278 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VI., No. 138. 



article of food. The mycophagists of the 

 country are not as yet numerous ; but they 

 sometimes do an injury to their cause, by rec- 

 ommending the use of certain species of which 

 perhaps the best that can be said is that they 

 are not injurious. Agaricus procerus, and 

 Boletus strobilaccus, figured in the present 

 work, would not strictly be called edible, except 

 by an enthusiastic m3^cophagist. We ima- 

 gine that one whose first experiment in fungus- 

 eating was made upon either of the species just 

 named, would hardly be likely to repeat the 

 experiment. 



ROHE'S HYGIENE. 



This book, of small size and modest appear- 

 ance, is full of important matter, told in a very 

 interesting manner. The preface says it is 

 intended as a guide to the principles and prac- 

 tice of preventive medicine ; and we think that 

 ever}^ student of medicine should possess it, 

 and study it. Air, water, food, clothing, soil, 

 dwellings, hospitals, camp-life, and numerous 

 other every-day topics, are discussed in con- 

 densed sections, but with clearness and intelli- 

 gence. There are some points, however, 

 which we think should receive greater atten- 

 tion. For instance, in giving the tests for air 

 and water impurities, nothing is said of the 

 methods of anal3'zing these media for germs. 

 A short paragraph states that the air is the 

 bearer of germs, and that quantitative anal}'- 

 ses of the same have recentl}^ been made. Al- 

 though the methods of such analj^ses are 

 elaborate, and too expensive for students in 

 general to undertake, nevertheless the}^ ought 

 to be explained in a text-book of this kind. 



Emphasis is properl}^ laid upon the dangers 

 from sewage in drinking-water. Dr. Rohe 

 takes exceptions to the statement, that rivers 

 quickl}^ purity themselves ; and he quotes the 

 report of the Massachusetts board of health 

 for 1876, in which the foul condition of the 

 Blackstone River was proven . He rightly claims 

 that the rate of self-purification for rivers is 

 limited, and may be easily exceeded b}- the 

 rate of sewage pollution. The danger from 

 using polluted ice is also described and illus- 

 trated b}^ reference to cases of disease caused 

 by such ice. Water does not purge itself of 

 impurities b}' freezing. 



The proof-reading of the book seems to have 

 been hastity done, as we notice numerous 

 errors of spelling. We heartily recommend 

 the book, and praise it for the sincere and un- 

 affected spirit in which it is written. 



A text-book of hygiene. By George H. Rohe, M.D. Balti- 

 more, Thomas '<& Evans, 1885. 8°. 



THE RESCUE OF GREELY. 



In welcoming Lieut. Greely to the meeting 

 of the geographical section of the British as- 

 sociation last summer, Capt. Bedford Pirn, 

 himself an arctic traveller of great experience, 

 said that on one of the early expeditions in 

 search of Sir John Franklin, the American 

 ships were observed dashing into the ice ahead 

 of their English companions. " Yes," said 

 an old quartermaster: "they fears nothing, 

 because they knows nothing." But now, since 

 the return of Grreely, the gallant captain added, 

 it was evident that " the Americans knew 

 every thing, and feared nothing." This, too, 

 must be the verdict of every one who reads 

 this book, and sees the way in which Schley 

 and Emory, in two Dundee whalers, not merely 

 kept pace with the best ships in the Dundee 

 whaling-fleet, but, pushing by them, rescued 

 Greely and his dying comrades hours, if not 

 days (considering the uncertainties of ice 

 navigation) , before the other ships could have 

 reached Cape Sabine, thus saving the lives of 

 several of the part}'. 



It makes an interesting story, and is well 

 told b}^ Professor Solej^ who, we suppose, 

 wrote the greater part, if not all, of the nar- 

 rative. The introductory^ chapters on the gate- 

 way of the polar seas and the circumpolar 

 stations, are too brief to be of much value ; 

 while the account of the two previous attempts 

 to reach Greel}" contains little that will aid one 

 in forming for himself an opinion as to where 

 the responsibility for the deaths of nineteen out 

 of the twenty-five members of the Lady Frank- 

 lin Bay expedition really belongs. The vol- 

 ume further contains a few good pictures ; a 

 track-chart showing the route of Schley's ves- 

 sels ; and the oflScial chart of the region from 

 Baffin Bay to Lincoln Sea, first published in 

 Science last February. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



A LETTEK from Dr. Willis Everette, U.S.A., who 

 recently arrived from St, Michaels, Alaska, at San 

 Francisco, states that his original plan of crossing 

 from the headwaters of the White-river branch of the 

 Yukon to the Copper Eiver, was defeated by the im- 

 possibility of getting any companion, either white 

 or native, to undertake the voyage with him. Being 

 thus unaccompanied, he was incommoded by the be- 

 havior of the Upper Yukon Indians, who endeavored 

 to purloin his supplies ; and therefore he descended 



7'Ae rescue of Greely. Bj' W. S. Schley and J. R. Soley. 

 Illustrated from the photographs and maps of the relief expedi- 

 tion. New York, Charles Scribrier's Sons, 1885. 



