June 2, 1921] 



NATURE 



423 



fixed to the volume before us, that the Agronomic 

 Institute at Joinville-le-Pont obtained suitable 

 laboratory accommodation only when Mall^vre was 

 Hearing the end. His devotion to duty did, how- 

 ever, reap the reward of enthusiastic pupils who 

 have introduced scientific methods into fields 

 which they might not otherwise have reached ; 

 M. Wery specially refers to the fruitful collabora- 

 tion between Mall^vre and M. J. E. Lucas, whose 

 notes of his professor's lectures have been pub- 

 lished. The book is indeed a clearly and prac- 

 tically written treatise on the physiology of animal 

 nutrition suitable for any intelligent student in a 

 school of agriculture. 



The first eight chapters deal with the general 

 principles of the subject, and cover ground fairly 

 familiar to the student of general animal physio- 

 logy. Mallfevre was a definite adherent of the 

 isodynamic school, and subjected Chauveau's ex- 

 periments to searching criticism. 



Chaps, ix. and x. are of particular interest to 

 the farmer, and Mall^vre's tables, based upon 

 Kellner's methods, should be of great use. 



In the chapters which follow, the effects of 

 exercise, environment, and heredity upon farm 

 animals are considered, and the work concludes 

 with a short, but clear, account of methods avail- 

 able for the protection of stock against infectious 

 diseases. 



Had the author himself lived to publish a text- 

 book, he would probably have devoted rather 

 more space to recent work upon accessory food 

 substances, and perhaps have made more use of 

 American work on calorimetry. The chapter on 

 heredity also needs some revision. These are, 

 however, minor points ; taken as a whole, the 

 book is well adapted to the purpose for which it 

 was designed. 



Rapid Methods for the Chemical Analysis of 

 Special Steels, Steel-making Alloys, their Ores 

 and Graphites. By C. M. Johnson. Third 

 edition, revised and enlarged. Pp. xi + 552. 

 (New York : John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; 

 London : Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1920.) 36s. 

 net. 

 The number of elements employed in the manu- 

 facture of alloy steels appears to be ever 

 increasing, and to it there have been added, 

 during the last few years, cobalt, uranium, zir- 

 conium, and cerium. Accordingly, a new edition 

 of the above work, embodying the latest American 

 practice in the analysis of such steels and of the 

 alloys used in their production, is very welcome. 



Amongst other features which the one hundred 

 pages of new matter contain are : A new and 

 original method for the determination of sulphur; 

 the partial separation of iron from such elements 

 as vanadium, uranium, zirconium, and aluminium 

 by a process which dispenses with the "ether 

 separation " ; important modifications of older pro- 

 cesses ; illustrated descriptions of new forms of 

 laboratory appliances ; and a chapter on micro- 

 graphic analysis. 



NO. 2692, VOL. 107] 



' Repetition of unnecessary details and more than 

 a few obvious mistakes betray a somewhat hasty 

 preparation, and, moreover, the arrangement of 

 the whole subject-matter leaves much to be de- 

 sired, though the last defect is remedied to some 

 extent by a good index and numerous cross-refer- 

 ences. Steelworks' chemists, at any rate, will 

 doubtless overlook deficiencies of this nature in 

 a book which emanates from such a trustworthy, 

 experienced, and original worker as its author. 



i Stones and Quarries. By J. Allen Howe. (Pit- 



I man's Common Commodities and Industries.) 



I Pp. x-fi37. (London: Sir Isaac Pitman and 



I Sons, Ltd., n.d.) 36-. net. 



j Mr. Howe is specially qualified among geologists 

 by his economic studies at the Jermya Street 

 museum for writing a book on stones and quarries 

 that will interest the general reader. Such 

 readers constitute the bulk of intelligent persons, 

 who prefer to understand what they meet with 

 on their travels and are not content with mere 

 wonder at the wealth of the earth and the 

 ingenuity shown in its exploitation. Mr. Howe 

 begins by showing the aesthetic feeling for cut 

 stones among the Egyptians 7000 years ago, and 

 the gradual development of carved and polished 

 work by race after race, down to the cathedral 

 builders of western Europe. " Porphyry," by 

 the by, was practically unknown to the Egyp- 

 tians, and one would scarcely gather, from the 

 associations ascribed to it on p. 3, that the Taj 

 Mahal was a work of the seventeenth century. 

 Two felspar formulae on p. 10 have escaped proof- 

 correction, but these are only trifling criticisms. 

 The numerous views of quarries in active opera- 

 tion, and the description of the machines used, 

 open up a new and healthy field before the pro- 

 fessional petrologist. The use of columnar basalt 

 for road-setts in Italy and for the retaining walls 

 of canals in Holland might be added to Mr, 

 Howe's instances of the applications of rock- 

 structure to human needs. G. A. J. C. 



The Chemistry of Synthetic Drugs. By Dr. Percy 

 May. Third edition, revised. Pp. iiy + 2^8. 

 (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1921.) 

 i2s. 6d. net. 



Very few changes have been made in this 

 work since the first edition, reviewed in 

 Nature for September 21, 191 1, was published. 

 The third edition, which is now issued, follows 

 closely on the heels of the second, and, indeed, 

 the publication of information gained during the 

 war in the chemistry of poisons, irritants, etc., 

 appears to constitute the greater part of the 

 alterations which have been made. The poisonous 

 nature of most poly-nitro-compounds has been 

 completely established, and new facts relating to 

 other toxic substances, such as phosgene and 

 mustard gas, which were used by the belligerents 

 are recorded. The volume will no doubt be found 

 extremely useful by those engaged in the manu- 

 facture of synthetic drugs. 



