March 28, 1901] 



NA TURE 



5r 



fibrinogen from blood plasma by fractional precipitation 

 with ammonium sulphate, and has studied the characters 

 of the soluble fibrino-globulin of Hammarsten, which is 

 present in solution after the fibrinogen solution has been 

 clotted or coagulated by heat. He finds that fibrinogen 

 is not filtered by pressure through a Chamberlain filter, 

 while the other proteids of plasma, including fibrino- 

 globulin, are driven through. He has also determined 

 the heat coagulation temperature of fibrino-globulin. 



Dr. Schwalbe has studied the clotting of freshly drawn 

 blood, the blood being suspended in microscopical 

 sections of elder-pith and protected from drying or 

 contact with the cover glass. He concludes that blood 

 platelets arise by the breaking down of red corpuscles, 

 and that agents, such as calcium salts, which promote 

 clotting do so by accelerating the breaking down of the 

 red corpuscles. The original observations are scarcely 

 of sufficient importance to warrant their publication in 

 the form of a separate monograph. 



A Manual of Elementary Science. A course of work 

 in Physics, Chemistry and Astronomy, for Queen's 

 scholarship candidates. By R. A. Gregory, F.R.A.S., 

 and A. T. Simmons, B.Sc. Pp. viii+429. (London: 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd , 1901.) Price 3^. 6d. 

 Of the three parts into which this book is divided, those 

 dealing with physics and chemistry are along familiar 

 lines, but it may be stated that they are treated with the 

 thoroughness and attention to practical details which the 

 authors have accustomed us to expect. It is to the third 

 part that teachers will turn with the greatest interest, for 

 the reason that an effort is made to extend laboratory 

 methods in the teaching of astronomy. Hitherto, with 

 the possible exception of two American books, there has 

 been no guide to this class of work suitable for elemen- 

 tary students who can only give a comparatively small 

 amount of time to the subject. The practical exercises 

 described comprise the illustration of astronomical 

 phenomena by the use of simple apparatus ; suggestions 

 for observations of the heavenly bodies themselves, 

 including measurements of altitude, &c., with home-made 

 instruments ; the graphical representation of the paths 

 of the sun, moon and planets with the aid of an almanac ; 

 and easy numerical exercises. Those who have endea- 

 voured to teach chiefly by the observation of the 

 heavens will appreciate the provision made for instruc- 

 tive work when outdoor observation is not possible or 

 convenient. The course laid down is certainly a step in 

 the right direction, but it would be too much to say that 

 it could not be improved. The use of the globes, for 

 instance, might have been introduced with advantage. 



It may be noted that Achernar, by some slip, has 

 been wrongly included in the list of bright stars visible 

 in England (p. 328). 



The book throughout is admirably illustrated, many of 

 the diagrams being original. A number of useful 

 exercises are appended to each chapter. 



The Mind of the Century. By various authors. Pp. 141. 



(London : T. Fisher Unwin, no date.) is. 

 The essays in this volume are characteristic aspects of 

 progress during the nineteenth century, seen from sixteen 

 different points of view ; they originally appeared in the 

 Daily Chronicle, and it may perhaps be doubted whether 

 any useful purpose is served by reprinting them. A 

 glance at the lines of intellectual development may be 

 sufficient for a daily newspaper, but it is scarcely accu- 

 rate to describe a very general view as a representation 

 of " The Mind of the Century." It will be sufficient to 

 say that Prof. Tilden's article on chemistry occupies five 

 pages, and he would probably be the first to disclaim 

 any desire to have it regarded as more than a very slight 

 sketch of a few lines of progress. Dr. H. J. Campbell 

 writes on medicine, Mr. Edward Clodd on natural 

 NO. 1639, VOL. 63] 



science (in which he includes astronomy), and Mr. W. A. 

 Price on applied science, the whole of the articles on 

 scientific subjects occupying thirty-three pages. To what 

 extent the minds of men of science^both pure and ap- 

 plied — can be faithfully reflected within these limits we 

 leave our readers to judge. The book has no index. 



Morison^s Chronicle of the Year's News of igoo. Com- 

 piled by G. Eyre-Todd. Pp. 446. (Glasgow : Morison 

 Brothers, 1901.) y. 6d. net. 



This is a diary of events and news of the year 1900, and 

 it may be taken as a convenient index to the subjects 

 which occupied public attention in the newspaper press 

 during that year. It is in no sense a record of scientific 

 thought and work, and the compiler has apparently 

 made no attempt to form an accurate estimate of the 

 relative standing of learned societies, or to apportion 

 space according to the value of their proceedings. 



In the index, under societies, we notice the Royal 

 Society of Edinburgh (the reference being to a single 

 meeting in 1900), but not the Royal Society of London ; 

 a meeting of the Scottish Meteorological Society is 

 recorded, but none of the Royal Meteorological Society ; 

 the Society of Chemical Industry appears, but not the 

 Chemical Society, or the Physical, or the Astronomical, 

 or the Linnean, Zoological and many others. So far as 

 science is concerned, therefore, a reader of the diary 

 would prevent himself from being disappointed if he 

 assumed that the volume took no account of the scientific 

 news of 1900. We must, however, be charitable, for, 

 after all, the news and events recorded in the volume 

 are, to the general public, of more interest and value than 

 many contributions to natural knowledge. 



Imitation, or the Mimetic Force iti Nature and Human 

 Nature. By Richard Steel. Pp. xii-f- 197. (London: 

 Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Ltd., 1900.) 



The canon of affirmative reasoning, which may be said 

 to form the text of this book, is expressed by the author 

 as follows : — " That which is true of a thing is probably 

 true of its like ; the degree of probability dependmg 

 upon the extent and thoroughness of the resemblance." 

 This principle is applied to the reasoning employed in 

 connection with such subjects as habit and instinct, 

 psychology, physics and biology, and other branches of 

 intellectual inquiry in the natural and spiritual worlds. 

 It is the expression of the theory of imitation, which the 

 author propounds " as a fundamental influence in human 

 affairs and in the natural universe generally." Many 

 general facts of natural history lend themselves easily to 

 this idea, and use is made of them. How the author 

 does this, and shows that even wave motion is " essen- 

 tially mimetic or imitative," _can be better read than 

 described. 



In Nature's Workshop. By Grant Allen. With 100 

 illustrations by Frederick Enock. Pp.240. (London: 

 George Newnes, Ltd., 1901.) Price y. 6d. 

 In reading this book one cannot fail to notice a con- 

 siderable resemblance between Mr. Grant Allen's manner 

 of treating his subject and that adopted by the late Dr. 

 Taylor in his " Sagacity and Morality of Plants." But 

 while the latter work consisted only of examples taken 

 from the vegetable kingdom, here the animal kingdom, 

 and especially the insect world, receives a large share of 

 attention. Thus there are chapters on "sextons and 

 scavengers," dealing with burying beetles ; " false pre- 

 tences" and "masquerades and disguises," dealing with 

 warning colours, mimicry and such matters; "animal 

 and vegetable hedgehogs," dealing with spiny fishes, 

 insects, cactuses, lizards and beetles ; "plants that go to 

 sleep." The book should prove delightful reading to 

 young people and others who can take an interest in 

 natural history treated in an unscientific and popular 



