Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/194

 tioD of (lain, joined to Ihc indiTtdiial rcsparches or a band of pnlhiisiastic students abroad, as well as in our own country, that we owe this the best worl< on preliistorie America that has yet been piiWished.

But whilst we thus gladly licar witness to the merits of this work, we must not forget the marks of carelessness which fVequently disfig- ure its pages. Quotations and references are incorrectly given. Writers whose statements are more than doubtfiil. are given a promi- nence which they do not deserve ; and there are assertions like the one (p. 82) as to the relative antiquity of the mounds in the South- ern States, which needs proof, or that on p. 381. in regard to ' tempering ' copjjer, which may or may not be true, depending on what is meant by the term. Finally, we must protest against the reference (p. 64) to the dogma of transub- stantiation. Mince that article of belief is held by rather more than half the Christian world, an offensive reference to it by the editor is not only uncalled for, but in excessively bu'l taste.

[The editor gladly inserts this review, writ- ten at hie solicitation ; but he docs so without committing himself to the advocacy of the views therein expressed, which seem to maintain the identity of all peoples that ever inhabited the American conlinenl up to the advent of Euro- peans. It seems to him that the progress of science demands that this should be looked upon as a question to which investigation may still be directed. While historical evidence, on which the reviewer lays such stress, un- doubtedly gives the clew to recent peoples, we must oeilainly depend on archeological re- search for the data by which to decide all ques- tions which concern the origin and relationship of those which preceded them.]

��In Germany there is no need that an official should be ignorant of the duties he has to per- form ; for, no matter in how restricted a sphere he has to work, there are extended treatises covering the exact points, with which he should be acquainted. In the volume which lies ire- fore us, the inspector of meat, or the veterina- rian who may be culled upon to decide upon the fitness of animal flesh for human food, would find a good practical guide to the work.

��The first part of the volume is devoted to s consideration of the morphology and chemistry of meat, with remarks on its general physiology and pathology. Then follow a practical de- scription of the different kinds of food aDiroaU, and the various methods of killing, and of cutting up and preserving the flesh. After tbi> is a chapter chiefly devoted to healthy meats and the changes which the different sorts undergo in digestion.

The last half of the Ixtok treats of diseased meat and the dangers of its use. In this lies the value of the work : as the special appeaty ances, and the methods for their detection, are given in connection with each disease, as well as the disorders which may arise in raan follow- ing their use as food, together with the means of prevention. Finally there is appended a digest of the laws of Germany and Austria regulating inspection.

The book is one which can scarcely be said to be of general scientific interest ; and, on ac- count of the language in which it is written, it will probably not bo widely read by the class of men in this country to whom it would be of the greatest value. From a i>ecuniary point of view, a translation of such a work would not pay here at present ; but from the economic interests which are connected with the subject, alid the great protective influence which a well- maintained inspection of meat through our country would exert u|}on the public healtli, au edition in English, translated and published under the auspices of the proper department of the national government, would be of great and peculiar interest in the hands of the proper officers of our local boards of health.

��Thr American society of microscopists has published the account of the meeting held last Angnsl at Kochester. The volume is a neat octavo of nearly three hundred pages, with a few plates, and appears in part as a memorial of the late II, B. Tolles, whose lithographic por- trait is prefixed to ilie titlepage. The portrait is such that its total absence will appear desir- able to many. The address of the president, J. D. Co.x, is substantially a review of the arrog.int and ignorant attacks which W^enham repeated during so many years against ToUes's wide-angle lenses ; and the contrast between

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