I40 



NATURE 



[M. 



I'' H 



)' I 



chapter entitled "The Conquest of the Air," in which 



.iii'diints .ire <..;i\cn <i| lli.' I.itrsi |\[,t- ul dii i;;ililc- 



ll.lll' M lll-v .111(1 o| ,11 I . P|l|.ll|l-. 



in the ( mil liuiiiii; ( !i;i|ili r iln- .-iiillinr 



<li^llls^ thr ( lUMIli I'l 111. ; ill li ,1 1 !i .1 I , .\<. ■ . .^_ 



|M.illK iilK lll.il liii 111.,; iiT^il's 



<'l ill' riit;iiicc|- will 1m Ul .1 i!!,.iiir, M../.i|i|s till' 



||| iililtiii 1.1 llic ■• nlili-.ii i..ii ol ua^lc iiiati ri.ils .iiiil 

 waste Idicis." I lif .niilidi- siii;^;(-,K iliat in llu- 

 litilisalidii i>l llir lir.il and (■iiiil;\ i^Imii (Hil Ia' tlir 

 snn a -^olmiim ina\ l.r Idiiiid loi- ilic dirficnlU' winch 

 will ari--i' whii) iln' \\iiild\ coal ^U|)|)lv is cxliaus-a-d. 

 All siich piup(isai> arc, Iidwcmt, slill nicic ideas. 



I li'- anihui (il ihis Ikk.U s, i hinisclj' ,a diliiciilt l;isk, 

 and he has accomjilishcd il in ;i saiisf,ict()i \ in.ninci. 



T. W. V>. 



TECHNICAL MYCOLOGY. 



TccJniiral Mycology: The Vtilisation of Micro-Or- 

 giinis»is in the Arts and McuiKfacttircs : A Practical 

 Handbook on Fer))icnl(itii'ii (iiid Vfruunilativc Pr<i- 

 ccsses for the Use o} Brcnurs and Distillers, 

 Analysts, Technical and Agriculhiral Chemists, 

 Pharmacists, and all interested in the Industries 

 dependoit o)i Fernioitatitni. Hv Prof. F. Lafar. 

 Translated by Charles T. C. Salter. Vol. ii., 

 " Eumycetic Fermentation." Part ii. Pp. x + 

 igi-748. (London : C. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1910.) 

 Price 18.V. net. 



THOSE who worked with the first volume, and 

 the first part of the second volume of Lafer's 

 "Technical Mycology," have waited, with some little 

 impatience, for the appearance of the second part of 

 the latter volume. We have waited our seven years, 

 but have, at last, been rewarded by a work that will be 

 of considerable value to those who are working at 

 eumycetic fermentation, the consideration of which 

 is continued by Prof. Lafar and by a number of 

 experts, each of whom has undertaken to treat a part 

 of this question. 



In an introductory section Prof. Lafar himself takes 

 up the general question of yeast nutrition and yeast 

 culture, and brings his subject well up to date. An 

 interesting chapter on variability and heredity in Sac- 

 charomycetes may have a much wider bearing than in 

 its application to brewing. Our author points out the 

 importance of the presence of certain mineral food- 

 stuffs, and indicates the possible sources of organic 

 foodstuffs, laying special stress on the sources of 

 nitrogen and on the oxygen requirements of the 

 yeast cell. Here, in connection with Hansen's 

 experiments, he indicates the most favourable con- 

 ditions for cell reproduciion, ;ind the oxygen re- 

 quirements for both cell-reproduction and respira- 

 tion. Then follows a description of the effect of 

 copper and its salts, inorganic acids and salts, or- 

 ganic stimulants and poisons, and of alcohol itself 

 upon the yeast cells. Some part of this is repeated 

 by Albert Klocker, of Copenhagen, who, treating the 

 matter from a somewhat different point of view, gives 

 a very good account of the life-history and variability 

 NO. 2 161, VOL. 86] 



of the Saccharomycetes, and describe-, fundamental re- 



scati lies into the life-history of these organisms, tem- 



I I 1 \ \ Il i.iiiuiis, ,ind the production of sporing and 



i,; lciiiii>, and ilie di-veJojiment and mainten- 



ili'-i '. aiiiic. iiiiiiit v.ni.iiis definite c<»«''i'- 

 liuiis. i\|i.i I c-resting ■ 



lull cl.-issiiic.n i-Mi .;, IIP ..i;,,,ii. - .-..uiiiaromycetim-.t; 

