April i8, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



24r 



oratory. It is desired that students owning microscopes or micro- 

 tomes should bring them, and applicants for admission should 

 stale whether this requirement can be complied with. The fee 

 for workers in this department is twenty-five dollars, payable in 

 advance. The number of students will be limited to thirty, and 

 preference will be given to teachers or others already qualified. 

 By permission of the director, students may begin their individ- 

 ual work as early as June 15 without extra charge, but the regu- 

 lar courses of instruction will not begin before July 9. Applica- 

 tions for places in either department should be addressed to Miss 

 A. D. Phillips, secretary, 23 Marlborough Street, Boston. 



The Marine Biological Laboratory is intended to continue and 

 enlarge the work of the laboratory at Annisquam, carried on for 

 six years by the Woman's Education Association, with the co- 

 operation of the Boston Society of Natural History. The annual 

 reports of the trustees, containing an account of its organization 

 and work, may be obtained from the secretary. 



BOOK-EEVIEWS. 



Tlie Anatomy of the Frog. By Dr. Alexander Eckee. Tr. 

 by George Haslam, M.D. Oxford, Clarendon Pr. ; London, 

 Henry Froude; New York, Macmillan & Co. 



This volume is No. H. of the "Translations of Foreign 

 Biological Memoirs." The first part of Ecker"s "Anatomie des 

 Frosches" appeared in 1864, and the second part sixteen years 

 later. This was the groundwork on which Dr. Haslam pre- 

 pared his •"Anatomy," adding many facts which he deduced 

 from his own personal investigations, and in general bring- 

 ing the book up to date by including the results of recent 

 researches. It may seem- to many rather peculiar that so much 

 labor should have been expended on the study of the minute 

 anatomy of so insignificant a creature as the frog; but when it 

 is remembered that for many reasons the frog has tor years 

 been studied by scientific men to elucidate intricate physiological 

 problems, and that to-day no animal is more commonly found 

 in physiological laboratories than the frog, this peculiarity will 

 cease to exist. It would be interesting, did our space permit, 

 to review the intimate relations which the frog has sustained 

 to important discoveries. Swammerdam, more than two hun- 

 dred years ago, called attention to the advantages which the 

 frog possessed as an aid to scientific study. It was from acci- 

 dentally observing the contractions of the muscles of the 

 denuded hind-legs of a frog that Galvani was led to abandon 

 all other occupations and investigate the phenomena which 

 were the basis of Galvanism. 



Our knowledge of the capillary circulation of the blood rests 

 upon Leeuwenhoek's observations of the web of the foot of this 

 animal, and the gills and tail of its tadpole; and to-day the 

 frog affords almost the only material for the investigation of 

 the excitability of nerve and its associated electromotive 

 changes. Histology is also deeply indebted to the frog for its 

 present status. The structure of nerve-fibres, their origins and 

 terminations, and the structure of muscular fibres, have all 

 been studied more in the frog than in any other creature. These 

 and many more reasons might be given in justification of 

 devoting so much time and labor to the preparation of a book of 

 such size on such a restricted subject. As a book of reference, 

 the volume is invaluable to every biological student. It is 

 very complete in all its parts, besides being admirably printed 

 and illustrated. Taken as a whole, it might well serve as a 

 model to all publishers. The paper and the type are especially 

 worthy of commendation. 



Practical Electricity in Medicine and Surgery. By G. A. Liebig, 

 Jun., Ph.D., and George H. RoHfi, M.D. Philadelphia 

 and Loudon, F. A. Davis. 8°. $3. 

 Electricity is becoming more and more each day an impor- 

 tant adjunct to both the physician and the surgeon in their 

 battle with disease. Whereas a few years ago no one but a 

 specialist was expected to know any thing about the practical 

 application of electricity in medicine, to-day many physicians 

 in general practice, and laying no claim to being specialists. 



have in their offices the appliances necessary for the treatment 

 of disease by electricity. Drs. Liebig and Rohe have therefore^ 

 in issuing this book, supplied a guide in a comparatively new 

 field, to those who have up to this time failed to find in the 

 literature of the subject all that was necessary to enable 'them 

 intelligently to make a practical use of so important an agent 

 as electricity. 



This volume is divided into three parts. In Part I. the vari- 

 ous forms of electrical and magnetic apparatus are described 

 which are likely to be of use to the physician, together witbi 

 the best arrangements of cells for any given work, the con- 

 struction and use of galvanometers, the theory of the chemical 

 action taking place in the storage-cell, and the best methods of 

 caring for batteries. The electric motor, the telephone, and 

 the phonograph are also here described. Part II. describes the- 

 effects of electric current upon the body in health and disease,. 

 Part III. treats of the application of electricity to the treat- 

 ment of disease. 



The work is a most valuable contribution to the elucidatioifc 

 of a most intricate subject, and coming just at this time, 

 when there is such a general interest in the manifold applica 

 tions of electricity, must receive a cordial welcome not only from 

 members of the medical profession, but also from scientists, 

 generally. 



Notes on American Schools and Training Colleges. By J. G. 

 Fitch. New York, Macmillan & Co. 16°. 60 cents. 



This little book, reprinted from a report to the English Edu- 

 cation Department, contains the observations made by the 

 author after a visit to the schools of this country. Mr. Fitch's 

 opinion of American public schools is in the main very favor- 

 able; and the criticisms he makes on particular points, 

 together with his occasional comparisons between our schools 

 and the English, ought to be useful to American educators. 

 The chief excellence that he notes in our school system is the 

 enthusiasm shown, not only by teachers, but by the public as 

 well; while the chief defect, in his opinion, is the excessive 

 minuteness with which the lessons and the mode of teaching 

 them are prescribed, so that nothing is left to the spontaneity 

 and originality of the teacher. He dwells upon this topic at 

 considerable length, remarking that "text-books and certain 

 accepted formulas appeared to dominate the work of the classes 

 too much," and adding that English teachers would find such 

 minute regulations an intolerable restraint. He maintains at 

 the same time that the English elementary schools give as good 

 an education as those of this country. With regard to training- 

 colleges, or, as we call them, normal schools. Mr. Fitch thinks 

 we are as yet but poorly equipped, the number of such institu- 

 tions being far too small for the work requited. He notes, how- 

 ever, that certain other modes of training supply to som& 

 extent the place of normaj^schools ; and he dwells with special 

 interest on the teachers' associations and leading-circles,^ 

 which he regards as admirable features of our educational sys- 

 tem. As he came here to study the public schools, he has very 

 little to say about the colleges and universities, what he does 

 say relating almost exclusively to the worthlessness in general 

 of American college degrees, — a matter that has been much 

 discussed among ourselves, and as to which the author's 

 remarks are not a whit too strong. W^e commend the book to 

 the notice of American educators. 



Practical Electrics: A Universal Handy-Book on Eve) yday Elec- 

 trical Matters. New Y'ork and London, Spon. 8'. 75 

 cents. 



This practical volume is a reproduction of a series of papers 

 on electrical subjects which originally appeared in the third 

 series of "Workshop Receipts." It is intended mainly for 

 that large and rapidly growing class of scientific amateurs 

 and conscientious artisans who, throush inclination or neces- 

 sity, are led into the field of electrical practice without having 

 time or opportunity to make a thorough study of the subject. 

 In other words, it contains a fund of information of an 

 eminently useful and practical character, though not what 



