October 2, 1885.] 



SCIENCE, 



299 



the contents of the vohime have been much in- 

 creased without adding seriously to the size of 

 the vohime. The references, which made so 

 valuable and novel a feature of the original 

 work, are also extended, and include material 

 as fresh as the results of Peach's and Home's 

 studies in the Scotch Highlands, which are 

 alluded to with admirable frankness, although 

 going so counter to the author's earlier work 

 and opinions. The wonderful epitome of his- 

 toric geolog}^ presented in Great Britain ren- 

 ders illustrations from other countries much 

 less necessary than they would be in any other 

 region of the same area, so that the work is 

 essential!}^ and intentionall}^ British in charac- 

 ter ; but the general discussions of the first 

 two-thirds of the volume make it a standard of 

 reference wherever geology is studied. Men- 

 tions of progress in this country are necessarily 

 brief, but they are well chosen and apprecia- 

 tive, from Whitney and Wadsworth's 'Azoic 

 system,' which is characterized as a ' full and 

 pungent discussion,' to Chamberlin's report on 

 the ' Terminal moraine,' — an ' admirable sum- 

 mary,' with which every student of glacial 

 geology ought to make himself familiar. 



The second volume of Giinther's ' Geo- 

 physik ' (Stuttgart, Enke, 1885) follows soon 

 after the first, which was lately noticed in Sci- 

 ence. The contents are, ' Terrestrial magne- 

 tism,' ' Atmospherology,' 'Oceanography,' and 

 the unnamed physical study of the dry land. 

 As in the first volume, the form of treatment 

 embraces a historj^ and discussion of every im- 

 portant question, with liberal references to the 

 literature of the subject. Under many head- 

 ings the discussion is necessarily brief, and 

 serves hardly more than to open and close the 

 question, without occupying a middle ground 

 concerned with details of fact ; but elsewhere, 

 when dealing with matters in which scientific 

 discussion is still active, — as the aurora, the 

 colors of the sky, hail, sun-spot cycles, varia- 

 tion of sea-level, and others, — there is fuller 

 consideration. The two volumes show a read- 

 ing of most extraordinary breadth and critical 

 power, and form a compendium that must be 

 indispensable to teachers and advanced stu- 

 dents. 



Dr. Partsch has completed a work begun 

 by his teacher and predecessor, Dr. Neumann ; 

 and the result of their joint labors makes a 

 comprehensive handbook on the physical geog- 

 raphy of Greece. Explorations in late years 

 by Austrian geologists, have given much ma- 

 terial for the description of its structural his- 

 tory, and the climatic chapter is made thorough 

 by aid from Dr. Hann of Vienna. Santorin 



receives a full account, although active volca- 

 noes were not known in Greece at the time of 

 its ancient flourishing. Earthquakes, on the 

 other hand, have always been common, and 

 the more important ones are described. Mod- 

 ern chronicles show certain periodicities in the 

 occurrence of Grecian earthquakes ; and this 

 makes the loss of the ancient catalogue by 

 Demetrius of Callatis all the more regrettable. 

 Forel's ingenious explanation is quoted for the 

 puzzling currents of Euripos ; the six-hour cur- 

 rents at time of new and full moon depending 

 on the tides from the larger basin to the south, 

 the two-hour currents at time of lunar quad- 

 ratures arising from the gentle oscillations 

 (seiches) of the smaller basin on the north. 

 A work of this monographic character is as 

 interesting a task as the student can set before 

 him. It brings him a wide range of acquaint- 

 ance with writings on subjects allied to those 

 he discusses, and in turn introduces him to a 

 larger circle of readers than is attracted by 

 most authors ; and this is especially true when 

 the task has been so well performed as in the 

 volume before us. It is as useful to classical 

 scholars and historians as to geographers and 

 naturalists. 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 



The recent rapid revolution in medical the- 

 ories regarding the nature of a large group of 

 diseases, has made antiquated the books which 

 only a short time ago were quoted as high 

 authority. A new text-book, therefore, by so 

 able and polished a writer as Professor Lieber- 

 meister, must be a welcome contribution to the 

 library of every medical student. The first 

 volume is devoted to that group of diseases 

 upon which is riveted the attention of all sani- 

 tarians, as well as phj-sicians, at the present 

 time. It deals with the infectious diseases, 

 and the story of the hidden mysteries of this 

 strange world of minute germs is told in a 

 fascinating manner. 



The word infection was originally applied 

 to every form of poisoning ; but it is now re- 

 stricted to the pollution of the body by a spe- 

 cial kind of poison, which has the property 

 of reproduction and self-multiplication to an 

 indefinite degree under favorable conditions. 

 This power of multiplication has long been 

 recognized in certain diseases, and has in for- 

 mer times led to the suspicion that the poison 

 of those diseases consisted of particular liv- 

 ing entities ; and recent investigations have 



Vorlesungen uber specielle pathologie und therapie. Von 

 Dr. C. LiEBERMEiSTBR. Leipzig, Vogel, 1885. 8°. 



