July 12, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



65 



lu couclusion, it must be stated that notwith- 

 stauding the complexity of the problems dis- 

 cussed and the minute analysis to which they 

 are subjected, the book is written with a rare 

 degree of conciseness and lucidity. Professor 

 Giglio Tos has certainly presented a somewhat 

 abtruse subject in a most interesting manner 

 and has given a new point of view, a working 

 hypothesis which cannot fail to influence future 

 cytological work. The book is suggestive from 

 cover to cover, and the second volume, which 

 is to treat of 'Ontogenesis and its Problems,' 

 will be awaited with interest. 



J. P. McM. 



A. (le Bary^s Vorlesungen iiber Bakterien, Dritte 

 Auflage. Durchgesehen und teilweise neu 

 bearbeitet. Von W. Migtjla. Leipzig, Wil- 

 helm Engelmann. 1901. Mk. 3.60. 

 The name of DeBary's 'Lectures on Bac- 

 teria' still has power to conjure up jDleasant 

 memories in those persons who remember when 

 this classic brochure was the only M'orthy book 

 devoted exclusively to the young science of 

 bactei'iology. The ponderous tomes, too oftexi 

 filled with unassimilated facts, that have since 

 appeared in abundance sometimes force us to 

 recall with regret the daj'^s when selection of 

 matei'ial and skilled exposition were not in- 

 compatible with completeness. 



The attempt to put new wine into old bottles 

 has always encountered certain experimental 

 diflSculties, and it cannot be said that these dif-. 

 ficulties have been altogether overcome by Dr. 

 Migula, although something of the charm of 

 the original lectures has been retained. The 

 general arrangement of the sections is the same 

 as in the original edition, while the insertion 

 of new facts and the dropping of outworn 

 creeds is perhaps as skilfully carried out as 

 could be expected. In spite of the defects to 

 be anticipated in a rewritten work of this sort, 

 the lectures will readily command interested 

 readers. It will always be questioned, however, 

 whether the successive changes in the view- 

 point of a rapidly growing science do not con- 

 tinuously demand new methods of exposition, 

 and whether it is quite fair to a book that has 

 served well its day and generation to bring it 

 again upon the stage. 



E. O. J. 



A Lahoratori) Guide in Elementary Bacteriology. 

 By William Dodge Frost, Instructor in 

 Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin. Pub- 

 lished by the Author, Madison, Wisconsin, 

 1901. 



The development of bacteriology as a subject 

 of general scientific importance has led in sev- 

 eral American universities to the introduction 

 of courses in bacteriology into the regular 

 undergraduate curriculum, and has created a 

 demand for a kind of laboratory training 

 adapted to the requirements both of the col- 

 lege student and of the student of medicine. 

 The book before us outlines a course of this 

 character, elaborated during several years of 

 experience at the University of Wisconsin. 

 The arrangement and choice of matter will be 

 generally commended. The ordinary technical 

 procedui'es are lucidly described with the aid 

 of many diagrams, and are in thorough accord 

 with the latest and best practice. The book is 

 not distorted by being wrested to special utili- 

 tarian ends, but is rather designed to lay a 

 broad foundation for subsequent specialization 

 in any branch of bacteriology. It is admirably 

 fitted for this purpose. 



E. O. J. 



Elements of Quaternions. By the late Sir W. 

 R. Hamilton. Second edition. Edited by 

 Professor C. J. Joly. London, Longmans 

 & Co. Vol. L, pp. xxxiii+583; Vol. IL, 

 pp. liv + 502 ; quarto. 



The first edition of the ' Elements of Quater- 

 nions ' consisted of 500 copies ; and as many of 

 these were presented to men of science, the 

 book soon became scarce on the market. The 

 published price was one pound ; five times that 

 amount has been paid for a single copy. In 

 fact it frequently happened that a student could 

 not obtain a copy of the English edition, and 

 was obliged to content himself with Glan's 

 German translation. Therefore we hail with 

 pleasure a second edition of this classic of the 

 mathematics, especially as it is printed in two 

 handsome quarto volumes, and can be pur- 

 chased at a moderate price. 



Hamilton spent the last seven years of his 

 life in the preparation of the ' Elements,' which 

 he designed to be the Principia of space-analy- 

 sis. He did not live to see them published. 



/ 



