io8 



NATURE 



[September 22, 192 1 



of Unio and Spha?rium, both in Munipur and in 

 Assam, and of the distribution of many other 

 genera and species, including Austenia. 



The volume adds very little to our previous 

 knowledge of the land operculates of India. An 

 opportunity has been lost of bringing that know- 

 ledge up to date. The money spent on it might 

 have had a better result. There is an absence of 

 editorial supervision. Mr. Guy A. K. Marshall 

 is not mentioned in the preface ; all seemingly 

 devolved on Mr. G. K. Gude. It is purely con- 

 chological and was brought out in a hurry. It 

 should not, in fact, have been commenced until it 

 was first ascertained who were to be engaged 

 upon it and what collections were, available. This 

 is most important to those who, at great expense 

 of time and toil, collect material and desire to see 

 it in the hands of the best malacologists and so 

 far have a voice in the publication. 



Next we have to consider the best place of 

 publication, whether in this country or in India. 

 I lean to the latter, for in India the animals of 

 many genera could be collected in a few weeks as 

 required and worked out by the staff of the Indian 

 Museum, who are quite capable of doing so. I 

 also consider it essential to accuracy in a record 

 of this kind that the type shell of all species 

 should be compared so far as possible to verify the 

 "original descriptions" in the pages and pages 

 of "copy" which fill the volume. This applies 

 also to the figures given of species in the Natural 

 History Museum and other collections. They are 

 not typical; some have no history, and are not in 

 all cases correctly identified. 



The history of the Indian operculate land shells 

 has yet to be compiled and a more scientific classi- 

 fication built up. For this reason I am disap- 

 pointed with this volume of "The Fauna of British 

 India," and imagine that among other zoologists 

 there will be a similar feeling. 



In the volume there is a mass of useful com- 

 pilation, particularly in the synonymy, as well as 

 in the bringing together of the many species in 

 the four families treated of. This work, looked 

 at from the purely conchological side, cannot fail 

 to be useful to collectors. 



H. H. Godwin-Austen. 



Chemistry of Anthracene. 

 Anthracene and Anthraquinone. By E. de B. 

 Barnett. Pp. xi-F436. (London: Bailliere, 

 Tindall, and Cox, 192 1.) 275. 6d. 



THE history of anthracene is long and vivid. 

 Discovered amongst the products of coal- 

 tar distillation in 1832, the hydrocarbon played a 



NO. 2708, VOL. 108] 



modest and somewhat commonplace part in the 

 development of structural theory, suddenly blos- 

 soming into prominence in 1868, when it was 

 found that alizarin, the twin monarch with in- 

 digo of natural colouring matters, is a dihydroxy- 

 anthraquinone. The persistent and active in- 

 vestigation of anthracene derivatives consequent 

 on this revelation had scarcely slackened in 1901, 

 when Bohn discovered the remarkable condensa- 

 tion undergone by j8-aminoanthraquinone, leading 

 to indanthrene and flavanthrene, vat-dyes superior 

 in fastness to indigo itself. During the subse- 

 quent period notable additions to the series have 

 been made in the direction of complex benz- 

 anthrones — for example, violanthrene, a non- 

 nitrogenous vat-dye represented as an oxygenated 

 agglomeration of nine benzenoid nuclei. Thus 

 anthracene, now approaching its centenary, still 

 provides abundant material for scientific investiga- 

 tion and practical application. 



. It is, therefore, most appropriate that so much 

 information, extending over so many years, 

 should be assembled in a form convenient for 

 reference, and the volume which Mr. Barnett has 

 produced will be found extremely valuable by all 

 chemists who desire to be advised of the latest 

 discoveries in this important field. Beginning 

 with a comprehensive survey of the early work 

 and the substituted derivatives of anthracene 

 itself, the author passes to anthraquinone, 

 anthrone, and anthranol. Treatment of the 

 numerous hydroxyanthraquinones has been limited 

 to the ground which is not covered by A. G. 

 Perkin and Everest in their recent book on "The 

 Natural Organic Colouring Matters," and thus 

 it has been possible to devote almost half the 

 text to aminoanthraquinones and the highly im- 

 portant modern discoveries to which reference has 

 been made. It is this feature which will be most 

 appreciated by chemists because, owing to the 

 recent developments of anthracene chemistry 

 having taken place principally in the German 

 dye-factories, the relevant information is largely 

 scattered through the patent literature, and is 

 consequently not easy of access. 



Some idea of the faithful industry which the 

 author has brought to his task may be gained 

 from the statement that the index to German 

 patents so liberally quoted throughout the volume 

 alone occupies eighteen pages, and refers to more 

 than one thousand items, which are assembled in 

 sequence, with the respective date and name of 

 patentee. Constant attention is directed to those 

 colouring matters which arise from the various 

 classes of anthracene derivatives, thus adding to 

 the general usefulness of the book a quality speci- 



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