September 29, 192 1] 



NATURE 



139 



tried and tested in the light of a personal experi- 

 ence well-nigh omniscient so far as regards the 

 material in question. 



Dr. Finkelstein has done his work excellently, 

 and his translation reads well. He has managed 

 to convey something of the clarity and polish of 

 style of the original. The book is well illustrated 

 with cliches from the French edition, and is admir- 

 ably printed. It is, however, worthy of a better 

 index. 



(3) The printing of the English translation by 

 Dr. Kremers of the second volume of the second 

 edition of the standard work, by Gildemeister and 

 Fr. Hoffmann, on the volatile oils was completed 

 in 1916, but its publication was delayed until last 

 year. The treatise^ which is the most authorita- 

 tive work on the so-called essential oils, is pro- 

 duced under the auspices of the well-known firm of 

 Schimmel and Co., of Miltitz, near Leipzig, who 

 are among the leading manufacturers of these pro- 

 ducts, and have contributed largely to our 

 knowledge of their chemistry by the systematic 

 investigations which they have caused to be made. 

 In fact, a ver\- considerable amount of the ana- 

 lytical and physical data concerning this particular 

 class of substances emanates from their labora- 

 tories. 



The number of the essential oils already known, 

 and more or less well investigated, is legion. The 

 volume before us describes the chemical and phvsi- 

 cal characteristics of upwards of 400, and includes 

 only the oils up to and embracing those of the 

 Zygophyllaceae and of part of the Rutaceae of 

 Engler's "Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien." 

 -\nother volume will be required to deal with the 

 rest. Many of these substances are obtain- 

 able in very small quantity, and have little 

 or no commercial value. Others are important 

 articles of trade and produced in large quan- 

 tities. Whether they are made in large or in small 

 amounts, their regular investigation is part of the 

 routine work of the Schimmel laboratories, and the 

 results are published periodically in their well- 

 known reports ; ultimately they find their way into 

 the successive editions of this treatise. Of course, 

 the book also takes note of other published work. 

 Indeed, its bibliography is an important and valu- 

 able feature of the work. Practically everything 

 ; that is known at the time of compilation or revi- 

 sion on the subject of volatile oils is probably to 

 be found in it. 



The book is suitably illustrated with reproduc- 

 ^"^ns from photographs and drawings of appara- 



^ and distilling plant, and it is also provided 

 v.ith excellent maps of the areas of production of 

 some of the more important oils. Its bibliography 

 NO. 2709, VOL. I08I 



and index are remarkably complete. As a work 

 of reference it leaves little to be desired. 



{4) Dr. F. A. Mason has put the colour industry 

 of this country under an obligation to him by his 

 translation of Prof. Fierz-David's well-known 

 work on " The Fundamental Processes of Dye 

 Chemistry." It deals with the general opera- 

 tions — sulphonations, nitrations and reductions, 

 chlorinations, oxidations, condensations, azotisa- 

 tions, and couplings — incidental to the manufac- 

 ture of synthetic colouring matters, and describes 

 the intermediates employed and the special 

 apparatus needed. These operations should be 

 carried out on a semi-manufacturing scale, and 

 the apparatus involved should be similar in char- 

 acter to that employed in actual practice. The 

 several processes are described in full, and illus- 

 trated by drawings and plans, such as an engineer 

 could work from, of the plant to be used. 



Valuable features of the book are the notes 

 on works technique and^ on works manage- 

 ment, which are based on an extensive practical 

 experience. It will surprise some people to be told 

 that, as compared with other industries, the value 

 of the entire world production of dyes is very 

 slight, its worth, according to Prof. Fierz-David, 

 being in 1913 20,ooo,oooZ. — not more than a tenth 

 part of the value of the wool crop, or a fifth of 

 the cotton crop, or a third of the rubber crop. 

 The chance, therefore, that synthetic dyes, made 

 in Germany, can furnish any considerable fraction 

 of the amount demanded by the Allies by way of 

 " reparations " is not so great as is generally 

 supposed. .\t the same time that is no reason 

 why the manufacture, which is a staple industry 

 in Germany, should not bear its proper share of 

 the penalty which Germany has incurred by her 

 unrighteous acts. 



Institution and Behaviour in Fijian 

 Society. 



Fijian Society ; or. The Sociology and Psychology 

 of the Fijians. By the Rev. W. Deane. Pp. 

 XV + 255. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 

 1921.) 165. net. 



MR. DEANE'S work deals, among other 

 topics, with the child-life, games, re- 

 ligion, ancestor-cult, sacred stones, symbolism, 

 moral character, etiquette, fishing, food-prohibi- 

 tions, and cannibalism of the Fijians. He does 

 not attempt to give more than a sketch of some 

 aspects of Fijian life, and some value is taken 

 from his work by his habit of quoting other 

 authorities instead of telling his own story. The 

 authoritative work on Fiji has yet to be written, 



