5o8 



NATURE 



[January 6, 191 6 



intercourse between the southern frontiers of the 

 Egyptian empire and the regions bordering 

 Mount Elgon and the division of the Niles, and 

 that some subsequent invasion of the eastern 

 Sudan by the Nilotic Negroes acted more or less 

 completely as a barrier for any further penetra- 

 tion of the white man's ideas from the direction 

 of Egypt and Abyssinia. 



H. H. Johnston. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



Quantitative _ Laws in Biological Chemistry. By 

 Dr. S. Arrhenius. Pp. xi + 164. (London: 

 G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1915.) Price 6s. net. 

 Until recently, elementary Greek was considered 

 a necessary part of medical education, though it 

 was scarcely possible to justify its inclusion on 

 the ground of utility. Higher mathematics may 

 well take its place, for it becomes increasingly 

 plain that a real working knowledge of it will 

 soon be indispensable for the student of biology 

 or medicine, whether he is content to follow 

 modern developments or aspires to aid its pro- 

 gress. The present work, Arrhenius 's latest con- 

 tribution to the science, is convincing proof of 

 this tendency. 



The substances concerned in biochemical re- 

 actions are frequently present in such minute 

 quantity, and associated with large amounts of 

 other organic substances, that the older chemical 

 methods are of little use, and recourse must be 

 had to the newer methods of physical chemistry. 

 How this may be done, and the nature of the 

 results, are all to be found in this important 

 book. 



Among the subjects dealt with are enzymes, 

 toxins, antibodies, specificity, digestion and 

 resorption, and immunity. Detailed criticism is 

 out of the question, but attention may be directed 

 to the discussions on researches "in vivo" and 

 " in vitro " (p. 84) ; on relationship, or, literally, 

 consanguinity; and on the "poison spectra" of 

 Ehrlich and the supposed plurality of toxins 

 (p. 118). For example, by applying to the neu- 

 tralisation of boric acid by ammonia the same 

 reasoning which led Ehrlich and Sachs to divide 

 diphtheria toxin into ten different partial-poisons, 

 Arrhenius found that ammonia must contain six 

 partial-poisons; these conclusions are shown to 

 be due to the errors of observation. 



In view of the large number of valuable data 

 and results brought together In the book, the 

 index might with advantage have been a little 

 fuller. W. W. T. 



The " Wellcome " Photographic Exposure Record 

 and Diary, 1916. Pp. 257. (London : 

 Burroughs Wellcome and Co.) Price is. 

 This is a handy pocket-book with pencil; it con- 

 tains a diary of useful though small dimensions, 

 ruled pages with columns suitably headed for 

 NO. 2410, VOL. 96] 



recording the details of negatives and prints made 

 during the year, an exposure calculator with 

 tables suitable for all possible conditions, formulae 

 with concise instructions for a very considerable 

 number of photographic operations, and other 

 information of the kind that amateur photo- 

 graphers are most likely to need. The formulae 

 are, of course, given in terms of the firm's tab- 

 loids. The weight of the ingredient in each of 

 these is given in many cases. There does not 

 appear to be any good reason why there should 

 be any exception to this, and then photographers 

 would be able to take the very fullest advantage ^ 

 intelligently, of the convenience of the tabloid 

 system. The three photographs of war subjects, 

 and the one taken on Sir Douglas Mawson's 

 Australasian Antarctic Expedition, are excellently 

 reproduced. 



Hazell's Annual for the Year 1916. Edited by 

 Dr. T. A. Ingram. Pp. lxxii + 623. (London: 

 Hazell, Watson and Viney, Ltd.) Price 35. 6d. 

 net. 



A NOTABLE characteristic of the thirty-first issue 

 of this popular annual book of reference is the 

 detailed list of more than a thousand learned 

 societies and institutions which it contains. 

 Though as far as possible the editor has retained 

 the usual contents of the volume, it is very natur- 

 ally this year a war edition. Not only has a large 

 amount of space been absorbed by the events of 

 the great struggle, but also many of the more 

 general articles have been written from the same 

 point of view. The annual is as useful and com- 

 prehensive as ever, and the editor may be con- 

 gratulated on the way in which he has surmounted 

 the special difficulties of compilation at the present 

 time. 



Scientific Ideas of To-day. A Popular Account 

 of the Nature of Matter, Electricity, Light, 

 Heat, etc., in Non-technical Language. By 

 C. R. Gibson. Fifth edition. Pp. 344. 

 (London: Seeley, Service and Co., Ltd., 1916.) 

 Price 55. net. 



The first edition of Mr. Gibson's popular book 

 was reviewed at length in our issue of April 15, 

 1909 (vol. Ixxx., p. 181), and it will be suflRcient 

 to say of the present edition that it has been 

 revised and brought up to date. Recent advances 

 in the knowledge of the constitution of matter 

 and the nature of X-rays have been incorporated, 

 and the electron theory is given due importance. 



The Scientists' Reference Book and Diary, 1916. 

 (Manchester: James Woolley, Sons and Co., 

 Ltd.) Price 2s. 



The reference book and diary are separate publi- 

 cations enclosed in an attractive leather case for 

 carrying in the pocket. The former includes the 

 numerical and other data which the worker in 

 science likes to have readily available, and the 

 latter, in addition to the usual diary, has abund- 

 ance of space for memoranda. 



