ISlov. 8, 1877] 



NATURE 



^5 



cause of their isomerism is improvable and far-fetched. 

 But there exist other isomeric compounds which, like 

 these two acids, have apparently the same chemical 

 constitution, and in some of these cases it has lately 

 been shown that the bodies are not chemical isomerides 

 but physical isomorphides, or differ from each other in 

 exactly the same way as calcite differs from arragonite. 

 We have not the least doubt that the cause of the 

 isomerism of the lactic acids will, at no distant time, 

 also find a satisfactory explanation, because we are con- 

 vinced that organic chemistry is working in the right 

 direction. Time will show whether we prophesy truly 

 or not. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Transcaucasia and Ararat ; being Notes of a Vacation 

 Tour in the Autumn of 1876. By James Bryce. 

 (London : Macmillan and Co., 1877.) 



Although in this narrative Prof. Bryce takes the reader 

 over pretty well-known ground, about parts of which, at 

 least, much has been written, still even the best-informed 

 readers will read his book with pleasure and profit. Prof. 

 Bryce used his own eyes, and as he is a good and 

 independent observer, there is an unusual freshness about 

 his narrative. He journeyed down the Volga, crossed the 

 southern steppe and the Caucasus to Ararat, which he 

 ascended, thence to the shore of the Black Sea, sailing 

 along the coast to Constantinople. Nijni Novgorod Fair, 

 he thinks, has been much over-estimated in some respects, 

 and he has a good word to say of the recently much- 

 abused Cossack. Prof Bryce is a good geologist, and his 

 work abounds with interesting notes on the geology as 

 well as the flora of the regions which he traversed. Per- 

 haps the most interesting chapter in his book is that in 

 which he describes his ascent of Mount Ararat. In a 

 previous chapter he has collected much valuable informa- 

 tion concerning the mountain, the legends connected with 

 it, its geology, volcanic phenomena, meteorology, vegeta- 

 tion, and animals. Prof. Bryce, with a companion, six 

 Cossack soldiers, and an interpreter, set out from Aralyk, 

 a little to the north of the mountain, at 8 a.m., on 

 September n last year, to attempt the ascent. About 

 noon they were fairly on the side of Ararat, and at 

 about 6,000 feet came upon a small Kurd encamp- 

 ment, some of the Kurds, with their oxen, being induced 

 to act as baggage-bearers. At the well of Sardar- 

 bulakh they camped late in the afternoon, about 7,500 

 feet above the sea. About one A.M. they started again, 

 thirteen in all, but as they proceeded, with many 

 vexatious halts, the Cossacks dropped off one by one, 

 and at last, at about 12,000 feet. Prof. Bryce resolved 

 to take what he wanted in the way of food, and start at 

 his own pace. Two Cossacks and a Kurd accompanied 

 him to the height of about 13,600 fee^, when they too 

 dropped off, and Prof Bryce resolved to accomplish the 

 remainder of the 17,000 feet alone, a hazardous under- 

 taking even for a trained Alpinist. Partly up a rocky 

 slope which seems to extend considerably beyond the 

 snow-line, and partly over the soft snow itself, and 

 enveloped much of the time in cloud, Prof Bryce 

 continued his solitary and fatiguing climb, until about 

 half-past two p.m., he became convinced that he 

 was really on the top of Ararat, at least one of the 

 tops, for there are two, one about thirty feet higher 

 than the other, and he did not descend until he 

 had set his feet on both. There were difficulties and 

 dangers both in the ascent and descent, though they do 

 not seem to be nearly so great, judging from Prof. Bryce's 

 description, as those which attend the ascent of a moderate 

 Alpine summit. Prof, Bryce reached his companions again 



in safety. Notwithstanding he had to make all haste to 

 reach the summit, he had time to make several interesting 

 notes of what he saw by the way, the evidences of volcanic 

 action particularly attracting his attention. To show the 

 superstitious awe with which the sacred summit is regarded 

 in the region around, Prof. Bryce tells that when the 

 Archimandrite of Etchmiadzin was told that the English- 

 man had ascended to the top of " Massis," the venerable 

 man replied, smiling sweetly, " No, that cannot be. No 

 one has ever been there. It is impossible." Prof. Bryce's 

 is the sixth known ascent of Ararat, the first having 

 been made in 1829 by Dr. Frederick Parrot, a Russo- 

 German professor in Dorpat University. 



Thermodynamics. By R. Wormell. (The London 

 Science Class-books. Elementary Series. Long- 

 mans, 1877.) 

 This work is one of the earliest published of a series 

 "adapted for school purposes," and "composed with 

 special reference to use in school teaching," as we are 

 told in the general preface. 



We feel very strongly that no good can come of the 

 introduction of such subjects as the dynamical theory of 

 heat into school- teaching. That an average school-boy 

 can be taught the elements of such subjects as astronomy, 

 botany, and natural history, and that he will to a certain 

 extent profit by such teaching, may probably be true ; 

 but only in so far as his powers of observation are 

 concerned. We believe that it is a complete mistake in 

 practical education to try to carry the process farther than 

 the elements, even in the case of the comparatively easy 

 subjects just named. 



Some elementary experimental facts connected with 

 heat might, no doubt, be added to the list. But it is 

 simply the work of the era nmer to stuff a school-boy's head 

 with such utterly unassimilable materials as reversible 

 engines, absolute temperature, and the kinetic theory of 

 gases. This is education run mad. 



This obvious consideration decides at once our opinion 

 as to the value of the work before us. It is beyond the 

 intelligence of schoolboys, and in the hopeless endeavour 

 to sink it to their level it has been deprived of much that 

 might have made it a serviceable work for more mature 

 minds. 



After what we have said, it would be superfluous to 

 criticise the book minutely, for nearly all our objections 

 would be mere repetitions in part of the first and general 

 one. We note, however, a want of strictness, or at least 

 of completeness, in some of the mathematical proofs. 

 The first example we meet with may serve as a type. 

 Thus (p. 4) it is assumed, without any attempt at expla- 

 nation, in fact without a word to warn the reader that a 

 distinct step has been taken, that in uniformly accelerated 

 motion the mean velocity during any period is half the 

 sum of the initial and final velocities—a truth, and a very 

 important one, but most certainly not self-evident to the 

 average schoolboy. 



Simple Lessons for Home Use. (London: E. Stanford, 



1877.) 

 These simple lessons are intended for younger children 

 than those for whom the primers published by Messrs. 

 Macmillan have been written, and they appear admir- 

 ably adapted for the purpose they have in view. Mr. 

 W. E. Forster, in his recent speech at Huddersfield, 

 referred to the importance of teaching the elements 

 of science in primary schools by means of appropriate 

 reading books. The little books before us, so far as 

 they go, meet the wish expressed by Mr. Forster. The 

 print is clear, the language on the whole simple, and the 

 price (threepence) places them within the reach of the 

 humblest. Perhaps there is a little too great a tendency 

 to moralise in parts of the otherwise capital little lessons 

 on birds and money. The author of the last-named — the 

 Rev. T. E. Crallan — tells in a simple and interesting way 



