Ai'RiL 7, 1898] 



NATURE 



535 



development of chemistry is obvious, but it is somewhat 

 difficult to step back from what is now common-place 

 knowledge, to the standpoint of these early pioneers. 

 The paper of Scheele, although worded in terms of the 

 theory of phlogiston, is remarkable for its terseness and 

 lucidity, and for the clear and correct ideas expressed 

 upon the nature of the new gas. Indeed, if the word 

 hydrogen be substituted for phlogiston, Scheele's explan- 

 ation of the action of hydrochloric acid upon the black 

 oxide of manganese almost represents our present know- 

 ledge. Berthollet, on the other hand, writes very 

 voluminously upon a very slender experimental basis, 

 and as an ardent exponent of the views of Lavoisier, 

 ■concludes that chlorine gas is the oxide of an unknown 

 radical, and this fixed idea leads to quite erroneous 

 interpretations of observed facts. 



That the effect of a preconceived idea, however, is not 

 always prejudicial, is shown in the two lectures by Pasteur 

 on Molecular Asymmetry, which form the contents of the 

 second of the reprints under notice. Here Pasteur 

 distinctly states that but for his preconceived idea as to 

 the inter-relation of hemihedry and rotatory phenomena, 

 he would not have discovered the opposite hemihedry of 

 the paratartrate and tartrate of soda and ammonia ; a 

 difference missed by so careful an observer as Mit- 

 scherlich. 



The English translation of these famous lectures 

 possesses all the charm of the original. In them we have 

 a complete account of Pasteur's work on optically active 

 •compounds, and, as the editor states in the preface, it is 

 remarkable that the three ways of separating optical 

 isomers here described are still the only ones known, 

 and that there is scarcely a statement which would be 

 changed if the whole were to be written to-day. 



Practical Toxicology for Physicians and Students. By 

 Prof. Dr. Rudolf Robert, late Director of the Pharma- 

 cological Institute, Dorpat, Russia. Translated and 

 •edited by L. H. Friedburg, Ph.D. Pp. xiii -f- 201. 

 (New York : William R. Jenkins, 1897.) 

 The work before us is a translation of a book by Prof. 

 Kobert, the second edition of which was issued in 1887. 

 "While the author was engaged upon his " Lehrbuch der 

 Intoxicationen," by which he is for the most part known 

 in this country, and with which the present work must 

 mot be confused, he allowed the latter to run out of print. 

 In 1894 he wrote the third German edition, and it is 

 this which Dr. Friedburg has now translated and edited, 

 three years after its issue. As we have not had the 

 opportunity of seeing the third German edition of the 

 original, we are unable to measure either the quality or 

 ■extent of Dr. Friedburg's editing. With regard to 

 his translating, it is the worst which has ever come 

 under our notice. In fact the English language, in Dr. 

 Friedburg's hands, is extremely difficult to understand. 

 As this is a very strong statement it behoves us 

 to give an instance, which, by the way, is not the 

 worst we could find. Dr. Friedburg is speaking of a 

 rise of blood pressure of peripheral origin. " If this is 

 the case, the rise must obtain after the injection of the 

 poison into the blood of an animal even if the marrow 

 of the neck has been cut through and whose spinal 

 marrow has been drilled out." We quote this instance, 

 since it shows that the author is not only deplorably 

 ignorant of the English language, but has no knowledge 

 of the English equivalents of German physiological ex- 

 pressions. Dr. Friedburg's Latin is no better than his 

 English ; the plural of vagus is always written " vagii," 

 and so polymorphic is the declension of this noun that 

 we find the nominative singular written " vagis." 



To turn from the manner of the book to the matter, 

 it is undoubtedly full of information, and, if properly 

 translated by some one acquainted with pharmacological 

 method and the English language, would be valuable to 

 both the pharmacologist and toxicologist. F. W. T. 



NO. 1484, VOL. 57] 



What is Life ? or, Where are we f What are we ? 



Whence did we come ? and Whither do we go ? By 



Frederick Hovenden, F.L.S., F.G.S., F.R.M.S Pp. 



XI V + 290. (London : Chapman and Hall, 1897.) 

 Many matters are dealt with in this book, ranging from 

 the stellar universe to cell structure. About half the 

 text is made up of quotations from the writings and utter- 

 ances of men of science, distinguished and otherwise, 

 and the remainder consists of perplexing conclusions 

 which the extracts are held to support. Excessive zeal 

 is shown in establishing fundamental truths, but that may 

 be forgiven. It is when the author expands into the 

 ether, so as to embrace in his comprehensive idea such 

 diverse subjects as the Pentateuch and the currency ques- 

 tion, that we lose the connections of the argument. The 

 chief conclusions arrived at are stated in the following 

 words : — 



" From the combining power of the strongest species 

 of atoms under the influence of Ether, arises the form- 

 ation of cells. 



"Cells under the influence of the strongest cell group 

 themselves to form highly complex structures or organ- 

 isms, hence the most complex of all organisms — Man. 

 The activity of cells forms that activity we call Human 

 Life. Thus Life is the sum of the activity or energy of 

 molecules formed of atoms. 



" The power of the regeneration of molecules causes 

 regeneration of cells, and this causes regeneration of 

 Life. Life is eternal." 



La Tuberculose et son Traitement hygiinique. Par 

 Prosper Merklen, Interne des hopitaux de Paris. 

 Edited by Felix Alcan. Pp. 190. (Paris : Ancienne 

 Librairie Germer, Bailli^re et Cie.) 



This little book forms No. cxix. of the " Biblioth^que 

 Utile" series, and is certainly calculated to serve a 

 useful purpose. It addresses the public, and not the 

 medical profession. The nature of tubercular disease is 

 very clearly and accurately set forth m plain language, 

 together with its chief manifestations in man, and the 

 principles underlying its prophylaxis and treatment. It 

 is indisputably true that in the case of a preventable 

 disease like tuberculosis, which constitutes one of the 

 main scourges of civilised man, a dissemination of sound 

 knowledge on the subject is the first necessary step in 

 educating public opinion up to the hygienic require- 

 ments and sanitary restrictions which are demanded to 

 check its spread. The present brochure is a creditable 

 effort in this direction : the author has succeeded in 

 placing home truths on the subject in a very clear light, 

 and his remarks cannot fail to be of direct benefit to 

 the public. 



Marriage Customs in Many Lands. By the Rev. H. N. 

 Hutchinson, B.A., F.G.S. Pp. xii -\- 348. (London : 

 Seeley and Co., Ltd., 1897.) 



Mr. Hutchinson, forsaking geological subjects for a 

 time, presents in this volume a purely popular account 

 of the quaint customs connected with marriage in many 

 parts of the world. He has not attempted to discuss 

 the scientific questions relating to the history and origin 

 of human marriage, but has merely aimed at providing 

 the general public with readable descriptions of curious 

 nuptial ceremonies of various peoples and races. The 

 readers for whom the volume is intended will find much 

 to interest and amuse them in it ; and the excellent 

 illustrations — among the best of their kind — give the 

 book additional attraction. Authorities may not agree 

 with all Mr. Hutchinson says ; but, as the book is a 

 compilation, the mistakes are usually the mistakes of the 

 sources from which the information has been derived, 

 and the only criticism that can be offered is whether the 

 author has exercised sufficient discrimination in the 

 collection of material. 



