November 24, 19 10] 



NATURE 



103 



on popular astronomy, however accurate it may. be 

 in detail. No doubt it is always difficult to know 

 what to omit when space is severely limited, but if the 

 book is to attract the attention of those who are un- 

 acquainted with astroncMTiical literature, we suggest 

 that the object would be more" likely to be attained if 

 the author had devoted some space to the methods 

 and results of spectroscopic observation. By practic- 

 ally ignoring' this large section, he has negflected per- 

 haps the best means of exciting the scientific imagina- 

 tion and awakening an intelligent curiosity in celestial 

 phenomena. 



Introduction to Physical Chemistry. By Prof. H. C. 



Jones. Pp. XV + 279. (New York : The Macmillan 



Companv ; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 



1910.) Price 1.60 dollars net. 

 In this book the author gives a rapid sketch of what 

 is ordinarily known as physical chemistn*-. Compared 

 with other books of its kind, the result can scarcely 

 be described as satisfactory. The author has tried to 

 cover too much ground in the allotted space, with the 

 result that much of the information is of a frag- 

 mentary- character. The book is evidently intended 

 for junior students, but it is doubtful whether they 

 would really get any g^rasp of fundamental principles 

 from such a highly condensed account of physical 

 cheiTiistn,. 



There are many places where the author's state- 

 ments are vague, if not erroneous. For example, 

 when discussing solids, he says, " The density of solids 

 is somewhat greater than that of liquids, and much 

 greater than that of gases. This is just what we 

 -hould expect, since the solid state represents matter 

 in its most condensed form." The second sentence is 

 quite misleading. Again, " Ozone seems to be stable 

 below 200° and above looo"." Prof. H. C. Jones is a 

 zealous and energetic worker in the field of physical 

 jhemistr}-, and the reviewer would like to have been 

 able to accord this book a hearty welcome. As it is, 

 he feels bound to say that, although it may serve a 

 useful purpose, there are. in his opinion, better works 

 of a similar character already in existence. 



Preliminary Physiology. By W. Narramore. Pp. 



xix + 220. (London : Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1910.J 



Price 35. 6d. 

 This little book will be mainly useful to school 

 teachers and to junior students preparing for the first- 

 stage examinations of the Board of Education. This 

 class of reader has but little preliminar\- anatomical 

 knowledge, and the bulk of Mr. Narramore's book is 

 occupied with filling up this gap. There are manv 

 other excellent books of the same nature, but the chief 

 merits of the present volume are — (i) it is correct so 

 far as it goes, and it is admittedlv of the most elemen- 

 tar\- nature, and (2) it is provided with excellent illus- 

 trations. The author recognises that books and pic- 

 tures will never teach properlv even the elements of 

 an experimental science, and insists that practical 

 work must accompany the course. One can onlv hope 

 that this expression of opinion will bear fruit. So far 

 as one's experience of the schoolmaster goes, it is just 

 that practical element in his scientific training which 

 IS usuallv conspicuous bv ?ts absence. 



W. D. H. 

 The Invicta Table Book. Bv J. W. Ladner. Pp. 18. 



iLondon : George Philip and Son, Ltd., n.d.) Price 



2d. 



Graphic representations of the multiplication tables 

 [ind of the commoner weights and measures — includ- 

 ing the metric svstem— are provided, and these should 

 prove ver>- useful in schools where the compiler's 

 number scheme is adopted. 



NO. 2143, VOL. 85] 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions 

 expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications.] 



«The Jodrell Laboratory at Kew. 



The award of a Royal medal to Prof. F. O. Bower 



for his long-continued researches in the vascular crj-pto- 



I gams suggests to me that it may not be inappropriate to 



; put on record an anecdote in our scientific histon' in the 



I last century. 



I In the fourth report of the Commission on Scientific 

 I Instruction and the Advancement of Science it was recom- 

 • mended (paragraphs 57 and 154) " that opportunities for 

 I the pursuit of investigations in Physiological Botany should 



be afforded in the Royal Gardens at Kew." 

 I To this the Government paid as little attention as it 

 usually does to the results of the labours of Royal Com- 

 i missions. But the recommendation was not wholly fruit- 

 less, for it induced the late T. J. Phillips Jodrell, a 

 personal friend of Sir Joseph Hooker, to offer to build 

 and equip, at an expense of 1500/., a modest laboratory' 

 for the purpose. As stated in the Kew report 

 for 1874, it was originally intended that this should be 

 associated with an extension of the herbarium building 

 which was contemplated at the time ; but in consideration 

 of the risk of fire it was decided to have an isolated build- 

 ing contiguous to the propagating department of the 

 establishment. 



It was completed in 1876, and was first occupied by 

 Prof. Tyndall for work on the putrefactive changes pro- 

 duced by bacteria, the results of which were published in 

 the Phil. Trans, for the following year. 



Since then the stream of research has continued steadily. 

 I " handed in " to the " Botanical Work Committee " 

 appKjinted by the Treasure* in 1900 a list of published 

 papers as the result of work done in the laboratory down 

 to and inclusive of that year, and compiled from copies 

 preser\ed in it. 



The workers in the Jodrell Laborator>' are. of course, 

 independent. They are supplied with the material they 

 require, and are at liberty to make use of the Kew library 

 and to consult, if they care to do so, the scientific staff. 

 The nature of the work has therefore been of the most 

 varied kind, and does not represent the influence of any 

 particular school. In this respect the outcome differs 

 from that of an academic laboratory" in which research is 

 carried on under the direction, or at any rate with the 

 aid of, the professor. 



What I think is worth noting is that, of those who 

 have worked in the Jodrell Laboratory- during the fifteen 

 years from 1876 to iqoo. no fewer than six have sub- 

 sequently received the Royal medal. I do not mean to say 

 that it has been in each case wholly earned at Kew. but 

 it is I think clear that the work done there has contributed 

 to the result. 



The following are the names, with the general scope 

 of the research and the date of the award : — Burdon 

 Sanderson, electromoti\-e properties of Dionjea, 1883 ; 

 Marshall Ward, embr}olog\- and mycolog>-, 1893 ; 

 Gardiner, continuity- of protoplasm, i8q8 ; Horace Brown, 

 assimilation of carbon, 1903 ; Scott, fossil botany, 1906 ; 

 Bower, morphology of vascular cryptogams. 19 10. To 

 these may be added, making in all seven medallists, the 

 Davy medal awarded to Schunck in 1899, in part for his 

 researches on chlorophyll. 



When one considers the names the results are not sur-, 

 nrising, and though Kew enjovs some measure of prestige 

 from being associated with them, that association is to. 

 a large extent accidental, at any rate limited to affording 

 facilities. But some conclusions may be drawn. In the 

 first place, the prevision of the Roval Commission is 

 amply justified. In the next place. Phillips Jodrell. were 

 he alive, would have every reason to be satisfied with the 

 outcome of his generosity. But there is a further and 

 more important point. I do not contend that the work 

 I have enumerated was necessarily bound up with the 

 Jodrell Laboratory in the sense that it could not have 



