878 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. Xo. 521. 



tially or completely neglect the re- 

 searches by which alone our knowledge of 

 the mechanics of the atmosphere can be 

 increased. In this criticism must be in- 

 cluded the United States Weather Bureau 

 (exception being made in favor of Pro- 

 fessor Bigelow's discussions), and the 

 similar bureaus of such equally enlight- 

 ened countries as France and England. 

 However, in the latter country an attempt 

 is now being made to create an Imperial 

 meteorological institute which could under- 

 take the discussion of the great mass of 

 data accumulated in Great Britain and her 

 colonies, especially the relations of solar 

 phenomena to meteorology and magnetism, 

 and it is argued that this would con- 

 tribute towards the formation of a body 

 of scientific investigators adequate to the 

 needs of the British Empire and be of the 

 highest educational and scientific worth. 

 In the United States, meteorological re- 

 search has always been fostered by indi- 

 viduals, of whom the names of Franklin, 

 Redfleld, Espy, Coffin, Maury, Loomis and 

 Ferrel are brilliant examples. To-day my 

 colleague, M. Teisserenc de Bort in 

 France, and we ourselves at Blue Hill, 

 are endeavoring, unassisted, to solve jDrob- 

 lems in dynamic meteorology, which ought 

 to be undertaken by the national services 

 of our respective countries. It behooves 

 then those who are desirous of advan- 

 cing the status of meteorology to strive 

 to convince the public that the function of 

 a government bureau is not merely to 

 collect meteorological data and to make 

 inductive Aveather predictions based on 

 remembrance of the sequence in similar con- 

 ditions, but that the science of meteorology 

 requires laborious researches by competent 

 men and the generous expenditure of 

 money before practical benefit can result 

 from improved weather forecasts. If some 

 of mv hearers are converted to such an 



opinion, this address will have served a 

 useful purpose. 



A. Lawrence Rotch. 

 Blue Hill Meteokological Observatory. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

 The Lymphatics. By Poirier, Cuneo and 



Delamere. Translated and edited by Cecil 



H. Leaf. Chicago, W. T. Keener & Co. 



1904. 



The chapters on the ' Lymphatic System ' 

 in Poirier's ' Anatomy ' have been translated 

 into English and presented in book form by 

 C. H. Leaf. The first half of the book is on 

 the ' General Anatomy of the Lymphatics^' 

 and is by Delamere, while the second half is 

 by Poirier and Cuneo and treats of the ' Spe- 

 cial Study of the Lymphatics in Different 

 Parts of the Body.' The translation is thor- 

 oughly well done. 



The increasing interest in the lymphatic 

 system makes the appearance of such a book 

 especially welcome. It is the most complete 

 and comprehensive monograph on the lymph- 

 atic system that we have and will fill a long- 

 felt need. It contains some original work, 

 especially the last half. The two parts are 

 distinct and will be taken up separately. 



The plan of the first part is excellent, the 

 subject being treated systematically under 

 four heads, the lymph, the leucocytes, the 

 lymphatic vessels and the glands. Each sub- 

 ject is treated first practically, by giving our 

 definite knowledge about it, and then theo- 

 retically. The practical part is excellent, 

 clear, comprehensive, definite and not diffuse. 

 It brings together facts for which one would 

 otherwise have to hunt through many books. 

 The treatment of the theoretical part, on the 

 other hand, is weak. For example, under the 

 lymph, its properties, physical and chemical, 

 are unusually well given; but in the treatment 

 of the theories of the formation of lymph it 

 is not clearly brought out that there are two 

 opposing theories ; one that physical forces 

 are sufficient to account for the formation of 

 lymph, and the other that it is a secretion of 

 endothelial cells. It is not shown that the 

 l^hysical theorj', which has grown out of the 



