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NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology. Vol. ix. No. 1. 

 Liverpool : 1915. 7s. 6d. net. 

 In the March number of this valuable publication, Dr. 

 H. Bayon gives a long and interesting account of the ex- 

 perimental study of leprosy, a disease still, unfortunately, well 

 known in hot countries, and lingering in several of those of 

 Europe. "However," says this author, "the ruthless individual 

 and, in some cases, collective segregation in the thirteenth and 

 fourteenth centuries, aided, no doubt, by the improving hygienic 

 conditions of all classes, succeeded in bringing about a practically 

 complete extinction of leprosy in Middle Europe and Great 

 Britain. In addition to this, various plague epidemics also 

 helped in sweeping to an early grave, in a somewhat selective 

 fashion, the vagrant and pauper lepers sooner and quicker than 

 individuals belonging to better situated classes." It is con- 

 sidered that the communicability of leprosy has been fully es- 

 tablished, and that the disease can be transferred experimentally 

 to animals, though not readily. The spontaneous disease of rat 

 leprosy shows much resemblance to the human disorder, and 

 may yet be found to be etiologically related to it. Observations 

 on the metabolism of white men living in the Tropics are 

 contributed by Mr. W. J. Young, who in this first paper deals 

 with the protein metabolism, and finds that the results, so far 

 as they go, exhibit no marked variations from the averages 

 obtained in temperate climates. Papers of more definitely 

 zoological character are those on the species of mammalian 

 lung-flukes of the genus Paragonimus, infesting man as well as 

 other mammalia, by Messrs. H. B. Ward and E. P. Hirsch, and 

 on new species of Tabanid Flies from Africa, by Mr. H. F. Carter. 

 The papers are well illustrated by plates. 



Brazil. By J. C. Oakenfull. 1913 & 1914. 7s. 6d. 



Two editions of this most useful and comprehensive publica- 

 tion are to hand, but in the department which concerns us there 

 is no alteration ; it would be well in fact if there had been a 

 little in the zoological section, since there are some errors in the 

 naming, &c. For instance, the Emu is credited to Brazil, 



Zool. 4th ser. vol. XIX., July, 1915. y 



