Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/289

Rh distinction from "town," studies early borough government in Germantown as the first borough organized in the State, and in Bristol as a type of the boroughs of the eighteenth century, and examines the character and the possibilities of the present borough.

the numerous essays printed in this volume many of which will undoubtedly prove enjoyable reading for the specialist are a few which will claim the interest of a wider circle.

"The Cultivation of Bacteria, and the Cholera Bacillus," by Lester Curtis, treats of the mode of growth and development of this peculiar bacillus that has of late created such a stir and commotion in the learned world abroad. The differences between the bacillus of Koch and that of Finkler-Prior, with which it was by some considered identical, are clearly pointed out. To the author, "the proof that this bacillus is unlike any other form, and is peculiar to cholera, seems conclusive." And further on he states, "That it is the cause of the disease seems to me scarcely less so."

Considerable comfort will be derived from the statement that cholera is a disease not contagious as small-pox and measles are; it is only caused by the bacillus gaining entrance to the intestinal canal, and can therefore, by simple precautions, be readily guarded against. Moreover, the germ is easily destroyed; exposure to superheated steam for half an hour or so will, it is claimed, cause its death. Cold will retard the development of these organisms, but does not kill them.

An article on "Poisonous Dried Beef," by H. J. Ditmers, seeks to ascribe to the presence of certain micrococci, of which a great number were found in the meat examined, the sickness caused by its consumption. That is to say, to these micrococci is ascribed the formation of the poisonous principle present.

From the fact that nearly all pathogenic bacteria are powerless to cause harm unless conditions suitable for their development are offered by the animal organism, the writer further infers that the beef in question was the flesh of some animal or animals that were in a dying, or else in a highly frenzied, condition when slaughtered. That the meat of an animal in such a condition is sometimes—not always—very poisonous, is a matter of record, and meat obtained from such a source should be condemned as unfit for food.

text-book is not designed for children, but for pupils well on in their teens and twenties. It is an attempt to apply what is known as the "Objective Method" of teaching science to the study of history. To this end, instead of memorizing the conclusions of others, the pupil is put in such relations to the data of history that he will draw his own conclusions. Temples, walls, aqueducts, pyramids, men have built; countries they have conquered, settled, abandoned; their laws, arts, literature, amusements, their heroes, enemies, gods, are the sort of "historical realities presented, with accompanying pictures, maps, stories, quotations, and facts. Questions and problems, such as will compel thought upon these data and their relations, are an important part of this unique plan of converting one of the last strongholds of rote-learning into a training of the reflective faculties."

present publication presents mainly studies and observations that were made in the years 1882 and 1883, with a few of a later date. The insect depredations during these two years were less than for the preceding year, and no formidable new pest was remarked as threatening any principal crops. The years, of late, the report adds, in which such additions have not been made, are unfortunately exceptional ones. The zebra-caterpillar was unusually destructive on mangold-beets. While the grasslands were relieved from the Vagabond Crambus which had visited them in 1881,