158 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. V., No. 10T. 



the last chapter, and will be found of much 

 assistance as an introduction to the physio- 

 logical part of the volume. 



In point of illustration, this stands in marked 

 contrast with the more recent American text- 

 books on related subjects. If the figures do 

 not all possess the highest artistic merits, the} T 

 are for the most part well executed. Their 

 chief value, however, lies in the fact that very 

 few of them have before appeared in American 

 books. Sachs, which has supplied most of 

 our later text-books with their only meritori- 

 ous histological illustrations, has been practi- 

 cally discarded. While most of the cuts are 

 copies, many of them are taken from special 

 memoirs not readily accessible to the majority 

 of teachers, and hence are as useful as if ori- 

 ginal ; and those that have been reproduced 

 from other sources have the merit of excel- 

 lence of execution and ready comprehensi- 

 bility. 



If the closing part of the volume, dealing 

 with vegetable physiology, which, as we under- 

 stand, is soon to appear, shall maintain the 

 character of that alreadj 7- published, the book 

 cannot fail to meet the requirements of the 

 class of botanists for whom the ' Botanical 

 text-book ' was planned. 



DISEASE-GERMS. 



Dr. Klein's book is by far the best we have 

 seen on the subject of the pathogenic and sep- 

 tic bacteria. The author has had a thorough 

 practical education in the matter, as he has 

 worked at it experimentally during the last ten 

 years for the medical department of the local 

 government board of England. In this little 

 volume are embodied his own researches, sup- 

 plemented hy those of others, arranged to form 

 an admirable guide, either for those who may 

 wish to work in this field practically or for 

 those who ma} 7 wish to get merely a critical 

 knowledge. 



The first five chapters are devoted to the 

 apparatus and methods employed in the culti- 

 vation of bacteria outside of the body, and the 

 precautions which are necessary in order to 

 avoid error. Also the inoculation of animals, 

 and the care to be taken in this, are spoken of 

 here. 



An exhaustive account of the morphological 



Micro-organisms and disease. An introduction into the 

 study of specific micro-organisms. By E. Klein, M.D., F.R.S. 

 London, Macmillan, 1884. 8°. 



The formation of poisons by micro-organisms. A biological 

 study of the germ theory of disease. By G. V. Black, M.D., 

 D.D.S. Philadelphia, Slakiston, 1884. 12°. 



characters of all the micro-organisms is not 

 attempted, but only of such as are related to 

 disease in some way or other. 



The classification of Cohn is followed ; and 

 the micrococci are first taken up, then the bac- 

 teria proper, after this the bacilli, then the 

 vibrios and spirilli, and finally the fungi, in- 

 cluding actinomycetes. 



The descriptions of the appearance and 

 characteristics of the various species are greatly 

 aided by woodcuts giving the shape and par- 

 ticular wa} T of grouping together. The differ- 

 ence in outline between many of the bacteria 

 is so slight that it cannot be attained in the 

 most highly executed plates : therefore it is 

 much better to try to represent their method 

 of association, and the abundance in which they 

 occur in the tissues, than to strive for great ac- 

 curacy in the delineation of individuals. The 

 last chapters of the book are well worth read- 

 ing, as they deal with some of the general ques- 

 tions. That on the relations of septic to 

 pathogenic organisms considers the possibility 

 of certain of the former assuming the proper- 

 ties of the latter under extraordinary condi- 

 tions. Three examples have been brought 

 forward as proof of this : first, the transfor- 

 mation of the hay bacillus into the bacillus 

 anthracis ; second, the properties of exciting 

 inflammation in the eye, which the bacillus sub- 

 tilis of the air is said to assume when grown in 

 a solution of jequirity-bean (Abrus precatorius) ; 

 and, third, that the common aspergillus, when 

 cultivated under peculiar conditions, is reported 

 to be fatal when inoculated into rabbits. The 

 facts bearing on these cases" are carefully re- 

 viewed and tested by his own experiments, 

 and he comes to the conclusion that in each 

 case there is an error. In the first it arises 

 from the accidental contamination of the nutri- 

 tive fluid ; in the second it is not the mi- 

 crobe which is the active agent, but a peculiar 

 chemical ferment (abrin) which is contained 

 in the beans, and has also been obtained from 

 other parts of the plant ; and in the third 

 the fungus acts simply mechanically, and not 

 as a toxic agent, in causing death. The sep- 

 tic alkaloids (ptomaines) and the zymogenic 

 ferments are noticed in the chapter on the 

 vital phenomena of non-pathogenic organisms. 

 He takes up the subject of vaccination and 

 immunit} 7 , and concludes that the weight of 

 evidence tends to show that the milder form of 

 disease furnishes some substance, not as } T et 

 demonstrated, in addition to those alread} r in 

 the system, which acts in preventing the de- 

 velopment of the severer forms. In the last 

 chapter, attention is directed to antiseptics ; 



