702 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



many figures of the apparatus employed. 

 Such manufactured products as glass, 

 matches, and gas are treated with similar 

 fullness. An example of the important arti- 

 cles that do not deal with technology is the 

 one on Fermentation. In this article the 

 difference between the organized and the 

 unorganized ferments is first set forth. The 

 organized ferments are then treated in the 

 three groups, molds, saccharomycetes, and 

 schizomycetes, and the ordinary methods of 

 cultivation and study are briefly described. 

 Next the various fermentations caused by 

 each of these three groups are discussed, 

 those induced by bacterial life being ar- 

 ranged in four subgroups, viz., fermenta- 

 tion by hydration, by decomposition, by re- 

 duction, and by oxidation. Putrefaction is 

 also considered in this article, and the clos- 

 ing section deals with soluble ferments. The 

 writer is Prof. Percy F. Frankland. Among 

 the contributors of other important articles 

 are Prof. P. P. Bedson (Lead), the late W. 

 Lant Carpenter (Glycerin), W. H. Deering, 

 of Woolwich (Explosives), J. J. LTammel 

 (Fustic, Indigo, Lakes, Litmus, Madder, etc.), 

 P. Warington (Artificial Manure, Nitrifica- 

 tion), and Prof. W. P. Wynne (Ketones, 

 Naphthalene). Among the chief articles 

 which are unsigned and hence presumably 

 by the editor are Ethyl Compounds, Fatty 

 Acids, Fluorine, Lactic Acid, Manganese, 

 Mercury, Milk, Milk-sugar, and Nitrogen. 

 The names of its editor and contributors are 

 a sufficient assurance that this dictionary 

 will take high rank as a work of reference. 



A History op Chemistry. By Ernst von 

 Meyer, Ph. D. London and New York : 

 Macmillan & Co. Pp. 55G. Price, $4.50. 



A large task has been thoroughly per- 

 formed in this work. The history begins in 

 the earliest times before the birth of al- 

 chemy and records the acquaintance of the 

 Egyptians with metallurgy and with other 

 technological chemical processes, and the 

 theorizing of the Greek philosophers in re- 

 gard to the elements of substances. It then 

 traces the progress of alchemy from its ear- 

 liest known manifestations in Egypt down 

 to the eighteenth century. A chronicle of 

 the iatro-chomicnl period follows, in which 

 Paracelsus, Van TTelmont, and Dele Boe Syl- 

 vius were the leading spirits. The next 



chapter deals with the period of the phlo- 

 giston theory, from Boyle to Lavoisier, and 

 the last division of the subject extends from 

 the time of Lavoisier up to now. The knowl- 

 edge of technological processes current in 

 each period is set forth in these several 

 chapters, and in the closing chapter the spe- 

 cial history of each of the chief divisions of 

 chemistry in the past hundred years is given. 

 The plan of the work involves a statement 

 of the attitude of each prominent chemist 

 toward the science of his time and its prob- 

 lems, and an estimate of the effect and value 

 of his work. This criticism has been con- 

 tinued even down to the investigators of re- 

 cent years. A controlling purpose of the 

 book is to describe the development of the 

 general doctrines of chemistry from their 

 earliest beginnings up to the present day, 

 and thus to give a comprehensive survey of 

 what is one of the most interesting pano- 

 ramas in the history of science. The follow- 

 ing extract illustrates the nature of the 

 book: 



Dumas did not scruple to say plainly that the 

 dualistic doctrine was harmful and retarded the de- 

 velopment of organic chemistry, and he made every 

 effort to set it aside and to replace it by the unitary 

 theory. His attack upon Berzelius's doctrine (at that 

 time held in high repute by most chemists) was 

 vigorously answered both by the latter and by Lie- 

 big. Liebis indeed admitted many points which 

 were disputed by Berzelius e. g , the fact of substi- 

 tutionbut he protested against Duinas's wide ex- 

 tension of this principle (of substitution). The as- 

 sertion of the latter that every element of a com- 

 pound might be replaced by another, and yet the 

 type be retained, wsb characterized by Liebig as en- 

 tirely unproved, and met with an ironical rejoinder. 

 Berzelius, who saw his whole system based upon the 

 electro-chemical theory threatened, directed his 

 criticism in the Jahresberichten for 183S and the 

 next five years or so against the theory of types. 



Missouri Botanical Garden. Second An- 

 nual Report. By William Trelease. 

 St. Louis: Published by the Board of 

 Trustees. Pp. 117, with Plates and 

 Plans. 



The first volume of the reports of this 

 institution, published in December, 1890, 

 having been primarily intended to give an 

 account of the establishment of the Garden 

 and School of Botany, the present volume 

 really begins the series of annual reports. 

 The estate, including Shaw's Garden, is val- 

 ued at $1,366,334. Much labor and money 

 have been spent in putting the premises in 



