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is a decided gain to secure a good groundwork, and this is well provided for in this book, which is (

clearly written and well arranged. Artrocaces (Artritis Tuberculosas). Por el Doctor

D. RICARDO LozANO MONÓU, Zaragoza: Tipografia :de G. Casanal. Pp. (circa) 600. Price 15 pesetas.- Dr. Monz6u divides his work on tuberculousarthritis into two parts, general and special. InPart I. he opens with a brief introduction dealingwith the history of the subject, in which four

periods are recognised, an archaic period of con-fusion, a middle period of rudimentary differentialdiagnosis between tuberculous and other arthriticaffections, a modern period commencing with thediscovery of the tubercle bacillus by Koch and itsdemonstration in scrofulous joints, and the presentperiod of "therapeutic controversy." The remain-ing chapters of this division deal with etiology,pathological anatomy, symptomatology, prognosis,and treatment, general and local. To the

chapters on treatment are appended statisticaltables summarising the operative work of theauthor and of Dr. Rollier, of Leysin, up tothe end of 1913. Parts II., III., and IV. deal

respectively with tuberculous arthritic affections ofthe upper and lower extremities and of the trunk,each articulation being treated of individually. Abrief account is given in Part V. of tuberculous

polyarthritis or tuberculous rheumatism of Poncet.A useful bibliography completes this portion of thebook, the remaining pages being devoted to illus-trations, of which there are no fewer than 196.

Clean Water and How to Get It. By ALLENHAZEN. Second edition, revised and enlarged.London: Chapman and Hall, Limited ; New York:John Wiley and Sons. 1914. Pp. 196. Price 6s. 6d.net.-This book contains interesting statistics inconnexion with questions of communal water-

supply. General principles of course apply to

every country. The references here given are

limited to the water undertakings in the UnitedStates, but valuable lessons are given to all waterengineers and public health authorities. We spokefavourably of this book on the occasion of the firsiissue in 1907. It has now been brought up to dateand into line with the progression made in waterengineering schemes.

JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES.

British Journal of Ticberculosis.-In the January number Dr. Kenneth Fraser discusses, in a commended M.D. Thesisof the University of Edinburgh, early pulmonary tuber-culosis in childhood. On the basis of an examination of

approximately 300 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, mostlyincipient, among 29,750 elementary school children inCumberland, an investigation was conducted into ageincidence, weight and nutrition, the meaning of nightsweats, the occurrence of cough, the pathological conditionof the lungs, the detection of pulmonary dulness, the

presence of accompaniments, and the character of breathsounds. In relation to children Dr. Fraser suggests theexpression inadequate increase of weight in place of failureto put on weight or loss of weight, for ’’ physiologically eventhe phthisical child is automatically increasing in weight yearby year." Among his conclusions he considers inadequateincrease of weight as very suspicious ; defective nutrition asprobably the earliest indication of tuberculous infection ;inequality of breath sounds as a very early indication, ofwhich friction and fine crepitations are the most significantaccompaniments, though all accompaniments are suspiciousif persistent and especially if localised.-Mr. H. MorristonDavies discusses the surgical aspects of pulmonary tuber-culosis, immobilisation of the lung and obliteration of

cavities, and the selection of cases suitable for treatment by,

nmobilisation,-Mr. Harold Barwell reviews recent viewsn laryngeal tuberculosis, Mr. Godfrey B. Dixon considershe domiciliary treatment of tuberculous patients, and Dr.Villiam Cox discipline and recreation in the sanatorium.-)r. Thomas D. Lister in an illustrated article describes anapparatus for the production of artificial pneumothorax,)ased on that of H. de Carle Woodcock, of Leeds, oxygen)eing added to the nitrogen used in the former.Science Progress.-The January issue, after an article

)n Militarism and Party Politics, contains a svmpatheticcriticism by Mr. H. G. Plimmer, F.R.S., of Mr. T. A.Cook’s book, "The Curves of Life," which was reviewed.n our columns recently.-Miss L. S. Stebbing repliesto Dr. C. A. Mercier’s article in the October issueon Some Logical Impossibilities, suggesting that the

syllogism is not the exclusive form of all argument ; and,secondly, that Dr. Mercier’s non-syllogistic arguments aremerely syllogisms in disguise, depending for their validityon an unexpressed but necessarily implied proposi-tion.-Mr. Hugh Elliot presents us with a surveyof the problem of vitalism, showing the ground alreadytraversed by controversialists, examining the types of

arguments used, and estimating the position now reached.His trend is mechanistic.-Mr. Allan Ferguson discussesCapillary Constants and their Measurements, and suggeststhat, inasmuch as in a large number of papers deal-

