November ii. 1897] 



NATURE 



29 



soldered into a hole in the tin can, instead of using the 

 obvious two-holed cork which will carry both the safety 

 tube and the exit tube. 



In spite of these faults, however, the book will no 

 doubt be of some use both to teachers and students of 

 practical organic chemistry classes. N. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Ntg/i/s with an Old Gunner, and other Studies of 

 Wild Life. By C. J. Cornish. With illustrations. 

 Pp. xii + 307. (London : Seeley and Co., Ltd., 1897.) 

 Mr. Cornish's books are widely known, and thoroughly 

 deserve their popularity. He delights in the observation 

 of live animals, especially birds ; he describes with detail, 

 yet with animation ; and his sketches are rich in human 

 interest. Few better books could be offered to a young 

 fellow fond of nature, but not loving to take his pleasure 

 too seriously. They inspire the love of close observation, 

 and will help to make naturalists of a particularly good 

 kind — men who will study their animals alive, and 

 amidst natural surroundings. The illustrations are 

 attractive, and some of the photographs from life in- 

 cluded in this volume are acquisitions to natural history. 

 Critics are bound to be critical, and we shall notice the 

 trifling matters which we would see amended in another 

 edition. A naturalist, bred in another part of England, 

 may be puzzled by such local words as " marrum grass," 

 "crab grass," and "king crab." The present writer 

 wants to know what they are, but cannot easily find out. 

 The comparison of the shrimp and prawn (p. 87) is not 

 exact, and we are startled to read of the hundred mouths 

 of the sea-anemone (p. 81). A little more information 

 might have been given about the food, and especially 

 about the winler-food, of the beaver. This would have 

 led to an explanation of the purpose of the dam. But 

 Mr. Cornish does not attempt to tell all ; what he tells 

 is told so pleasantly that we long for more. L. C. M. 



Untersifchungen iiher den Bau der Cyanophyceen und 



Bakterien. By A. Fischer. Pp. 132, and 3 plates. 



(Jena: G. Fischer, 1897.) 

 This little volume is very full of information on methods 

 of fixing and staining, and on the results of high power 

 observations of these minute organisms. Fischer's 

 principal conclusions are that staining depends on 

 physical and not chemical properties of the dyes and 

 cell-substances, and consequently there are no such ' 

 things as nuclear stains. ■ 



That the cell of the Cyanophyceae consists of a central 

 body clothed with a true chromatophore and devoid of 

 a nucleus. i 



That neither the sulphur-bacteria nor the other 

 schizomycetes examined contain a nucleus, and that the , 

 interpretation of bacteria as composed of a nucleus 

 denuded of protoplast is incorrect. Also that "Die i 

 Starke Farbbarkeit der Bakterien mit Kernfarbstoffen 

 ist ein Mythus." 



With regard to these and many other points concern- 

 ing the structure of the bacterium cell, it would appear 

 probable that Biitschli — whose conclusions are especially 

 criticised — should have something to say : and judging 

 from certain extremely pretty preparations of Tolypothrix 

 which Dr. Scott exhibited a few years ago, and "from 

 recent work by Mr. Wager on the nuclei of bacteria, it 

 may be that Fischer's interpretation of the stained 

 groups of chromalin-like filaments, granules, &c., as 

 "probably reserve materials," will not be accepted 

 as final. 



In any case, the work is a most acceptable contribution 

 to the controversy on this extremely difificult subject, and 

 two of the three plates 'suggest the question why can we 

 so rarely have English memoirs so well illustrated ? 



NO. 1463, VOL. 57]" 



Electricity and Magnetism for Beginners. By F. W. 



Sanderson. Pp. ix -f- 244. (London : Macmillan and 



Co., Ltd., 1897.) 

 This little book is "intended to form a first course for 

 boys who have already learnt the elements of mensur- 

 ation, statics, dynamics, and heat " ; the object being 

 "to introduce the student to the principal laws of" 

 electricity and magnetism, "and give him a working 

 knowledge of the quantities involved." 



This object is, on the whole, well attained, though we 

 cannot help thinking that the book would be more 

 valuable to beginners if it covered less ground, and dealt 

 with the elementary portions at somewhat greater length. 



The experiments described are well chosen and well 



arranged. It is intended that the student shall repeat 



I them himself, and for this purpose they are admirably 



j adapted, the apparatus required being of the simplest 



character. The diagrams, too, are excellent, both in 



execution and design. 



Each chapter ends with a set of numerical examples. 



Altogether, a boy who has mastered the book will 

 possess a very creditable acquaintance with the elements 

 of his subject. A. P. C. 



Organic Chemistry for the Laboratory. By Prof. W. A. 



Noyes, Ph.D. Pp. xi -I- 257. (Easton, P. A. : Chemical 



Publishing Company> 1897.) 

 In this attractive-looking and admirably printed work 

 the chief practical methods of modern organic chemistry 

 are illustrated by directions for the preparation of a 

 large number of compounds by means of typical 

 reactions. The various substances involved are classi- 

 fied according to their constitution, one chapter of the 

 book dealing with acids, another with hydrocarbons, 

 &c., and in all cases the chemistry of the reactions 

 is discussed. Nearly a hundred different preparations 

 are described, some of them of considerable difficulty ; 

 but in all cases the directions are clear and sufficient, 

 without being unnecessarily detailed, whilst copious 

 references to original literature are given. The book 

 is intended to serve both for advanced students and for 

 beginners ; but, like many other works on the same 

 subject, it is somewhat lacking in suitable experiments to 

 illustrate the earlier portion of the lecture course from 

 which the student derives his acquaintance with the 

 theoretical side of the science. A. Harden. 



The Reliquary and Illustrated Archceologist. Edited by 

 J. Romilly Allen. New series, vol. iii. Pp. 256. 

 (London : Bemrose and Sons, Ltd., 1897.) 

 This fine volume does credit to British archteology. It 

 is made up of the four quarterly numbers issued this year, 

 and is the most attractively illustrated publication that 

 has come before us for some time. The periodical is, to 

 quote the sub-title, "devoted to the study of the early 

 Pagan and Christian antiquities of Great Britain ; medi- 

 aeval architecture and ecclesiology ; th development of 

 the arts and industries of man in the past ages ; and the 

 survivals of ancient usages and appliances in the 

 present." The volume has thus a very comprehensive 

 scope, and it contains articles of interest to every 

 archcEologist, numerous critical reviews, and notes on 

 archaeology and kindred subjects. 



The Commercial Uses of Coal Gas. By Thomas Fletcher, 

 F.C.S. Pp. 104. (Warington, Manchester, and London: 

 Fletcher, Russell and Co., Limited). 

 Gas engineers and fitters will find this little volume, 

 which is a supplement to one on " Coal Gas as a Fuel," 

 worthy of attention. The book contains many notes 

 which will be found particularly serviceable in workshop 

 practice, and in the laboratory as well. One of the 

 chapters " On the Use of the Blowpipe," for workshop 

 purposes, deserves special mention. The book may be 

 taken as a statement of the advantages of coal gas as 

 a fuel. 



