January 6, 192 1] 



NATURE 



595 



Text-book of Pastoral and Agricultural Botany: 

 For the Study of the Injurious and Useful 

 Plants of Country and Farm. By Prof. J. VV. 

 Harshberger. Pp. xiii -1-294. (Philadelphia: 

 P. Blakiston's Son and Co., 1920.) Price 

 2 dollarii. 



A KNOWLEDGE of the useful and poisonous plants 

 on a farm is an essential part of the equipment of 

 the agriculturist, but hitherto the requisite in- 

 formation has been to a large extent scattered 

 and difficult of access. In the present volume 

 the account of the stock-killing and poisonous 

 American plants is thorough and comprehensive, 

 a specially useful feature being the inclusion of 

 methods of treatment where they are known. It 

 is a pity that the photographs of affected animals 

 are not reproduced more clearly, as several of 

 them fail to illustrate their point. 



The crop plants are dealt with sufficiently, 

 though briefly, and the bibliography at the end 

 of each chapter assists the student to follow up 

 any requisite line of inquiry. It may be suggested 

 that in future editions an "author index" would 

 greatly enhance the value of the book, as at 

 present it is not always easy to determine if a 

 reference is included. The laboratory exercises 

 which follow each chapter are very practical and 

 well thought out, and render the book serviceable 

 to the private worker, as well as to the class 

 student. The same object is attained by the in- 

 clusion of a glossary with the detailed index. 

 Prof. Harshberger is to be congratulated on the 

 production of a much-needed working manual, 

 the value of which lies not only in the well- 

 arranged and clearly written information it con- 

 tains, but aLso in the suggestiveness which renders 

 it adaptable for use in countries other than 

 -America. W. E. Brenchlev. 



7Vii5 W onderful Universe ; A Little Book about 

 Suns and IVorlds, Moons and Meteors, Comets 

 and Nebulae. By Agnes Giberne. New illus- 

 trated edition, completely re-written. Pp. xt 

 182. (London: S.P.C.K. ; New York: The 

 Macmillan Co., 1920.) Price 6s. 6d. net. 



.Miss Agnes Giuerne is well known for her 

 charmingly written books on elementary astro- 

 nomy. This is a new edition of an earlier work, 

 carefully brought up to date, some excellent 

 photographs of the moon, Mars, eclipses, «nd 

 nebula; being reproduced. The celestial pheno- 

 mena are described in clear and vivid language, 

 the difficulties likely to occur to a beginner being 

 answered in anticipation. The book is made more 

 interesting by the inclusion of a certain amount 

 of legitimate speculation on the development of 

 worlds and systems, and the probable condition 

 of the different planets. The concluding section, 

 "Immensity — and Man," deserves thoughtful 

 study. 



A few slips should be corrected. P. 69: One 

 of our athletes would only jump 26 times as high 

 on Mars as on Earth. "Over a good-sized house " 

 is misleading. P. 84 : The paragraph alK>ut TG 



.'67 t. VOL. 106] 



misses the chief interest of the Trojan group of 

 planets — the equilateral configuration with Sun 

 and Jupiter. P. io8 : Neptune's orbital speed 

 should be 200 times that of an express train — not 

 three times. P. 124: Two upright sticks a yard 

 apart are not strictly parallel, since both point 

 towards the earth's centre. P. 134: Sun's den- 

 sity is wrongly stated to be less than Saturn's. 

 P. 138 (plate) : Date of Mina Bronccs eclipse was 

 1893 — not 1889. A. C. D. CRO.M.MELIN. 



Practical Physiological Chemistry. By S. W. Cole. 

 With an introduction by Prof. F. G. Hopkins. 

 Sixth edition. Pp. xvi-(-405. (Cambridge: 

 W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd. ; London : Simpkin, 

 Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, and Co., Ltd., 1920.) 

 Price 165. 

 In spite of the fact that a fifth edition of this 

 valuable book was reviewed in Nature of August 

 28, 1919, another edition has rapidly become neces- 

 sary. The volume has been revised and enlarged, 

 and several new methods have been introduced, 

 of which the most important is a modification of 

 McLean's method for the determination of blood 

 sugar. Other additions include Van Slyke's 

 method for the estimation of blood chlorides, and 

 the soya bean method for the estimation of the 

 urea in blood. Six editions of the book have now 

 appeared in sixteen years ; this should be a suffi- 

 cient guarantee of the worth of the contents. 



Coal. By J. H. Ronaldson. (Imperial Institute: 

 Monographs on Mineral Resources, with 

 Special Reference to the British Empire.) 

 Pp. ix-t-i66. (London: John Murray, 1920.) 

 Price 6x. net. 

 Mlth information relating to the coal deposits of 

 the British Empire is recorded in this book. The 

 geology of the deposits is described, and the sta- 

 tistics of production and reserves in various coun- 

 tries of the world are given. Apparently the most 

 important coal resources of the world are in the 

 northern hemisphere, particularly in countries near 

 the .Atlantic Ocean. Roughly three-quarters of 

 the world's coal supplies are located in North 

 .America, principally in the United States, while 

 the British Empire contains less than one-fifth of 

 the known coal deposits of the world. The mono- 

 graph concludes with a list of references to pub- 

 lications dealing w-ith the coal resources of the 

 Empire. 



Science German Course. By G. W. Paget Moffatt. 

 With a glossary by J. Bithell. Third edition 

 (sixth impression). (Science Text-books.) 

 Pp. xii + 270. (London : W. B. Clive : Uni- 

 versity Tutorial I'ress, Ltd., 1920.) Price 5*. 

 The third edition of this liook is not very dif- 

 ferent from the first, which was noticed in Nature 

 of November 21, 1907. All the extracts in Gothic 

 type have been removed to the end of the book, 

 and in place of the .separate vocabularies a com- 

 plete vocabulary of all the words occurring in the 

 extracts for reading has twen inserted. 