ing with this subject the multitude of units in whichsurface tensions are given causes a great deal of trouble,much labour would be saved to those engaged in comparingthe accuracy of different methods and searching for generalresults connecting capillarity and constitution if capillaryconstants were invariably expressed in C.G.S. units-surfacetensions in dynes per centimetre, and specific cohesions insquare centimetres.-Mr. J. N. Pring, in a paper on theFormation of Ozone in the Upper Atmosphere and itsInfluence on the Optical Properties of the Sky, considerscertain factors which determine the optical properties of theatmosphere, and discusses the chemical estimation anddistinction of some constituents of the atmosphere, theaction of ultra-violet light on air, the estimation of ozonein the atmosphere at high altitudes, and the influenceof ozone on the nature of light from the sky.-Dr.F. W. Edridge-Green discusses colour vision and colourvision theories, including the theory of vision, and

incidentally enters a very cogent protest against theoflicial scientific methods of accepting or rejecting papers.—-A paper on the International Struggle for Manufactures asIllustrated by the History of the Alum Trade, by Mr. RhysJenkins, is followed by an illustrated article by Mr. C.Edward Wallis on Ancient and Modern Dentistry, whichcontains considerable interesting material. It should bementioned that in the notes following the articles,is one onthe Society of Members of the Royal College of Surgeons ofEngland, with an exposition of its aims, and a statement

British Journal of Inebriety.-The principal feature ofthe January number is an article by Dr. R. Armstrong-Joneson Drug Addiction in Relation to Mental Disorder. Theauthor considers the question in the light of his experienceas an asylum physician, basing his remarks on observationsof some 40 cases of drug-takers in whom mental deteriora-tion reached the degree of certifiable insanity. With regardto such cases, as with the similar cases of alcoholicintemperance, the question naturally arises whether the drug.habit is to be considered as the cause or the consequence ofthe mental disorder. Dr. Armstrong-Jones’s reply to this ques-tion is that while in most, if not in all, instances a certaindegree of nervous abnormality must be admitted as an ante.cedent condition, it is clearly evident, on the other hand,that without the aggravating influence of the intoxicationthe graver destructive changes in the neurotic organisationwould not have occurred at all, or, at all events, would havebeen much later in developing. And this fact is of practicalaccount, for the reason that abnormal individuals of thisclass frequently possess, by virtue of their very abnormality,special endowments, notably in the way of artittic and

literary aptitudes, which give a high social value to theirwork. In agreement with the majority of observers, Dr.

Armstrong-Jones finds that opium or some derivative of

opium, generally morphia, is the most important of the

habit-forming drugs. Next in order of frequency come thenew synthetic sedatives, amongst which veronal is especially

240

prominent. In several instances the drug habit appears t(have been initiated by the use of quack remedies, such avarious patent headache powders " and nerve tonics.’Most of the patients were brain-workers, and more

than one-third of them were doctors or nurses. The

average age on admission under asylum care was 4Cyears for males and 43 for females. With regard tothe mental symptoms which the patients presented,the most interesting points to note are the promi-nence of disorders of conduct and moral sense andthe frequency of suicidal tendencies, which were observedin 57 per cent. of the cases. The paper concludes with an

emphatic appeal for a more effective control of the sale ofdangerous drugs.-Dr. Mary Scharlieb, Sir George Savage,and several other physicians contribute brief comments onthe points discussed by Dr. Armstrong-Jones, and expresstheir complete concurrence with his plea in favour of

legislative action to check the evil of habitual drug-taking.-A short article by Mr. John Newton notes with approval theaction of Russia in prohibiting the sale of vodka during thewar, and quotes journalistic evidence as to the good effectsthat have followed this measure.

K,no7vledge.-A note in the January issue on obtain-ing chlorophyll and phycoerythrin from red seaweeds

appears under the name of Mr. W. B. Grove, and amongthe correspondence is a letter asking whether it is not

possible to find a process by which the wool for woollenfabrics may be made not only aseptic but antiseptic. The

query is suggested by the statement that in the present warwhenever serge from the clothing is carried into wounds byshell fragments the wound is more septic than is usually thecase when it is similarly contaminated by shreds of linen.

PLAGUE INVESTIGATIONS IN INDIA.1

NINTH REPORT.THE Advisory Committee appointed by the Secretary of

State for India, the Royal Society, and the Lister Institute have recently issued their ninth report on plague investiga-tions in India. In continuation of previous inquiries directedto find out the reasons why some parts of India havesuffered less from plague than others, the circumstances ofthe Madras Presidency were specially investigated. In a

previous report the comparative immunity of the city ofMadras from plague was considered, and in the presentinquiry the conditions of some other parts of the Presidencywere examined by Major J. C. Kunhardt, I.M.S., andCaptain J. Taylor, I.M.S., who were assisted in the work byfive assistant surgeons of the Indian Medical Service.

