NoVEMliER lO, 1910] 



NATURE 



changes in the number and arrangement of plates ; 

 the increasing complication of the ammonite sutures 

 is explained on the same ground. It is pointed out 

 that the multiplication in number of the sinupalliate 

 Lamellibranchiata in Cretaceous time and their further 

 acceleration in company with the Heterodont forms 

 in the Tertiary period correspond with the incoming 

 and continuance of freshwater conditions. In recent 

 times certain Lamellibranch species in the Black Sea 

 and Caspian Sea have wandered into brackish and 

 fresh water, and as a result there is an increase in 

 length of the siphon, a gaping of the shell, and the 

 formation of a mantle-sinus. 



The work has been written in the seclusion of an 

 Indian hotel without the immediate advantages of 

 close contact with the scientific world and its literature. 

 This explains to a great extent the semi-popular nature 

 of the book, and accounts, perhaps, for the omission 

 of a bibliography other than rare and general refer- 

 ences in the text. .\ division into chapters and the 

 inclusion of a more extensive index would have been 

 a decided improvement. Although controversial in 

 many of its statements, the contribution has the un- 

 doubted merit of arousing interest and thought. The 

 author appears to be a strong believer in the inherit- 

 ance of acquired characteristics, and is not inclined 

 to the assumption of an indwelling tendency towards 

 perfection in forms of life; the followers of Cope, 

 von Baer, Naegeli, and von Eimer would, therefore, 

 find much material for debate. The statement that 

 land or fresh- water animals and plants older than of 

 Tertiary age are not found in the earth clefts of 

 primary- and secondarv* formations is certainly errone- 

 ous. For instance, the teeth of Microlestes found bv 

 Charles Moore and submitted to Owen in 1858 came 

 from a Rhaetic breccia filling a fissure in the mountain 

 Limestone, near Frome, Somersetshire. 



Ivor Thomas. 



COMMERCIAL ORGANIC ANALYSIS. 

 Allen's Commercial Organic Analysis. Edited by 

 Prof. H. LefTmann and W. A. Davis. Vol. II., 

 Fixed Oils, Fats and Waxes, Soap, Glycerol, 

 Cholesterols, &c. Fourth edition, entirely rewritten. 

 Pp. x+520. (London: J. and A. Churchill, 1910.) 

 Price 2 IS. net. 



\J OST analysts are aware that a fourth edition of 

 ■i-'J- Allen's well-known work is in course of pre- 

 paration. Two of the eight volumes composing the 

 edition have now appeared, and a notice of Vol. I. 

 will be found in Nature of June 16 last. Two more 

 are announced for publication this year, and the 

 remaining four are promised without undue delav. 

 The plan of having both an American and an English 

 editor has been adopted, and articles are contributed 

 by writers from each side of the Atlantic. This seems 

 a sensible arrangement, as with comparativelv little 

 modification the book is made to serve the needs of 

 chemists in both countries. 



The volume now under review is much extended 



and improved as compared with its predecessor of the 



last edition. Mr. C. A. MitcheU is responsible for 



the opening section describing the general properties 



NO. 2 141, VOL. 85] 



of the fixed oils and fats, as well as the common 

 processes of analysis, whilst the special characters 

 of the individual products, and the particular methods 

 of examining them, are discussed by Mr. L. .\rchbutt. 

 Having regard to the scope of the book, both sections 

 appear to be very well done. As much trustworthy 

 information as could well be given in the space allotted 

 will be found in these two sections, and no point 

 of importance calling for adverse remark has been 

 noticed by the present writer in looking through a 

 number of representative pages. Perhaps the articles 

 on arachis oil, olive oil, and the beeswax group may 

 be singled out as good examples of compressed 

 essentials. Sometimes, indeed, the compression is a 

 trifle too marked. Many references, however, are 

 given to original papers, so that fuller details can 

 often be obtained. 



Certain products, including butter, soap, and 

 glvcerol, are each given a special section. Messrs. 

 Revis and Bolton have taken charge of the chapter 

 on butter fat. The\' have studied their subject well, 

 and, among other things, have grasped a fact which 

 seems to have puzzled some experts on butter analysis 

 — namely, that the addition of lard to butter may 

 produce a distinct (apparent) increase of the " Polenske 

 figure," which might be taken by the unwan,- as in- 

 dicating the presence of cocoanut oil. One or two 

 small errors have crept in ; thus the Zeiss values in 

 the first table on p. 290 are wrongly given as being 

 taken at 40° C. instead of 45°, and there are two 

 misprints in the second table on the same page. A 

 favourable opinion, based upon the authors' own ex- 

 periments, is expressed in reference to Lallemant's 

 "barium saponification" method of examining butter 

 fat. How far the commendation is deserved cannot 

 be judged from the particulars given. For example, 

 granted that the method detects cocoanut oil in butter, 

 it may yet be that the detection could be made just 

 as certainly and much more readily by older pro- 

 cesses. The really difficult problem is the recognition 

 of lard or beef-fat when present in butter, and it is 

 in the promise of this that the chief importance of 

 Lallemant's process lies. It will be interesting to 

 see how it stands the test of experience when applied, 

 on a sufficiently extended scale, to genuine butter 

 having Reichert-W'ollny values in the region of 23 

 and 24. 



Of Prof. LefTmann 's chapter on soaps and the other 

 special contributions it must suflRce to note that they 

 contain all that an analyst will generally require to 

 know on the subjects. They help to make the volume 

 a distinct improvement upon the former editions. 



C. S. 



THE SEVEN L.UIPS OF BIOLOGY. 

 Das System der Biologic in Forschung und Lehre. 

 Eine historisch-kritische Stttdie. By Dr. Phil. S. 

 Tschulok, Zurich. Pp. x + 409. (Jena : Gustav 

 Fischer, 1910.) Price 9 marks. 



THE author discusses at great length some of the 

 attempts that have been made to define the scope 

 of biology, and to indicate the logical sub-divisions of 

 the science. Starting with early workers like Ray, 



