May 1 8, 1888.] 



SCIENCE. 



239 



during the night was less than during the day, as also the organic 

 matter. Micro-organisms were less at night than in the day. In 

 examining the air of the rooms of houses, it was found that carbonic 

 acid, organic matter, and micro-organisms diminished in quantity 

 as the cubic space per person increased from one hundred to one 

 thousand cubic feet. The death-rate from phthisis was highest in 

 three-roomed houses, which is accounted for by the fact that pul- 

 monary consumption is seldom in the form of tubercular disease in 

 young life ; and in one and two roomed houses much fewer live to 

 the consumption age, so as to diminish the material, and so make 

 the actual death-rate lower. In reference to the purification of air 

 independent of mechanical methods, the following recommendations 

 are made : cleanliness of person and dwelling, and open-air spaces ; 

 frequent change of the air of the room ; windows should be made 

 to open above and below, and both sashes should be used as much 

 as possible ; the practice of having a lamp burning all night in bed- 

 rooms in small houses is greatly to be deprecated, as the heat, the 

 organic matter, and the carbonic acid aid in the reduction and de- 

 terioration of the air. Dr. Hunt discusses schoolroom ventilation, 

 and gives a large number of results of tests of the air in the schools 

 of Hoboken. In speaking of water-analysis, he refers to the biologi- 

 cal tests, and says that it would be premature as yet to claim any 

 very determinate results, although much has been found that is 

 valuable for comparison with chemical analyses. Dr. Hunt does 

 not think it to be an important function of a health board to deal 

 with the question of adulterated mustard or spices, nor with the 

 sale of oleomargarine, inasmuch as it has never been shown that 

 there is any serious risk to health in their use. He appreciates the 

 desirability of preventing commercial frauds, but does not regard 

 this as a function of health laws. 



In the paper on sew^r systems, descriptions are given of the 

 drainage and sewerage of the Lawrenceville School, Mercer County, 

 N.J., and of the systems of Long Branch, East Orange, and Morris 

 Plains. 



The article on exposures and diseases of operatives is in the line 

 of valuable work which the State board has been pursuing for some 

 time; namely, an inquiry into the condition of workshops and fac- 

 tories, and as to the influence of the various trades and occupations 

 upon the lives and health of operatives. The chief report this year 

 is upon the pottery industry. Dr. Warman gives the results of his 

 investigation of this industry in the following recapitulation : (i) 

 that dust, and the liability to inhale it, is the principal cause of pot- 

 ters' asthma and potters' consumption ; that the greatest number 

 of sufferers from the above-named diseases occurs among 'china 

 scourers;' (2) the greatest sufferers from lead-poisoning are dippers, 

 and those assisting them, — glost-placers, mixers of colors, ground- 

 layers, majolica and other painters, and those who 'fettle' ware 

 after it is dipped ; (3) that the pottery workmen most liable to 

 rheumatic affections are ovenmen and kilnmen, who are greatly ex- 

 posed to heat and strong draughts ; they also suffer much from 

 colds contracted from the sudden checking of the perspiration, 

 which often terminates in acute inflammations of the chest ; (4) that 

 those engaged in sedentary occupations suffer most from disorders 

 of the digestive organs, liver, and stomach, followed by general de- 

 bility, tlefective blood-making, and hence bloodlessness, sensitive- 

 ness to cold, constipation, and a tendency to internal congestions; 

 (5) the auxiliary causes are neglect of cleanliness, in work, in shops, 

 in dress and in personal habits, inattention to ventilation and to 

 the heat and moisture of the workshop, intemperance, and irreg- 

 ular living ; that a large majority of workers do not remain contin- 

 uously at the work for more than from fifteen to twenty years ; finally, 

 that the removal of the exciting cause or causes is the only rational 

 means of preventing or interrupting the diseases of potters. Statis- 

 tics show that pottery operatives in this country are in better health 

 than those in the Old World. 



EvohUion and its Relation to Religions Tlioiight. By JOSEPH 

 LeConte. New York, Appleton. 12°. $1.50. 