 ,ind Sciii/os.iccli.ui .iiu ( cia( c.i-, which will prob- 

 ,ilil\ lie .111 .Miiiitid ( 1.1 --ilic.it ion : ■'' ■ 



conic. 



In a chapter 011 the Miorjiliology and hulxlivi>ion 

 of the famil} .\s|)ergillace;e, Prof. Carl VVehmer 

 ^ives an account of the s,ic( liarilication of starch, 

 acid fermentation, f(irm.iiii,r, <,f alri.lii,! and the 

 dci^^radation of pi > by the 



members of this cimii . sj,,,!,,, ai ncies are also 

 contributed by Prof. <■. I.ind.m on " Cladosporiutn 

 herbartitn and lhi)uiliu))i pnlluldiis " ; ])y I^r. H. Will 

 on "The Torul.K c;e, Pink \'i .ists and Ulack Yeasts"; 

 l)v Prof. Rich.ird .Mcis-,ncr on " Mycoderma or 

 ' .\Ioiher of \incw.ir • ■ ; i,y Prof. II. Miiller-Thurgau 

 on ■•'I'hc ilistor\, Mor|)liolo-y, .and Fermentation 

 j)hcnonicn;t of SneclnironiyLes cipitiiliii" • " : l.y Dr. H. 

 Wichiii.ann on tlie Monillae and <> :, in the 



section devoted to en/vmcs and en/\nie actions of 

 veast, h\ Dr. Rudolf K.ijjp on " Alcoholase," by Dr. 

 Arminius Bau on "The Chemistry of Alcoholic Fer- 

 mentation and on the Enzymes Decomposing the 

 various Sui^.ars " ; whilst Dr. I.af.ar and Dr. M. Hahn 

 close the work \\ ith a ch.apter on ■" Endotryptase and 

 Philothion." 



The new method of treatment, though it takes 

 away soincwli.ii from the continuity of the story, has 

 many adv.uil.ii^es in so far that each part is treated 

 bv a special aiitlunity, and has thus been brought 

 more fully up to date than would have been possible 

 had Dr. Lafar attempted to cover the whole ground 

 single-li.inded 



The sul)jecum,ittcr of the latter part of the work, 

 dealing with en/ymes and enzyme actions of yeast, has 

 passed through such rapid transformation within quite 

 rcK 111 y(,us, and is still being so highly developed 

 thai it would be impossible for any single writer to 

 keep pace with the enormous numbers of publications 

 tli.it have appeared, and to summarise at all ade- 

 quately tlie \\i)rk thus presented to botanists and 

 chemists. How difficult this would have been may be 

 gathered from the bibliography given at the end of 

 the book, a bibliography which covers more than 130 

 ])ages, each page containing from twenty to forty titles 

 of papers. In this volume is contained a very full 

 index of tlie whole work, without which the reader 

 will have some difficulty in gaining access to the 

 material contained in the earlier published volume and 

 p.irt. The translator has done his share of the work 

 well; the illustr.itions are good, and the general ap- 

 pe.uance of the book corresponds very closely to that 

 of the earlier is-nes. The oMnpleted work is f.ir more 

 valuable th.m it is in the individual parts, and we 

 strongly .advise those who take an interest in the 

 technical subjects dealt with in this part to read it, 

 and then keep it for reference alongside the others. 



