October 15, 19 14] 



NATURE 



n^ 



out.'.' Still, here is a book well worth buying and 

 studying-. The illustrations and diagrams are 

 admirable ; and Dr. Millard has not only authority, 

 but an excellent style. 



Bibliotheca Geographical jahreshiblio graphic der 

 & Geographischen Literatur. Edited by Joseph 

 K Miiller. Band xviii. Jahrgang, 1909 und 1910. 

 K Pp. xvii + 483. (Berlin: W. H. Kuhl, 1914.) 

 ^Associated for many years with the name of 

 Prof. Otto Baschin, this excellent publication is 

 as useful as ever under its new editor. In pre- 

 vious issues the '* Bibliotheca Geographica " pur- 

 j ported to be a bibliography of all geographical 

 books and articles that appeared ; the current issue 

 is limited only to scientific writings. And the list 

 of them runs to 480 pages ! The student will 

 find in the catalogue all manner of books and 

 studies in learned journals bearing on the many- 

 sided problems of geography, not omitting 

 methods of teaching. Turn, for instance, to the 

 section on Austria-Hungary. Books on physical 

 geography, cartography, climatology, mountains, 

 hydrography, biological geography, historical geo- 

 graphy, and last, but not least, maps are men- 

 tioned. The diligence of the editor deserves all 

 praise, and his book should prove of great use 

 generally, more especially in countries like 

 Russia, of which the language is a sealed book 

 to most. In many cases, immediately after the 

 entry of a particular book, stands a reference to 

 a review of it. Thus, following Mr. A. L. 

 Salmon's "Dorset" in the "Cambridge County 

 Geographies," we have a reference to the Geo- 

 graphical Jovurnal, vol. xxxvi., p. 178, where the 

 book is noticed. This additional information is 

 certainly useful. But it does not go far enough. 

 If only we had some indication in these long 

 lists of books of their relative value (even in a 

 very general way) the " Bibliotheca Geographica " 

 would add much to our indebtedness. 

 Science and the Miller. By J. S. Remington. Pp. 

 166. (Liverpool : The Northern Publishing Co. , 

 1914.) Price 45. 6d. net. 

 England is justly proud of its milling industry, 

 and the advances made in it both on the mechani- 

 cal and the technical side during the last decade 

 have given the lead both to Europe and America. 

 Our biggest milling concerns are already willing 

 to learn, and there are indications that the smaller 

 miller, too, is prepared to accept the help that 

 applied science will give him. It is essential, 

 however, that his chemist should be of the right 

 type; such, for example, as is portrayed in the 

 work under notice. The chapter on the training 

 of the flour-mill chemist is an admirable state- 

 ment of what is necessary, whilst the remarks as 

 to the position the employer should take to- 

 ^vards the chemist will be applauded by every man 

 of science with works experience. 



Later chapters give hints as to the directions 

 in which the chemist can make himself useful in 

 the mill, and from these we would select that on 

 I improvers and enrichment processes for special 

 commendation. This question is imperfectly under- 

 *^tood, and has formed the point of attacks by 



NO. 2346, VOL. 94] 



ignorant food reformers in the public Press, who 

 would do well to study Mr. Remington's book. 



Lengthy sections of the work are devoted to 

 breakfast, invalid and infant foods, and to the 

 more prosaic subject of feeding cakes and offals. 

 The disposal of residues, such as are made into 

 compound cakes, is a most important considera- 

 tion to both the flour and oil miller, and it is to 

 be regretted that the average farmer does not yet 

 fully understand the many virtues of the scien- 

 tifically compounded cake. 



Impurities of Agricultural Seed, •with a Descrip- 

 tion of Commonly Occurring Weed Seeds and a 

 Guide to Their Identification. By S. T. Parkin- 

 son and G. Smith. Pp. 105 + xxxviii plates. 

 (London and Ashford (Kent) : Headley Bros, 

 n.d.) Price 35. net. 

 The authors of this little book express the hope 

 that it will be of practical use to farmers, seeds- 

 men, teachers and students. This hope will, we 

 believe, be fulfilled, but we hold that had the 

 volume been prepared for a less mixed community 

 it would have been more specifically useful. As it 

 is, the first thirty or forty pages are taken up with 

 generalities — so beloved by the present-day teacher 

 — which, if they are included at all, should come 

 as savouries and not as hors d'oeuvres. Farmers 

 know well enough that weeds are bad, and if the 

 main object of the authors is to help farmers to 

 judge of a sample of seed, they might well rele- 

 gate to an appendix their description of the harm 

 done by weeds, and bring into first place the ex- 

 cellent descriptions and illustrations which now 

 occur in the latter half of the book. These de- 

 scriptions might also be so adjusted as to occur 

 in all cases opposite the photographs. 



Discussion of questions on such subjects as 

 national seed-testing stations and State legisla- 

 tion with respect to weeds might, we think, be 

 omitted altogether, and the space saved filled to 

 better purpose by weed-analyses of actual samples 

 of bought-in seeds, by lists of weeds characteristic 

 of different types of soil, and by notes on the 

 respective appearances of new and of old and 

 " treated " seed. In short, if the authors in prepar- 

 ing a second edition will forget the teacher and 

 the student in agricultural colleges, and think of 

 the farmer — the seedsman can look after himself 

 — they will add to the utility of an already useful 

 little book. The more so if they can persuade the 

 publishers to reduce the price to a shilling. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



I [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

 j opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 

 \ can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 

 I the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 

 this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken of anonymous communications.'] 



Enhanced Series and Atomic Models. 



In the Bakerian Lecture, "Series Lines in Spark 

 Spectra," Prof. A, Fowler indicates an explanation 

 on Bohr's theory of enhanced series in which the 

 Rydberg constant is 4N instead of N. It may be 

 of interest to point out how the model atom described 



