July 22, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



1 



109 



Chemical Laboratory. ' The Preparation of Ben- 

 zoyl-acetyl Peroxide and its Use as an Intes- 

 tinal Antiseptic in Cholera and Dysentery ' (pre- 

 liminary notes), by Paul C. Freer, M.D., Ph.D. 



Biological Laboratory. ' A Preliminary Report 

 on Trypanosomiasis of Horses in. the Philip- 

 pine Islands,' by W. E. Musgrave, M.D., and 

 Norman E. Williamson. 



Serum Laboratory. ' Preliminary Report on the 

 Study of Rinderpest of Cattle and Carabaos in 

 the Philippine Islands,' by James W. Jobling, 

 M.D. 



Biological Laboratory. ' Trypanosoma and Try- 

 panosomiasis, with special reference to Surra 

 in the Philippine Islands,' by W. E. Musgrave, 

 M.D., and Moses T. Clegg. 



I. ' New or Noteworthy Plants.' II. ' The Ameri- 

 can Element in the Philippine Flora,' by Elmer 

 D. Merrill, botanist. 



Chemical Laboratory. ' The Gutta-percha and 

 Rubber of the Philippine Islands,' by Penoyer L. 

 Sherman, Jr., Ph.D. 



' A Dictionary of the Plant Names of the Philip- 

 pine Islands,' by Elmer D. Merrill, botanist. 



Biological Laboratory. ' A Report on Hemor- 

 rhagic Septicaemia in Animals in the Philippine 

 Islands,' by Paul G. WooUey, M.D., and J. W. 

 Jobling, M.D. 



Biological Laboratory. ' A Report on Two Cases 

 of a Peculiar Form of Hand Infection, due to 

 an Organism resembling the Koch-Weeks Bacil- 

 lus,' by John R. McDill, M.D., and Wm. B, 

 Wherry, M.D. 



Biological Laboratory. ' Preliminary Bulletin on 

 Insects of the Cacao,' by Charles S. Banks, 

 entomologist. 



Biological Laboratory. ' Report on Some Pul- 

 monary Lesions produced by the Bacillus of 

 Hemorrhagic Septicaemia of Carabaos,' by Paul 

 G. Woolley, M.D. 



Biological Laboratory. ' A Fatal Infection by a 

 hitherto undescribed Chromogenic Bacteria- 

 Bacillus Aureus foetidus,' by Dr. Maximilian 

 Herzog. 



I. Serum Laboratory : ' Texas Fever in the Philip- 

 pine Islands and the Far East,' by J. B. Jobling, 

 M.D., and Paul G. Woolley, M.D. 



II. Biological Laboratory : ' On the Australian 

 Cattle Tick — Boophilis Australis,' by Chas. S. 

 Banks. 



Paul C. Freer. 



BUBEAU OF GOVEENMENT LaBOEATORIES OF 



THE Philippine Islands. 



8GIENTIFI0 BOOKS. " ~' ~ 



The Nature of Man; Studies in Optimistic 

 Philosophy. By Elie Metchnikoff. Eng- 

 lish translation, edited by P. Chalmers 

 Mitchell. 1 vol. in 8°, pp. xvi -f 302, with 

 author's portrait and twenty illustrations. 

 New York and London, G. P. Putnam's 

 Sons. 1903. 



In ' The Nature of Man,' Elie Metchnikoff, 

 a Eussian professor at the Pasteur Institute, 

 in Paris, presents a valuable contribution to 

 scientific philosophy. 



The book is addressed "to ' disciplined minds, 

 and especially to biologists.' It is not, the 

 author states in the preface, so much a fin- 

 ished study as food for further thought and 

 investigation, a program of work. But it 

 reaches beyond this. It deals principally with 

 the numerous imperfections and disharmonies 

 in the human constitution and functions, with 

 old age, with the vital instincts and with 

 death. 



Man is a comparatively recent and possibly 

 accidental descendant of some anthropoid ape 

 and has differentiated from his ancestors prin- 

 cipally through his brain. There are many 

 parts of his constitution that have not kept 

 the same pace in evolution; as a result, man's 

 organism is not throughout harmonious and 

 equally adapted to his present circumstances, 

 which affects adversely his health, happiness 

 and duration of life. 



Man is still covered with hairs, though they 

 are no longer needed or capable of protecting 

 his body from cold, and their follicles offer 

 easy lodgment to microbes, which give rise to 

 acne, or even worse forms of skin affection. 



The wisdom teeth furnish an instance of 

 disharmony. They are not only nearly use- 

 less, but often become a source of trouble that 

 in exceptional cases leads to disease or even 

 death. 



The vermiform appendage is another or- 

 ganic disharmony, serving no useful purpose, 

 but often the source of great disorder and 

 danger to life. 



Degenerating organs in the human body, 

 such as the caecum, exhibit disharmony. In 

 fact, the whole of our large intestine is largely 

 superfluous. It is of secondary importance to 



