504 



NATURE 



[January 7, 19 15 



authors g-ive few results of their own individual 

 experience. Such intimate knowledge of detail, 

 as the frequent repetition of an analytical method 

 affords, is invaluable to those who have occasion 

 to employ a new analytical process without pre- 

 vious experience, and adds enormously to the 

 value of the description. For example, a know- 

 ledge of this kind would decide which of the three 

 modifications of Zeisel's method here given is the 

 most convenient and trustworthy, and so save 

 the necessity of an elaborate account of all three. 



Apart from this and as a compilation and accurate 

 transcript of important methods and of references 

 to original memoirs, the book is eminently useful, 

 and is sure to find a secure place on the library 

 shelves of most organic chemists. 



(4) The author's object is to introduce the 

 applications of chemistry to household affairs as 

 early and as often as possible. This has been 

 systematically carried through, yet one feels that 

 the introduction of these household topics are in 

 the nature of a concession to the title rather than 

 an integral part of a scheme for teaching chemis- 

 try. The book begins, after the usual fashion, and 

 with the usual doubtful success, by attempting to 

 distinguish between a physical and chemical 

 change. It then passes on to the elements, 

 chemical notation, and the atomic theory, after 

 which, by a curious reversal of the ordinary 

 sequence, the law of definite proportion is dis- 

 cussed. Combustion is followed by an account of 

 fuels, gas burners, and illuminants, and so forth, 

 and about half-way through we come upon organic 

 compounds, soaps, food stuffs, etc., whilst textile 

 fibres, dyeing, and bleaching complete the final 

 chapters. 



The book, no doubt, represents an honest 

 attempt to build on a theoretical foundation a 

 superstructure of technical facts and problems 

 more or less connected with our daily life; but 

 this attempt within the limits of a small volume 

 renders the superstructure top-heavy, and the 

 result is that much of the information is super- 

 ficial, the explanations frequently inadequate and 

 confusing, by reason of their brevity, and the 

 style essentially didactic. We would refer especi- 

 ally to the chapters on the atomic hypothesis, on 

 ionisation, and on the organic radicals, which are 

 mere statements of theory. 



These defects are tcf some extent compensated 

 by many well-chosen experiments and by the 

 excellence of the " get up " of the book, which 

 is embellished by numerous portraits. It should 

 be added that the statements in small print under 

 the portrait of John Mayow are incorrect. 



J. B. C. 

 NO. 2358, VOL. 94] 



OVR BOOKSHELF. 



Transactions of the Paisley Naturalists' Society. 

 Vol. ii. Lists of Renfrewshire Plants, Macro- 

 Lepidoptera, Fresh-water Fishes, Amphibians, 

 Reptiles, Birds, Mammals, and other papers, 

 with introductory notes by the editor, the Rev. 

 C. A. Hall. Pp. xvi+i20. (Paisley: A. Gard- 

 ner, 191 5.) Price 35. 6d. net. 

 A WELCOME sign of the continued vigour of natural 

 history interests throughout the country is the in- 

 creasing number of regional surveys The last we 

 saw — a few months ago — was from Bournemouth, 

 and now we have one from Paisley. Some of these 

 scientific guides have had their origin in visits of 

 the British Association, others have been due to 

 the enthusiasm of a single individual, and others, 

 like the one before us, express the activity of a 

 local society. The editor leads off with a useful 

 introduction on Renfrewshire as a whole. It might 

 well have been longer, but he tells the reader 

 where to go for further information. In the list 

 of plants by Mr. Daniel Ferguson, the station? 

 have been deliberately omitted as it is one of the 

 main objects of the society to guard the treasures 

 of the county against extermination. Mr. Alex- 

 ander M. Stewart deals with the Macro-Lepidop- 

 tera, Mr. Thomas Malloch with the birds, Mr. 

 Malloch and the editor with mammals, and Mr. 

 Duncan Smith with the fossils in the Paisley 

 Museum. There are also lists of reptiles, am- 

 phibians, and fresh-water fishes. While we cannot 

 regard the volume as more than the beginning of 

 the kind of regional survey every county should 

 aim at, we appreciate the industry and carefulness 

 represented in the lists. For future editions we 

 suggest that introduced forms such as the edible 

 frog, the natterjack toad, and the grass snake 

 should not be included in the ordinary list, how- 

 ever clearly it may be noted that they should not 

 be there. With a multitude of names it is difficult 

 to avoid misprints, and it is with sympathy that 

 we call attention to Peliws and Tropidonatus on 

 one page. The classification of reptiles is new to 

 us and strange. But these are trifles ; the volume 

 is a step in the right direction and a credit to 

 those concerned. We wish for the Paisley 

 Naturalists' Society, which this year attains its 

 majority, a long and prosperous life. 



Biology. By Prof. 0. N. Calkins. Pp. viii + 

 241. (New York: H. Holt and Co., n.d.) 

 Price 1.75 dollars. 

 This introduction to general biology has a pleas- 

 ing freshness, a quality difficult to attain in these 

 days of many books. It has necessarily much in 

 common with other good introductions, such as 

 Parker's "Elementary Biology," but it is distinc- 

 tive. It considers general biology as having to 

 do with fundamental facts and principles — with 

 protoplasm and vitality, metabolism, food and 

 transformations of energy, organic architecture, 

 inter-relations, the curve of life from development 

 to senescence, and, finally, species and the factors 



