Miscellaneous Intelligence. 117 



character, followed by chapters on Normal Cellulose, Cellulose 

 Esters, Ligno-Celluloses and Technical Developments, a. l. d. 



3. The Chemical Constitution of the Proteins ; by P. H. A. 

 Plimmer, D.Sc. Part I., Analysis. Second edition. Pp. xii, 

 188. New York, 1912 (Longmans, Green and Co.). — The new 

 edition of this valuable reference book will keep the reader in 

 touch with the continuous work on the chemistry of proteins car- 

 ried on during the past few years. Although in no sense a vol- 

 ume to be read as a story, the monograph is far more enjoyable 

 as a literary product than the usual collection of statistical data 

 and analytical procedures. Facts are interspersed with view- 

 points ; and the historical aspects of the development of protein 

 chemistry are not overlooked. Dr. Plimmer has exhibited a 

 broad knowledge and not a little critique, so that his contribution 

 can justly be classed among those few books which we dignify 

 with the expression " authentic." The bibliography is unique 

 and comprehensive. l. b. m. 



4 Microbes and Toxins ; by Dr. Etienne Burnet of the 

 Pasteur Institute, Paris. Translated from the French by Dr. 

 Charles Broquet and W. M. Scott, M.D. Pp. xvi, 316, illus- 

 trated. New York and London, 1912 (G. P. Putnam's Sons). — 

 A volume dedicated to Dr. Roux and provided with an introduc- 

 tion by Dr. Elie Metchnikoff can scarcely fail to attract the 

 attention of the ever-growing number of readers to whom the 

 wonders and mysteries of the new bacteriology provide an unfail- 

 ing source of interest. In addition to the up-to-date discussion 

 on the general functions of the micro-organisms — their form and 

 behavior in the most varied environment — much space is given in 

 this book to a presentation of the varied relations of these lower 

 forms to man. Infection and immunity, toxins, vaccines, immune 

 sera, chemotherapy, all find a place in this popular review. One 

 will look in vain in some of the chapters for mention of classic 

 researches from American laboratories ; but American scientists 

 have become accustomed to such omissions in foreign publications. 

 A glossary forms an unusual, but useful, appendix to this popular 

 exposition of some of the contributions of a rapidly developing 

 science. l. b. m. 



5. Nutritional Physiology • by Percy G. Stiles. 12mo, pp. 

 271, illustrated. Philadelphia and London, 1912 (W. B. Saunders 

 Company). — It is refreshing to find a text-book of physiology 

 which departs from the conventional lines and presents the story 

 of animal functions from an original viewpoint. The sequence 

 of the chapters in this volume is made to hinge upon the signifi- 

 cance of the energy transformations in the body. Anatomical 

 considerations properly form a very subordinate part in the dis- 

 cussions of the mechanical movements and chemical changes which 

 characterize nutrition in its broadest sense. The chapter on alco- 

 hol is both rational and appropriate — in decided contrast with 

 much of the unscientific nonsense commonly taught under stress 

 of legal requirements. Professor Stiles' volume, with its numer- 



