LITERARY NOTICES. 



849 



first, time affects consciousness ; and it is finally 

 reflected back to the corpus striatum, whence 

 it goes down the motor fibers to perform what- 

 ever actions have been decided upou for it by 

 the conscious cells. 



Adolph Streckeu's Shout Text-Book of 



Organic Chemistry. By Dr. Johannes 



WlSLlCBNUS, Professor of Chemistry in 



the University of Wiirzburg. Translated 



and edited, with Extensive Additions, by 



W. II. Hodgkinson, Ph. D., and A. J. 



Greenaway, F. 1. C. New York : D. Ap- 



pleton & Co. Pp. 789. Price, $5. 



Let no one suppose that m this " short 



text-book " we have to deal with a primer. 



Everything is comparative, and the term 



" short " here has relation to the enormous 



development and extent of recent organic 



chemistry. This solid and comprehensive 



volume is intended to represent the present 



condition of the science in its main facts 



and leading principles, as demanded by the 



systematic chemical student. 



We have here, probably, the best extant 

 text-book of organic chemistry. Not only 

 is it full and comprehensive and remarkably 

 clear and methodical, but it is up to the 

 very latest moment, and it has been, more- 

 over, prepared in a way to secure the great- 

 est excellences in such a treatise. The orie- 

 inal " Text-Book of Organic Chemistry," by 

 Adolph Strecker, was a work of great merit, 

 which stood high in Germany, and passed 

 through several editions. The author was 

 vigilant in keeping it up to the time, and 

 was about to enter upon the preparation of 

 the sixth edition, making important changes 

 required by chemical progress, when his la- 

 bors were cut short by death in 1871. Pro- 

 fessor Wislicenus, the accomplished chem- 

 ist of Wiirzburg, was then induced after 

 considerable reluctance, owing to the press- 

 ure of his official duties, to undertake the 

 task which the author was prevented from 

 accomplishing. This was done in so thor- 

 ough a manner that, while much of Stack- 

 er's best work remained, it received a new 

 cast and a more perfect adaptation, both to 

 the state of the science and to the require- 

 ments of those for whom it was primarily in- 

 tended. So largely was the treatise impressed 

 by the originality of Professor Wislicenus 

 that it became generally recognized as his 

 work ; and, when it was proposed to repro- 

 duce the book in English, Professor Wisli- 

 cenus only consented on the condition that 

 vol. xx. 54 



the very latest results of research in organ- 

 ic chemistry should be embodied in it. He 

 stipulated that " regard shall be had to the 

 largely increased material and essentially 

 nearer insight into the relations and nature 

 of organic compounds already known, that 

 have been obtained since the publication of 

 the book." Drs. Hodgkinson and Green- 

 away seem to have faithfully carried out 

 this conscientious purpose of the author. 



It is not necessary to attempt here any 

 statement of the method or classification of 

 the book, as it would take more room than 

 we can give, and, after all, would concern 

 chiefly the special students of organic chem- 

 istry. The names upon the title-page are 

 the best guarantee of the character of the 

 volume, and an examination of its pages 

 shows that it has been executed with re- 

 markable clearness and accuracy. In regard 

 to the formula? based upon the atomic the- 

 ory which now play so prominent a part in 

 organic chemistry, Professor Wislicenus ad- 

 monishes students that they must be taken 

 with great reserve. On this point he says : 

 " In the present state of our science we can 

 not neglect the frequent use of structural 

 formulas based on the valency of the chem- 

 ical elements. Their partial uncertainty 

 and, in many points, tangible short-comings, 

 need not prevent their use to some extent 

 in a text-book, although their use requires 

 care. With regard to the manner of writ- 

 ing the constitutional formulae, no dogmatic 

 adherence to any single method will be 

 adopted, so that the formula of one and 

 the same substance may be found varyingly 

 written in different places. With every one 

 of these systems of formulas there is the 

 danger of substituting a concrete image in 

 place of an idea. These images we certainly 

 can not do without, but we must keep the 

 idea lying behind such an image as far as 

 possible pure, and also mobile, seeing that 

 in comparison with older views we have in 

 it only relative not absolute truth." 



Sensation and Pain. By Charles Fayette 

 Taylor, M. D. A Lecture delivered be- 

 fore the New York Academy of Sciences, 

 March 21, 1881. New York : G. P. Put- 

 nam's Sons. Pp. 77. Price, 75 cents. 



This interesting monograph is an impor- 

 tant practical contribution to what may be 

 called the science of illusions. It is a curi- 