It is always with a deep sentiment of respect that we take up a 

 book in which an earnest thinker expresses his views which embody 

 a life's work, — the work of the author's mind in settling the puz- 

 zling questions that offer themselves at one time or another to every 

 man ; and the work of the subjects that have occupied him for 



years and years upon the evolution of his mind. For it cannot be 

 but that the latter influence makes certain points of view more im- 

 portant to one man's mind than to that of another, and accordingly 

 their final conclusions will differ either fundamentally, or at least to- 

 a certain extent. It is therefore not with the expectation that we 

 will find the truth in a book setting forth the opinions of a inan — 

 for we doubt whether such truth exists — that we read a book of this 

 kind, but it is the assthetical and ethical pleasure we look for in 

 listening to opinions that are true to one principle, and therefore 

 consistent. It is with this feeling that we read Professor LeConte's 

 book with the greatest interest and gratification. 



His explanation of evolution in the introductory chapter opens a 

 clear view to his thoughts : " Every system of correlated parts may 

 be studied from two points of view, which give rise to two depart- 

 ments of science. The one concerns changes within the system by 

 action and re-action between the parts, producing equilibrium and 

 stability ; the other concerns the progressive movement of the sys- 

 tem, as a whole, to higher and higher conditions. . . . The one 

 concerns things as they are, the other the process by which they 

 become so." This idea has been expressed by other writers by the 

 words, 'evolution is part of the science of history as opposed to 

 the science of physics." The author then proceeds to define evolu- 

 tion, which he calls " a progressive change according to certain 

 laws by means of resident forces." It is not the object of this re- 

 view to follow the author in his argument for proving the truth of 

 evolution in the sense as here described. Neither is this argument 

 the principal object of the book, which is an explanation of the re- 

 lation of evolution to religious thought. The author emphasizes 

 justly that by accepting the law of evolution we do not become 

 materialists any more than by accepting the law of gravitation. In 

 setting forth his views as to the relation of man to nature, he as- 

 sumes physical and psychical phenomena as equally true, but their 

 connection as only intelligible to an intelligence superior to that of 

 man. He believes that in man physical changes may be produced 

 by psychical changes, while in animals only the reverse is the case. 

 His views on the relation of God to man are an attempt to recon- 

 cile the theological and positivistic views — as we should say, in- 

 stead of LeConte's materialistic — from the standpoint that both 

 contain some truth, and that God is immanent in nature. The.se 

 conclusions are as much dictated by feeling as by reasoning, and 

 therefore they will be convincing and satisfactory to some men, 

 while they cannot claim to be as firmly founded as the results of 

 scientific investigations. 



Accidents and Emergencies. By CHARLES W. DULLES, M.D. 

 3d ed. Philadelphia, Blakiston. 16°. 75 cents. 



In the preface to this edition the author says that whoever has 

 seen how invaluable, in the presence of accident, is the man or 

 woman with a cool head, a steady hand, and some knowledge of 

 what is best to be done, will not fail to appreciate the desirability 

 of possessing these qualifications. To have them in an emergency, 

 one must acquire them before it arises, and it is with the hope of 

 aiding any who wish to prepare themselves for such demands upon 

 their own resources that the suggestions contained in the book 

 have been put together. They cannot take the place of calling a 

 physician or surgeon, but may fill up with helpful action what 

 might otherwise be a period of inaction and despair before skilled 

 assistance arrives. 



Among the many topics treated are drowning, suffocation, chok- 

 ing, foreign bodies in the eye, nose, and ear, fits, sunstroke, sprains, 

 dislocations, fractures, wounds, hemorrhage, poisons, etc. The 

 book also contains a list of the supplies which are necessary to 

 meet such emergencies as are liable to arise in every family, and 

 gives the doses and uses of the medicines commonly found in the 

 family medicine-chest. The illustrations are good and sufficiently 

 numerous. In order to inake this little treatise available for sudden, 

 necessity, pains have been taken to make the index as complete as 

 possible, and the typography has been so arranged that leading 

 words may catch the eye on every page. The language is simple, 

 being entirely devoid of technicalities, and the methods of treatment 

 recommended are trustviforthy and reliable. The manual is one of 

 the best of this class of books, and should be in the library of every 

 householder, ready for reference at a moment's notice. 



