December 23. 1920] 



NATURE 



531 



Our Bookshelf. 



Scientific and Applied Pharmacognosy. By Prof. 

 H. Kraemer. Second edition, thoroughly re- 

 vised. Pp. xxviii + 741. (New York: John 

 Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chapman and 

 Hall, Ltd., 1920.) Price 335. net. 



Of all the American works on pharmacognosy, 

 none is so well known in this country as Prof. 

 Kraemer 's, and every pharmacognosist will wel- 

 come the appearance of a second edition as afford- 

 ing the author an opportunity, of which he has 

 taken full advantage, of increasing the scope of 

 the work and bringing it up to date. In nearly 

 all the descriptions of the drugs the inner (micro- 

 scopical) structure is included, and also the char- 

 acters of the powder; more attention has been 

 devoted to the chemistry, and, in the case of those 

 containing important alkaloids, glycosides, or 

 other definite constituents, these are very fully 

 described and characterised. Many of the numer- 

 ous illustrations are original, particularly those 

 of the sections and the microscopical characters 

 of the powders, the value of which, it must be 

 confessed, would have been enhanced by a state- 

 ment of the magnification. Pyro-analysis of 

 drugs, carried out by examining sublimates ob- 

 tained at comparatively low temperatures, to 

 which a good deal of time has been devoted on 

 the Continent during the last few years, has also 

 received attention, although most pharmacog- 

 nosists will probably agree that its real value has 

 still to be proved. The section on animal drugs 

 is very interesting, particularly the description of 

 cochineal. In the tables arranged for the identi- 

 fication of a powdered drug, the author still ad- 

 heres to a primary classification based upon the 

 colour, although this has not found general 

 acceptance. 



The work is well printed and freely illustrated ; 

 it contains a mass of information, much of which 

 is not otherwise readily accessible; and it should 

 therefore find a place in the library of every phar- 

 macognosist. 



The Groundwork of Modern Geography: An 

 Introduction to the Science of Geography. By 

 Dr. A. Wilmore. (Bell's Geographical Series.) 

 Pp. xv-f-396-fxxvii plates. (London: G. Bell 

 and Sons, Ltd., 1930.) Price 6s. net. 



Among text-books of geography this volume is 

 noteworthy, because it has a fresh outlook and 

 strikes new ground, the author having the courage 

 to depart from many of the time-honoured con- 

 ventions of school geography. The subject is 

 divided into three parts — structural, climatic, and 

 biological geography — the last rightly including 

 the elements of human geography. Economic 

 considerations arc kept well to the fore, which 

 helps to dispel the fallacy of regarding economic 

 geography as a distinct subject. 



There is here no medley of scraps of geology 

 and meteorology, hut a true geographical treat- 

 ment of land-forms and climate. The only fault we 

 NO. 2669, VOL. 106] 



the sections on climate and 

 in their brevity they tend to 



have to find with 

 vegetation is that 



overlook causal relations, and lapse at times into 

 mere descriptions. These chapters might well 

 have been extended by the sacrifice of the chapter 

 on the distribution of animals, a subject that in 

 most of its aspects is not required in the geo- 

 graphical synthesis, since comparatively few wild 

 animals directly influence human activities and 

 migrations. The absence, on the other hand, of 

 any notice of the distribution of disease-bearing 

 insects is a serious omission. Useful biblio- 

 graphies are given to all chapters, and there are 

 some well-chosen illustrations. R. B. 



A Course of Modem Analysis: An Introduction 



to the General Theory of Infinite Processes and 



of Analytic Functions; with an Account of the 



Principal Transcendental Functions. By Prof. 



E. T. VVhittaker and Prof. G. N. Watson. 



Third edition. Pp. vii + 608. (Cambridge: At 



the University Press, 1920.) Price 405. net. 



The first edition of this admirable and well-known 



treatise was the single-handed work of Prof. 



Whittaker, and was published in 1902. Into the 



second edition, which was published thirteen years 



later and reviewed in Nature for June 8, 1916, 



the results of Prof. Watson's collaboration entered 



very largely. The scope of the work was then 



considerably extended. The present, or third, 



edition appears at a much shorter interval, and 



contains fewer changes, chiefly represented by 



corrections and a fuller apparatus of references. 



But a valuable chapter on ellipsoidal harmonics is 



an entirely new feature. This fine work is now 



far larger and more complete than in its original 



form, and it is inevitable in present circumstances 



that the price has been considerably advanced. 



The only complaint that can be suggested in this 



connection is that, at the high price, paper of a 



rather better quality might have been provided. 



Medical Electricity: A Practical Handbook for 

 Students and Practitioners. By Dr. H. Lewis 

 Jones. Eighth edition. Revised and edited by 

 Dr. L. W. Bathurst. (Lewis's Practical 

 Series.) Pp. xv-i-575. (London: H. K. Lewis 

 and Co., Ltd., 1920.) Price 22s. 6d. net. 

 The seventh edition of this valuable treatise on 

 medical electricity was reviewed in Nature for 

 June 20, 1918. Since that date the subject has 

 expanded in various directions; the war provided 

 a mass of new material for electro-therapeutists, 

 and in the present edition indications of these 

 advances have been inserted. The effects of 

 Rflntgen rays are dealt with in discussing physio- 

 logical and pathological considerations, but there 

 is no mention of the technical apparatus used in 

 this work, for the reason, as Dr. Bnthurst states 

 in his preface, that " Rontgenology " is now a 

 separate department of medical work. A chapter 

 on ultra-violet radiation, and new matter relating 

 to ionisation, diathermy, and the electrical test- 

 ing of mu.scles, have been incorporated in the t<'\f. 



