November 17, 19 10] 



NATURE 



7L 



presence of a very much larger percentage of dis- 

 sociation"; and on p. 432, "The reader will have no 

 difticultv in comprehending- books that still use the 

 nomenclature of the theory of electrolytic dissociation 

 bv remembering that the term ion as used in express- 

 ing chemical change means the same as atom or 

 radical " {sic). 



The periodic law is discussed in Chapter XX., but 

 in the arrangement of the descriptive matter it is 

 • ntirely ignored. This is a great drawback, as in- 



rganic chemistry without the periodic law and the 

 i mic hypothesis becomes a mere jumble of discon- 



lected facts, difficult to remember, and still more 

 difficult to assimilate. Otherwise the book contains 

 as much pure chemistry as a student of medicine or 

 engineering, who can devote only one year to the 

 subject, requires. There are also short accounts of 

 the chief processes in applied chemistr}\ 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 <nper-organic Evolution. Nature and the Social 

 Problem. By Dr. E. Lluria. With a preface by 

 Dr. D. Santiago Raman y Cajal. Translated by 

 Rachel Challice and D. H. Lambert. Pp. xix + 

 233. (London : Williams and Norgate, 1910.) Price 

 js. 6d. net. 

 "Man is a product of universal mechanics." 



" The solution of the social problem is contained in 

 the law of evolution." 



"There exists an irrefragable law which has made 



man out of a conglomeration of matter, and this same 



law, sooner or later, will have to be followed, in order 



that man himself may attain the state of happiness 



that is his legitimate aspiration." 



These aphorisms lie at the root of Dr. Lluria 's 



hilosophy. The researches of Don Santiago Raman 



Cajal into the phylogeny and ontology of the nervous 



ystem have greatly impressed him, arid a third of the 



jlume is occupied with an account of them. He assumes 



hat the nervous system of man will continue to increase 



!i complexity. "The brain of man still continues 



its psychic evolution." While agreeing that this is 



"a conclusion of paramount value," we fail to trace 



the logical steps by which it is reached, and the same 



may be said of the further inference, " In society, 



-uper-organic organism, the rapiditv of change wnll 



e greater than in any other." 



With the best will in the world, it is not easy always 



to follow the author, as, e.g., when he tells us that 



"Society lives in a profound error as to property. 



It has chosen the paltry medium of monev instead 



of the grand inheritance of Nature, which belongs to 



It by right, confirmed by the theorv of evolution." 



But it is not only society that is to blame. "The 



responsibility falls particularlv on manv men of science 



who have not understood "the theorv of evolution, 



-^ivmg it, for example, such a false' and iniquitous 



nterpretation as the struggle for existence— a dreadful 



distortion of the natural course of ideas." 



It is unfortunate that the translator is evidently 

 "■nfamiliar with the technical terminology which is 

 inseparable from a treatise of this description. There 

 IS no index. 



The Romance of Modern Astronomy, describing in 



Simple but Exact Language the Wonders of the 



Heavens. By Hector Macpherson, Jun. Pp. 333. 



(London : Seeley and Co., Limited, 191 1.) Price 55. 



Commencing with a chapter on our place in the 



universe, the author proceeds in the established 



^equence with chapters on the earth's motions, the 



NO. 2142, VOL. 85] 



sun. Mercury, Venus, &c., completing the discussion 

 of the solar system with comets and shooting-stars. 

 At more remote distances the suns of space, stellar 

 motions and systems, and nebulae are the subjects 

 claiming the writer's pen. Some forty pages are 

 devoted to tides, the spectrum and other incidental 

 subjects, while five chapters deal with popular aspects 

 of astronomical histor\-. 



The treatment, thouerh generally clear and accurate, 

 seldom rises above the commonplace. A feature 

 which cannot be commended is the persistent intro- 

 duction of somewhat lengthy quotations from other 

 writers on astronomy. This method of providing 

 "purple patches" discounts the individuality of the 

 writer, whether it be due to modestv or otherwise. 



Though steering clear of error in his elementary 

 exposition, the author is not guiltless of loose state- 

 ments, such as that silver-on-glass reflectors "have a 

 light-gathering power far exceeding the telescopes 

 whose mirrors are constructed of speculum metal." 



Many of the illustrations are new, and, on the 

 whole, well done, the artist being successful in finding 

 picturesque settings for some of the more common 

 astronomical happenings. The frontispiece, however, 

 is very misleading ; here an enlarged drawing of the 

 head of Hallev's comet fills the picture above a por- 

 tion of landscape, put in doubtless for effect, the 

 whole giving the impression that the coma stretched 

 from zenith to horizon. 



The Practice of Soft Cheesemaking. .4 Guide to the 

 Manufacture of Soft Cheese and Preparation of 

 Cheese for Market. By C. W. Walker-Tisdale and 

 T. R. Robinson. Second edition, revised. Pp. 04. 

 (London : Office of the Dairy World, 1910.) Price 

 15. net. 

 .\ SECOND edition of this little book havine been called 

 for, the authors have taken advantage of the oppor- 

 tunity for introducing a certain amount of new matter. 

 \\'ith true commercial instinct, thev have put in a 

 section describing fuUv the preparation of Bulgarian 

 sour milk and sour cheese, but their chief object is to 

 give a number of recipes for making soft cheese — 

 often known as cream cheese — likely to sell w-ell and 

 at a efood profit. 



Soft cheese is a much simpler matter for the pro- 

 ducer than ordinarv cheese. No great capital or 

 strength are required ; the uniformity desirable for 

 butter-making is not needed, so that comparatively 

 small volumes of milk suffice, and the best demand 

 exists precisely at the time when milk is in greatest 

 abundance, i.e. in spring and summer. It is therefore 

 essentially a product that the small holder can fro in 

 for. and the recognition of this fact bv the authors 

 adds greatly to the value of the book. The process 

 of manufacture is simple, and consists merely in add- 

 ing rennet to milk or to a mixture of milk and cream, 

 then seoaratinc the coagulum, and allowing it to 

 drain. There are. however, numerous details that re- 

 quire attention, but these are fully set out. 



The book will be found very useful for dairy 

 students and small holders, as well as for the growing 

 class of dwellers in the country who keep a cow for 

 their own use. 



Twelfth Reiiort of the Wohurn Ext>erimental Fruit 



Farm. Bv the Duke of Bedford, K.G., F.R.S.,and 



S. v. Pickerinf?. F.R.S. Pp. iv + 51. (London : 



Amalgamated Press, Ltd., 19 10.) Price is. y^d. 



(post free). 



In this, the twelfth report issued from the Woburn 



fruit farm, the authors deal with the silver-leaf disease 



of plums and other fruit-trees in the tV>nrough manner 



that characterises all their work. This disease is 



caused by the fungus Stereuni purpureum, but the 



