142 



NATURE 



[September 30, 1920 



sections — as, for example, those on dairy pro- 

 ducts, meat, cereals, spices, oils, sugars, colour- 

 ing matters, and flavouring extracts. A special 

 chapter upon the determination of acidity 

 (hydrogen-ion concentration) by the electrical 

 method is contributed by Dr. G. L. Wendt ; this 

 contains a lucid explanation of the theory and 

 practice of the process, with details of the 

 apparatus employed. Very few errors have been 

 noticed, but in the section on alcoholic beverages 

 there are some slight inaccuracies respecting 

 English proof spirit. This contains 49-28 per 

 cent, of alcohol by weight, and 57-10 by volume, 

 instead of the values given in the text (49-24 and 

 57-06) ; whilst the correct factor for calculating 

 proof spirit from volume percentage is 1-7535, "o*^ 

 1-7525 as stated. Analysts in this country should 

 be on their guard against using the table on p. 754 

 for determining the original specific gravity of 

 beer. This table was superseded several years 

 ago, so far as statutory purposes are concerned, 

 and it is now mainly of historic interest. The 

 last remark applies also in some degree to the 

 methods described for detecting and estimating 

 methyl alcohol. 



As a whole, however, the new edition well 

 maintains the reputation of the work. It contains 

 so much trustworthy information that chemists 

 concerned with foodstuffs will find it invaluable. 



C. S. 



Adventitious Plants of Tweedside. 



The Adventive Flora of Tweedside. By Ida M. 

 Hayward and Dr. George Claridge Druce. 

 Pp. xxxii + 296. (Arbroath : T. Buncle and 

 Co., 1919.) 



THIS is an interesting book. The usual lists 

 and records of alien plants are not particu- 

 larly inviting to the botanist generally, and there 

 is no doubt a tendency to look with a tolerant 

 eye upon the labour which is devoted by many 

 workers to the botanical treasures of waste 

 grounds and rubbish heaps. But the present 

 book, like its prototype in Southern France, 

 treats the whole subject on a high plane, and 

 brings out many important general conclusions. 

 The record is founded mainly on the careful field- 

 work of Miss Ida Hayward continued for several 

 years. The main share of the identification and 

 classification of the plants has fallen to Dr. 

 G. Claridge Druce. Dr. Druce is so well known 

 for his intensive studies on the flora of Great 

 Britain that one need only say that this part of the 

 work is in keeping with his high reputation. Not 

 the least interesting section of the book is the in- 



NO. 2652, '^O^- ^°6] 



troductory part, where a summary of the origin of 

 this adventive flora is given along with a short 

 history of the development of the town of Gala- 

 shiels and its woollen industry. There follows 

 a review of the sources from which Galashiels 

 derives the wool it manufactures into tweeds. 

 Some little space is given to the remarkable sur- 

 vival of the seeds after the very drastic treatment 

 they are subjected to when the wool is passed 

 through some of the preliminary processes. The 

 results obtained of the temperature-resisting 

 power of certain seeds are certainly very remark- 

 able. 



In these days of printing difficulties one must 

 refer specially to the excellent way in which the 

 book has been printed. The general list has not 

 been spoiled by paring down the text from pres- 

 sure of space. Quite ample summaries of the 

 orders and of the genera concerned are included 

 in the text. With the limitations now imposed on 

 the publications of scientific matter by the greatly 

 enhanced cost of printing, one looks with a certain 

 amount of envy on the appearance presented by 

 the book under review, which is quite up to pre- 

 war standard. The correctness of the records 

 and the proof-reading leave little scope for 

 criticism. On p. 235, Fig. 71 is subscribed 

 "Polygonum" instead of "Polypogon." On 

 p. 122 Cotula corouopifolia is mentioned as 

 recorded for the first time in Scotland by Miss 

 Hayward for August, 1908. It was previously 

 recorded in the Trans. Bot. Soc. Edin., vol. xi., 

 ^^73< P- 256, by Mr. William Evans, near .Aber- 

 dour, Fife. But these are minor points. 



The authors need have no care for what Dr. 

 Druce terms the "scoffs of some suburban botan- 

 ists at the inexhaustible rubbish heaps of Tweed- 

 side." The book is worthy of its place beside 

 "La Flore Adventice de Montpellier." Those in- 

 terested in the flora of Great Britain, especially 

 from the point of view of the influence of cultiva- 

 tion and industry upon the native flora, would do 

 well to have this book upon their shelf. It raises 

 much wider issues than the mere record of acci- 

 dental aliens. 



Meteorological Constants. 



Smithsonian Meteorological Tables. Fourth, re- 

 vised, edition. (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Col- 

 lections, vol. lix., \o. I.) Pp. Ixxii -1-261. 

 (VV^ashington : Smithsonian Institution, 1918.) 



THE first edition of the "Smithsonian Meteor- 

 ological Tables " was issued in 1893. It is 

 now fourteen years since the last edition came 

 out, and the opportunity has been taken in the 



