June 2, 1921] 



NATURE 



421 



adjustable temporarily by contraction of the 

 smooth muscles associated with the follicle, is 

 determined by old-established skin conditions — 

 A.g. of muscularity, blood supply, and innervation. 

 We should compare the general lie of the hair to 

 the pterylosis in birds, and also, in kind, to the 

 way in which the hairs of different mammalian 

 types occur in distinctive or specific little groups, 

 the members often differing in size. It may be 

 that the vertically upstanding hair of the mole 

 represents a primitive mammalian condition with- 

 out any lie at all. Whether this be so or not, the 

 lie of the hair is variable, as the study of the 

 horse's neck suffices to show. These variations, 

 comparable to variations in other skin-features 

 — e.g. papillary ridges — may be the somatic ex- 

 pression of germinal variations, and it may also 

 be that they are correlated with larger variations 

 of a more obviously utilitarian character. We 

 need not think of them as " anyhow " changes, 

 but rather as more or less consistent with a har- 

 monious viable constitution previously established. 

 In any case, they are the cards put into the hands 

 of the full-grown mammal — cards which he has 

 to play, the result being the sifting out and sur- 

 vival of the "lies" most conformable with the 

 creature's habits. But we cannot prove our Neo- 

 Darwinian theory any more than Dr. Kidd has 

 proved his Neo-Lamarckian one. Some may say 

 not so much. J. A. T. 



Dyes and Dyeing. 



Application of Dyestuffs to Textiles, Paper, 

 Leather, and other Materials. By Dr. J. Merritt 

 Matthews. Pp. xvi-f-768. (New York: John 

 Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chapman and 

 Hall, Ltd., 1920.) 575. 6d. net. 



THE author introduces his subject with 

 "Craft Dyeing," followed by a short his- 

 tory of dyeing. In discussing tie-dyeing (knot- 

 dyeing), batik and stencil work — some of the 

 earliest methods of producing coloured patterns 

 on fabrics — he makes the rather interesting sug- 

 gestion that craft dyeing should be encouraged, 

 as the field for it in America is a broad one, 

 because in it "we have the possibility of reaching 

 into realms of colour art that is not present in 

 ordinary trade dyeing." As in the author's former 

 work, "The Laboratory Manual of Dyeing and 

 Textile Chemistry," each chapter is followed by 

 instructions for carrying out experiments relating 

 to the processes described. These should be of 

 considerable assistance to students in technical 

 colleges. 



Chap. ii. deals with the scouring of textile 

 NO. 2692, VOL. 107] 



fibres. In this an illustration is given of what 

 purports to be an "Open Kier for Treating 

 Cloth with Caustic (H. W. Butterworth and 

 Sons Co.)," which,' however, is not a kier, 

 but the preparing and batching arrangement 

 employed in impregnating the fabric prior to 

 boiling in the open-width Jackson kier. The 

 kier proper has been omitted. On pp. 136-37 

 the author describes the preparation of sodium 

 hypochlorite by passing chlorine gas into caustic 

 soda or soda ash. Bleachers in this country will 

 be interested to hear that " this method of bleach- 

 ing has come into very extensive use in the United 

 States." 



Under " Representative Acid Dyes " (chap, viii.), 

 a " Nomenclature of Dyestuffs " is given. 

 We agree with the author that as regards 

 dyestuffs his task in bringing the informa- 

 tion up to date must have been one of consider- 

 able difficulty. He is to be congratulated upon 

 this part of the work, and we think he has 

 acted wisely in that he "has deemed it advisable 

 to retain the names and the dyestuffs that were 

 well known before the war, and which could be 

 easily and intelligently recognised in the industry 

 all over the world." The alphabetical list of trade 

 names of the various groups of dyestuffs, in which 

 the class to which each belongs and the manu- 

 facturer are given, and the list of the principal 

 dyestuff manufacturers, will be found very useful 

 indeed. A very complete list of all the principal 

 dyestuffs, arranged according to shade, is also 

 given. 



In the following chapters the stripping of 

 colours, the testing of the fastness of dyes, and 

 the application of the various artificial and natural 

 dyestuffs are discussed. This is followed by a 

 brief description of the mineral colours, and in the 

 next chapter (which should have been numbered 

 xxiii.) by "Dyeing of Fabrics containing Mixed 

 Fibres." In this some very useful tables showing 

 the afBnity of a number of dyestuffs for different 

 fibres are given. The dyeing of other fibres, in- 

 cluding linen, jute, and artificial silk, is referred 

 to very briefly. Cellulose acetate silk is not men- 

 tioned. 



The theory of dyeing is outlined in chap. xxv. 

 It is to be regretted that in this chapter only 

 three references to the literature are given. The 

 name of one of the investigators mentioned should 

 read "Vignon." 



The author has compiled an extensive biblio- 

 graphy. The value of this would have been con- 

 siderably enhanced if references to it had been 

 given in the text. This is an unfortunate omission 

 which it is hoped the author will rectify in a new 

 edition of the work. 