E pidemiological Observations in the Madras Presidency.The portions of the Presidency specially inquired into

were : (1) the Bellary district, the Mysore plateau, and theNilgiri Hills, which had suffered severely from plague ;(2) a zone, which had suffered but slightly from plague,lying immediately below and around the above-mentionedareas ; and (3) the east coast and southern part of the

Presidency which had escaped the ravages of the disease.A full description of these areas is given, including theirphysical features, climatic conditions, distribution of plague,rat and fiea prevalence, susceptibility of the local ratsto the infection, and other matters. 90 per cent. ofthe plague deaths in the Madras Presidency were foundto have occurred in certain districts which immediatelyadjoin infected areas in the Bombay Presidency and theState of Mysore. In some years when the temperature hasbeen lower and the humidity higher than normal plague hasextended to places immediately adjacent to the infectedareas of the Madras Presidency mentioned above, and seriousepidemics have developed in certain municipal towns, whilethe disease in the surrounding villages had generallybeen mild. Although the disease has invaded the Pre-

sidency, it has shown little tendency to spread beyondthe limits already indicated. While the districts whichsuffered the most have the characteristic in common thatthey are in closest proximity to infected areas outside the

Presidency, they also resemble each other in being the most

1 The Journal of Hygiene. Plague Supplement IV. Being the NinthReport on Plague Investigations in India. Issued by the AdvisoryCommittee. The Cambridge University Press. January, 1915. Pp. 109.With maps and charts and 4 plates. Price 7s, net.

) elevated and coolest parts of the province. A low-lyingscomparatively hot and dry plain separates the areas at present’ infected from the more humid and cooler coastal regions.Plague has rarely occurred on the east coast; but on thewest coast the seaport towns of Mangalore and Calicut,) which have intimate trade relations with Bombay, have

suffered from the disease. It appears then that the

proximity to infected areas and the facilities forcommunication with them have been of more import-ance in determining plague incidence than climate in

the Bellary district. Kurnool, with a similar climatebut more distant from infected centres, and havingalso less rapid and efficient means of communication, hassuffered but little. On the other hand, plague has beensevere in the Nilgiris where the population is scattered andthe means of communication are indifferent, but where theclimate is very favourable for the spread of the disease.The number of fleas found on rats depends to a great extenton the climate. Experiments showed that rats caught inplaces in Madras which have been free from plagueepidemics are very susceptible to the infection, and this is afavourable factor for the development of plague. The exist-ence of such susceptible rats at present in certain placesin India, now that plague has continued there for a seriesof years, indicates that conditions exist in such placeshindering the successful implanting of infection in them. Itis difficult to determine what these conditions are, but theinvestigators are inclined to attribute this comparativeimmunity to the warm climate obtaining over the greaterpart of the Presidency. As plague is carried from place toplace in the bodies of infected fleas any local conditions

affecting survival of these insects, apart from a host, are ofimportance in determining the liability of the neighbourhoodto plague. When separated from their host rat fleas

speedily succumb to the combined effects of a high tem-perature and drying. Unfavourable conditions of this kindare found in the hot and dry plains separating the coolerand moister sea-coast districts from the existing plague in-fected areas in the Presidency. This region breaks the chainof communication between the infected area on the west andthe cooler regions of the east coast. As no satisfactoryharbour exists on the east coast of the Presidency where shipscan discharge cargoes there are few facilities for the landingof infected rats. The physical features and climate of theMadras Presidency, therefore, have an important influence inlimiting the distribution of plague in it.

Experimental Researches.Dr. Sydney Rowland, of the Lister Institute, carried out a

number of valuable researches, details of which are given in thereport, relating to plague, including further experiments onvaccination against a body strain of plague ; immunisationbypseudo-tubercle ; immunisation by living avirulent cultures;the influence of race on the efficiency of antigen ; the failureto vaccinafe against a virulent body strain even with an

antigen prepared as far as possible under body conditions ;the protection and curative value against infection with aserum race of plague, of the serum of a horse immunisedwith nucleo-protein extracted from a strain of plagnebacilli propagated on serum protein ; and lastly, ultra-violetlight as a germicide in the preparation of plague vaccine.

Entomological Investigations.Mr. A. W. Bacot, entomologist to the Lister Institute, made

a series of observations on the length of time that fleas

(Ceratophyllus fasciatus) carrying bacillus pestis in their

alimentary canals are able to survive in the absenceof a host and retain the power to re-infect withplague. He also contributes to the report some further noteson the mechanism of the transmission of plague by fleas.He supplies, likewise, some notes, with two illustrative

plates, on the development of bacillus pestis in bugs (Cimexlectularius) and their power to convey infection. He foundthat the development of B. pestis within the crop of bugsdiffers generally from that which takes place in the stomachof the flea in respect of its slower and looser growth, thislimitation of activity being accompanied by, and possiblydue to, the preservation of the structural character of the

’

blood for many days after its ingestion into the crop. Theabsence of any definite valve between the pump and thecrop, together with the looser nature of the growth withinthe bug, preclude the idea of such mechanical blockage ascauses regurgitation and mouth infection by fleas. ’