2o8 Analyses of Books. [March, 
only 126, or about 4 per cent, had lived there less than two 
years. 
The first assumption of theorists upon reading, in the “ Victo- 
rian Year-Book for 1878,” that phthisis had “ resumed its place 
at the head of the list of causes of death,” was that the influx 
of persons more or less affedted with tubercular disease would 
account for the increase ; but the figures of Dr. Thomson prove 
that this surmise is incorredt What dedudtion are we to draw 
from this ? The climate of Vidtoria is, theoretically, specially 
adapted for such as suffer from pulmonary complaints : neither 
the open spaces nor Eucalyptus trees are wanting, and the death 
rate in town is not strikingly greater than in the country. Thus 
during the year 1878, of all deaths from phthisis in Vidtoria, only 
thirty-six more occurred in town than in the country. From this 
it would seem that the influence of climate has been considerably 
over-rated when dealing with the etiology of phthisical disorders, 
and from hereditary transmission and non-contagion attention 
must be turned to generation and diredt contamination. In this 
research the worker may be aided by the recognised value of sea 
voyages, or the possible influence of bromine and iodine upon 
persons of scrofulous or consumptive tendency. By analogy it 
might be argued from this that the minute organisms giving rise 
to phthisis are parasitic, since bromine and iodine are most 
destructive to parasitic life of every form. 
The argument thus resolves itself into the question, Is phthisis 
a parasitical disorder ? If so, spontaneous generation, within the 
control of sanitation, and diredt contagion follow as inevitable 
corollaries. Whilst the pathology of the disorder remains as at 
present, so obscure, any indication of diredtion in research will 
be welcomed by scientific investigators. 
A Monograph of the Silurian Fossils of the Girvan District in 
Ayrshire. With Special Reference to those contained in 
the “ Gray Collection.” Fasc. II. By H. Alleyne Nichol- 
son, M.D., D.Sc., &c., and R. Etheridge, Jun., F.R.G.S. 
Edinburgh and London : W. Blackwood and Sons. 
We have here a continuation of the valuable monograph which 
we have previously had the pleasure of noticing. The present 
part is entirely occupied with the Crustaceans from the Silurian 
rocks of Girvan, and treats of the Trilobita, the Phyllopoda, the 
Cirripedia, and the Ostracoda. It is illustrated with six plates, 
and contains a table of the geographical distribution of the 
crustaceans in the Girvan district. 
