REVIEWS. 
411 
we think that it is yet almost too early to consider as decided the question 
as to how contagiousness arises. We ourselves imagine that there is more 
to be said in favour of the fungous origin of disease, though in certain cases 
it appears almost impossible to trace the connection between the disease 
and living contagious organisms. But unquestionably, if such are to be 
found, they will be found by Dr. Beale and those who work under similar 
conditions ; and they have not yet been discovered in particular cases. He 
believes, so far as we can see, that diseases are caught by the introduction of 
certain matter of an organic character, but not of the fungoid or algal 
nature. And, furthermore, he believes that these organisms, which are 
exceedingly minute, have not always existed, but have been called into life 
by the possible absence of hygienic care, which is too common among all 
large populations, and that they may be eventually banished after a couple 
of generations. It is this question which the book undertakes to deal with, 
and which is treated of lengthily in 450 pages of excellent type, accom- 
panied by 28 plates, in three colours, of the principal subjects, which the 
author thinks help to illustrate the subject. Altogether the book is an 
excellent one, written in a healthy, clear, and forcible style, and containing 
plates which find their equal in no microscopical publication on this side of 
the Channel. 
HALF-HOURS ON THE SHORE.* 
T HE love of natural history has now become so prevalent, at least among 
purely English readers, that we hardly meet a family at the sea-side, 
one of whose members has not some little knowledge of the wonders of the 
deep. Now, of course, this love of marine zoology is being vastly increased 
by the existence of the valuable Aquaria at the Crystal Palace and at 
Brighton. Still, however, notwithstanding the amount of admirable works 
on the subject, more especially the excellent treatises of Gosse and others, 
there was wanted a cheap form of book with good illustrations which should 
give a clear account of the ordinary creatures one meets with on the sands 
and in the rock pools. The want no longer exists, for the excellent little 
manual that now lies before us embraces all that could be desired by those 
who are entirely ignorant of the subject of sea-side zoology, while its mode 
of arrangement and woodcuts, which are carefully drawn and admirably 
coloured, combine to render it both attractive and useful. It is, as its name 
implies, divided into a number of chapters called half-hours, and which deal 
with the following subjects: — The Waves; Preparations; Sea- weeds; 
Sponges; Sea- worms; Corallines; Jelly-fish; Sea-anemones; Sea-mats and 
Squirts ; Sea-urchins and Star-fish ; Univalve Shell-fish ; Bivalve Shell- 
fish, and lastly Crustacea. Under these separate headings are given clear 
and accurate accounts of the several groups which are abundantly figured 
in 148 cuts. Finally the book is excellently printed in large clear type. 
* Half-Hours at the Sea-side ; or, Recreations with Marine Objects. By 
J. E. Taylor, F.G.S. London : R. Hardwicke, 1872. 
