I40 



NATURE 



[NOVELIBER 30, It) 1 1 



leads the true philosopher, in Sir John nerschel's 

 words, "to hope all things not impossible and to 

 believe all things not unreasonable." 



The scientific mood, aim, and method are described 

 by Prof. Thomson and illustrated by apt quotation 

 from the works of active investigators. The. relations 

 of science to philosophy, art, religion, and practical 

 life are dealt with-; and the classification of the 

 scienc s the subject of a particularly valuable 



chaptd appropriate in a " Home University 



Library, m-- readers are assumed to come to the 

 university with a certain foundation of preliminary 

 knowledge; otherwise such a reference as that to 

 " Bode's law of the relations of the planets, or 

 Mendel^eff's ' periodic law ' of the relations of the 

 atomic weights of the chemical elements " would be 

 unintelligible. Given this acquaintance with the broad 

 principles of science, we can conceive no better first 

 survey of the significance of scientific work than that 

 which Prof. Thomson provides. 



(2) Mr. Hinks has produced a volume which is 

 decidedly superior to most popular books on astronomy, 

 inasmuch as it is not merely a descriptive catalogue 

 of the characteristics of celestial bodies, but a state- 

 ment of leading results and a critical analysis of con- 

 clusions. The book breathes the spirit of the prac- 

 tical astronomer who can form his own opinion as 

 to the value of observations and hypotheses. It 

 suffers by comparison with some other volumes on 

 account of the absence of illustrations; nevertheless, it 

 is decidedly original in substance, and the most read- 

 able and informative little book on modern astronomy 

 we have seen for a long time. 



Physikalischc Chemie der Zelle tmd der Gewehe. 



By Prof. Rudolf Hober. Dritte Auflage. Pp. xv + 



671. (Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 191 1.) Price 17.25, 



marks. 

 This third edition of Dr. Hober's well-known work 

 on t-he physical chemistry of the cell and tissues is 

 widely different, both in extent and quality, from the 

 modest little volume which first appeared in 1902, and 

 interested physiological chemists as the evangel of the 

 new lipoid theory of cell permeability promulgated by 

 Overton and Hans Meyer. 



Since that time the chemistry of colloids and of the 

 relationships of colloids and crystalloids has made 

 enormous strides, and the new edition is now in 

 reality an interesting and fairly well up-to-date text- 

 book of this domain of knowledge. It still shows, 

 however, on account of the way the lipoid theory 

 keeps cropping up everywhere, manifest traces of its 

 origin, and the author is still an earnest and whole- 

 hearted believer in an ingenious theory which has 

 not stood the test of advance of time and growth of 

 knowledge. 



Even this sturdiest champion of the lipoid theory 

 is driven now to admit that the experimental findings 

 can only be explained by following Nathansohn's pos- 

 tulations of a mosaic cell-membrane, in which the 

 small stones represent the lipoids and the interstitial 

 material, a protoplasmic cement which allows a vary- 

 ing degree of permeability to the ions. This is 

 accordingly a kind of dual Maxwell's demon mem- 

 brane, with one kind of demon at one kind of gate 

 letting through the lipoid-soluble bodies, and a 

 different class of demon at a different sort of gate 

 letting through the water-soluble bodies, and those 

 who desire salvation for the lipoid-theory by leaving 

 it in possession of these two demons may be con- 

 gratulated on having placed it where it is well-nigh 

 unassailable, unless, indeed, someone discovers a 

 , substance which is soluble neither in water nor lipoids 

 and yet can contrive to get into cells. 



NO, 2196, VOL. 881 



The portions of the book which do not treat 

 cell permeability are well and clearly written, ;i 

 give a full presentation of the subject, which may 

 recommended for study to those interested in ; 

 confines of physical and bio-chemi.stry who poss- 

 already some acquaintance with both subjects. It i> 

 not f)y any mmns a book for beginners. 



Bbnjamin MooRr 



Geologische Ausftiige in der Mark Brandenbure. 



K. Hucke. Pp. 155. (Leipzig : Quelle und Mf > 



1911.) Price 3.20 marks. 

 This guide for the geological student and tout 

 printed in the popular black-letter type of nortl 

 Germany, should find a ready appreciation am 

 those who travel round Berlin. The descriptions 

 the various excursions are clear, and there is a to 

 of Walther's vividness here and there, as in 

 account (p. 13) of the general landscape on the v, 

 drawal of the "inland ice." Not enough is m. 

 perhaps, of the probability that large areas of 

 ice stagnated in the plain, and that the withdra 

 which deposited the ground-moraine, was mainl\ 

 a vertical direction. 



The index does not always guide us to the atti 

 live generalisations which the book contains, s' 

 as the origin of the numerous lakelets and 

 ancient courses of the streams (p. 107). W 

 the visitor, however, reaches a critical district 

 is encouraged to look beyond the immediate 1. 

 scape. Formations concealed at the surface 

 sought in quarries underground. An interest 

 account is given (p. 121) of the interglacial bed of 

 ochre near Dahnsdorf, resulting from the oxidn 

 of dark green iron carbonates and humates. Ti 

 were deposited by water, and were subsequently ; 

 served by boulder-clay, as a stratum 30 metres thick. 

 The dry channels known as Rummeln (p. 136) in the 

 elevated region of the Flaming south of Berlin 

 attributed to torrents from the melting ice. A 

 interest is thus given to these pleasant features > 

 land that often seems monotonous. We are told • 

 the horizontal sheep-tracks along their sides (Fig. 

 have been regarded as river-terraces. 



In the gloom of the level forest-covered region* 

 huge Scandinavian erratics form features of tl 

 selves (Fig. 32). The numerous photographs • 

 illustrate this handy volume are mostly provider, 

 the author, who has certainly shown the wide vaii- iv 

 of deposits that may be studied in the Mark of 

 Brandenburg. G. A. J. C 



Playbooks of Science : Chemistry and Chemical Ma 

 Pp. 150. Mechanics and Some of its Mysteries. 

 Pp. 120. Flying and Some of its Mysteries. Pp. 

 138. All by V. E. Johnson. (London : H- 

 Frowde, Hodder and Stoughton, 1912.) V 

 IS. 6d. each. 

 Boys who are thoroughly interested in a well-chi 

 hobby are the cause of much less anxiety to t 

 parents and teachers than those who are conter 

 idle away leisure hours. The author of these ' 

 books has for his primary aim the provision of in: 

 gent amusement, and on the whole he has made a 

 successful appeal to the desire young people have " to 

 try things." " Never be content merely to read about 

 an experiment " is the advice offered at the beginning 

 of each book, and it is probable that many boN's will be 

 led from the performance of the tricks described to 

 the serious study of the phenomena obser\'ed. 



The two books named first are almost wholly devoted 

 to experiments, while the third is largely. a descriptive 

 account of the various attempts to evolve the perfect 

 flying-machine. 



