724 



NATURE 



[February 3, 192 1 



Practical Chemistry : Fundamental Facts and 

 Applications to Modern Life. By N. H. Black 

 and Dr. J. Bryant Conant. Pp. xi + 474. (New 

 York : The Macmillan Co. ; London : Macmillan 

 and Co., Ltd., 1920.) Price iis. net. 



The title of "Practical Chemistry" might lead to 

 the impression that the book, written by two 

 AmeriQan teachers, was a laboratory manual. 

 That is not the case. The text-book is an admir- 

 ably clear and interesting introduction to 

 chemistry, in which, it is true, the practical ap- 

 plications of the subject are not neglected. The 

 attitude of the authors is completely modern, and 

 the appearance of the book is greatly improved 

 by numerous well-executed illustrations, and re- 

 productions of photographs of actual plant and 

 apparatus used in industry. Portraits of famous 

 cnemists, brief historical details, and numerous 

 experiments are given. At the end of each chapter 

 is a list of "Topics for Further Study," which 

 often contain interesting suggestions. Any attempt 

 to stimulate thought is welcome in a text-book, 

 and the present volume is rich in such efforts. 



In addition to a careful and accurate account 

 of the familiar topics, many recent discoveries are 

 included in a very readable manner. For instance, 

 accessory factors in diet, the purification of water 

 by chlorine, the hydrogenation of oils, the cleans- 

 ing power of soap, and the really practical pro- 

 cesses used in the fixation of nitrogen are all dis- 

 cussed in sufficient detail to make them intelligible. 

 A useful summary is added to each chapter, to- 

 gether with a list of interesting questions. The 

 authors are to be congratulated on producing a 

 really interesting book ; clear and accurate, with 

 a freshness of treatment which is grateful to the 

 hardened reader of elementary text-books. As an 

 introductory text-book for elementary students, 

 and for use in the higher forms of schools, this 

 may with confidence be recomniended. 



J. R. P. 



Physiology. By Dr. Ffrangcon Roberts. 

 (Students' Synopsis Series.) Pp. viii -1-389. 

 (London : J. and A. Churchill, 1920.) Price 

 155. net. 



The student of physiology has such a wide choice 

 of text-books dealing more or less exhaustively 

 with the subject that the entry of a new volume 

 into the list might be regarded as unnecessary. 

 This book, however, is intended to meet a special 

 need incurred by the growth of the science. The 

 application of physical and chemical methods to 

 the elucidation of the problems of the body, the 

 war-time accumulation of new facts and ideas, 

 and the advances in the sister sciences have so 

 altered the material and increased the size of the 

 new editions of the standard text-books that an 

 orderly arrangement is in danger of being ob- 

 scured by the mass of detail. This is a real diffi- 

 culty to the student, and furnishes a valid reason 

 for the issue of this volume of the Students' 

 Synopsis Series. The book is definitely intended 

 to supplement, and not to supplant, the larger 



NO. 2675, VOL. 106] 



text-books. It assumes that the student has 

 already an acquaintance with the elements of 

 physiology and has had some experience of 

 practical work. It also assumes that he has- 

 a considerable knowledge of physics and 

 chemistry, without which its treatment of such a 

 topic as the reaction of the blood, though ably 

 presented, would by its brevity fail to convey the 

 necessary instruction. The book admirably fulfils 

 its purpose, and Dr. Roberts is to be congratu- 

 lated upon his success in accomplishing the diffi- 

 cult task of compiling a summary of the salient 

 facts of physiology which is readable, clear, con- 

 cise, and up to date. The volume is well edited 

 and its illustrations are apposite. 



P. T. Herring. 



Landscape Architecture. By Prof. H. V. Hubbard 

 and Theodora Kimball. Pp. 132. (Cambridge, 

 Mass. : Harvard University Press ; London : 

 Oxford University Press, 1920.) Price 6s. 6d. 

 net. 

 This work sets out to provide a comprehensive 

 classification of the field of landscape architecture, 

 and attempts to show in detail both the " subjects 

 making up the field, and the relation of the field 

 itself to tangent fields." The scheme resolves 

 itself into a series of some thirteen to fourteen 

 hundred headings, under which published litera- 

 ture, notes and other manuscript material, maps, 

 plans, photographs, and other pictorial matter 

 may be arranged. These headings are placed in 

 groups according to their relationship with each 

 other, and the groups themselves are classified. 

 Landscape art must be much more highly organ- 

 ised in the United States than it is here to justify 

 the publication of such an elaborate scheme as 

 this, the chief raison d'etre of which is the con- 

 venient docketing of papers in one form or 

 another. We doubt if there are half a dozen firms 

 of landscape gardeners in this country whose 

 accumulation of material is so extensive as to need 

 extraneous assistance in arranging it, but to any 

 such this work is no doubt capable of affording 

 valuable suggestions. It shows, at any rate, how 

 extensive is the area covered by landscape art, 

 and how far-reaching are its ramifications when 

 followed out to their full extent. W. J. B. 



Nucleic Acids: Their Chemical Properties and 

 Physiological Conduct. By Prof. W. Jones. 

 Second edition. (Monographs on Biochemistry.) 

 Pp. viii-i-150. (London: Longmans, Green, and 

 Co., 1920.) Price 95. net. 



Since the first edition of this monograph was re- 

 viewed in Nature for April i, 1915, our know- 

 ledge of physiological chemistry has been con- 

 siderably extended. The four hypothetical nucleo- 

 tides required by the nucleotide theory of the 

 structure of plant nucleic acid have now been pre- 

 pared, and new facts regarding the purine fer- 

 mentation in various animals have been brought 

 to light. The work concludes with a bibliography 

 of no fewer than twenty pages. 



