648 
Philippine Journal of Science 
Personal the work may seem at first glance because the 
authors are among those who have contributed most to an ex- 
plicit understanding of the problems that arise from modern 
theories of immunity and the reactions of defense of the organ- 
ism. Therefore, to study toxins and antitoxins from this point 
of view is largely to cite, and comment upon, their labors. 
We repeat, it is a personal work, in the sense that no theory, 
however classic, is advanced by the authors, unless based upon 
laboratory verification, or unless the problem has been studied 
from the beginning, so as to eliminate incorrect interpretations. 
It presupposes many years of patient labor and the use of 
technical resources of a laboratory which it would be difficult 
to find elsewhere than in the Pasteur Institute. This book, 
which is a compilation of many studies, is confined to 123 pages. 
A mere glance will suffice to show the great care expended upon 
the arrangement of the divisions, the subjects treated, and 
the wide range of theories and facts it embodies. 
Faithful to the classic method among masters of French 
science, and from which they rarely depart, the picture pre- 
sented to us by M. Nicolle and his coworkers is devoid of all 
extraneous considerations ; a large question is approached boldly 
and the authors go straight to the point without seeking sup- 
port or theoretical assistance in affiliated considerations. This 
is what makes the monograph, though so brief, a systematic, 
complete, objective, and instructive exposition of the problem 
of toxins. 
