February 20, 1885.] 



SCIENCE. 



159 



and it is shown that the greater number simply 

 hinder the development of bacteria, and in no 

 way destroy their powers when the} T are again 

 placed under suitable conditions. 



The little volume may be summed up as 

 clear and concise, well illustrated, and inex- 

 pensive. 



Dr. Black has adopted a rather high sound- 

 ing title for a course of lectures delivered to 

 the students in the Chicago college of dental 

 surgery. There is no evidence that he has 

 worked practical^ at the subject, and the gen- 

 eralizations to which he is inclined have to be 

 made entirely upon the work of others which 

 he has not controlled. He thinks that all the 

 processes causing cell destruction or absorp- 

 tion are a sort of digestion, and that micro- 

 organisms act by digesting the cells, or else 

 they are digested by them. Perhaps, if the 

 subject-matter had been a little more digested 

 by the author, he would not have felt himself 

 called upon to publish these lectures. 



BILLINGS'S VENTILATION AND HEAT- 

 ING. 



This book is a reprint, in revised form, of 

 a series of articles which appeared in The san- 

 itary engineer in answer to a typical questioner 

 who asked for a rule-of-thumb method for solv- 

 ing problems in ventilation, and who failed to 

 recognize the legitimate relation between ' long- 

 winded discussions on the physics of gases/ 

 and ventilation. The author urges a thorough 

 knowledge of the mechanics of gases, and of 

 the laws involved in their free and constrained 

 movement, as essential to any competent judg- 

 ment upon the solution of the various pneumatic 

 and thermal problems peculiar to heating and 

 ventilation. 



Pecuniary rather than constructive or func- 

 tional difficulties are stated to be the most 

 serious encountered in providing good ventila- 

 tion . A partial antidote for scepticism as to the 

 efficiency of any method, because of the fre- 

 quent entire or partial failure of elaborate and 

 costly s} 7 stems put to the test of actual use, 

 appears in the description given of systems in 

 successful operation in various types of build- 

 ings. If the causes of failure in less success- 

 ful undertakings had been clearly pointed out, 

 the faith of many would have been still further 

 strengthened. A discussion of the compara- 

 tive cost of heating, with and without conjoined 

 ventilation, would also have served the good 



Ventilation and heating. By J. S. Billing^. New York, 

 The sanitary engineer, 1884. 8*. 



purpose of furnishing needed information, and 

 of allaying any undue apprehension growing out 

 of the author's statements which make venti- 

 lation dependent on liberality of expenditure. 

 The ordinary cost of ventilation does not neces- 

 sarily represent the minimum cost under con- 

 ditions of maximum economy and efficiency ; 

 and it is along these lines that the progress is 

 to be made which shall inspire confidence, and 

 create demand. 



The book is a valuable contribution to the 

 literature, rather than to the science, to which 

 it pertains. It furnishes a clear statement of 

 the fundamental principles involved in the art 

 of heating and ventilation, and describes its 

 methods and results in their application to the 

 numerous and varied illustrations cited. In 

 st}'le, the book is fresh, vigorous, and perspic- 

 uous ; the occasional flashes of the author's 

 individuality lending a charm the more com- 

 plete because unmarred by dogmatism. Though 

 occasional statements may provoke marginal 

 interrogation-points, the book is an eminently 

 safe guide, and easny takes a leading place 

 among the works of its kind which have ap- 

 peared in American literature. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



It is suggested by G. P. Putnam's sons of Xew 

 York to secure for the publications of societies the 

 same advantages that are possessed by the issues of 

 publishers, by having them fully described in a priced 

 and classified catalogue, to be made up, say, twice a 

 year, and to be distributed as widely as are the book- 

 lists of publishing-houses. There are at present in 

 the United States some seventy scientific and histor- 

 ical associations which issue in the course of the year 

 transactions, proceedings, or monographs. Many of 

 these publications possess an interest and importance 

 for the general public, and find sale outside of the 

 special circles of the members of the societies for 

 whom they are more particularly prepared. The gen- 

 eral sale of such society publications could be ma- 

 terially increased, to the advantage as well of the 

 special interests they are planned to further, as of the 

 various publication-funds, if provision were made for 

 some trustworthy means by which the general public 

 might secure prompt information concerning the 

 works issued, and for some regular channel through 

 which could be supplied the increased demand that 

 such information would unquestionably induce. 

 Each society whose publications are included in the 

 catalogue, will, under the plan proposed, contribute a 

 small annual payment towards the cost of its prepa- 

 ration, while the publishers will assume the payment 

 of such deficiency as may remain. 



— D. G. Brinton of Philadelphia announces as in 

 press "The Lenape, and their legends; with the com- 



