sanitary rulings, for a superior 

 board of health, and for experimental work. In short, 



that as hygiene and sanitary science bid fair to play an 

 important, if not the most tmportant, part in our social 

 economy, and to approach with their sister, Medicine, 

 an exact science, that then, with the aid of the biologist, 

 bacteriologist and chemist, these new sciences should 

 rest upon a scientific basis. C. P. 



Handbook of Greek and Latin Palaeograjyhy. By Edward 

 Maunde Thompson, D. C. L. , LL.D., etc. New 

 Yoi'k., D. Appleton & Co. 1893. 343 p. 

 This volume of the International Scientific Series is 

 designed especially to facilitate the study of the ancient 

 manuscripts, rather than classical epigraphy, although 

 it does not neglect the development of rustic writing 

 and the majuscules. The first few chapters present a suc- 

 cinct and clear description of the accessories of ancient 

 writing — as the tablets of wax or wood, and the paper, 

 linen, clay, parchment or other surfaces on which it 

 was to be placed ; the pens, styles and inks which were 

 employed, and the forms of the books, rolls or codices. 

 This preliminary matter supplied, the author turns to 

 Greek palaeography, explaining first the antiquit)' of the 

 writing, and the forms of it as shown by various docu- 

 ments. Some of the oldest and most remarkable of 

 these have been obtained at different times from Egypt, 

 and carry us back about two centuries before the Chris- 

 tian era. From this date the characteristics of the 

 Greek uncial and cursive hands are shown, down to a 

 recent period. The remainder of the work is devoted 

 to Latin palaeography, from Roman times, through 

 the Lombardic and iNlerovingian periods and the Middle 

 Ages, and concluding with the Chancery hands, the 

 Charter hands, and the Court hands. 



A special feature of the book is the accurate presenta- 

 tion by photogravure of numerous specimens of the 

 hands described, the tables of alphabets, and a useful 

 list of palffiographical works. 



An Elementary Text-Book of Biology. By J. R. Ainsworth 



Davis, B. A. Second Edition. London, Chas. Griffin 



& Co. 



The appearance of the second edition of this text- 

 book is indication enough that its plan meets a general 

 want among the people for whom it was designed. The 

 purpose of the present book is to furnish a treatise on 

 theoretical biology, which will serve as a general 

 accompaniment to the various books on practical 

 biology which have appeared from time to time. The 

 author takes up a long series of types, first describing 

 their morphology, then giving a more or less thorough 

 discussion of the physiology of the type, and, lastly, of 

 its development. These three methods of treatment, 

 particularly the last two, make the present text-book 

 one of the most comprehensive text-books in general 

 biology that has appeared in the English language. The 

 morphological part is full and complete, and the descrip- 

 tions are well illustrated by figures. The sections on 

 physiology and development form the unique feature of 

 this method of teaching, and great praise should be 

 given to the author for putting together in such brief 

 compass the essential principles of theoretical biology. 

 Throughout the book there is that liberal use of italics 

 and full-faced type which aids so materially in making 

 a book intelligible and drawing attention of the student 

 and reader to the important as compared to the unim- 

 portant portions of the text. The book is also thoroughly 

 illustrated by figures, most of which are very good and 

 clear, but a few of which are extremely crude and poor. 

 It is hardly possible for one to make much out of the 

 figure describing the anatomy of the pigeon or the 

 frog, and one regrets that the second edition has not 

 seen some of these poor cuts replaced by better ones. 



The new edition of the book is entirely rewritten and 

 very much enlarged. So much larger has it been made 



