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March i8, 1920] 



NATURE 



63 



neral fall in our nationaf standard of life," and 

 "have "a very pernicious effect on the efficiency 

 of our race." 



He would postulate, therefore, that no system 

 of agriculture can be sound for this country 

 unless it provide for an abundant supply of prime 

 beef. We must hasten to explain, however, that 

 he is no advocate of reversion to grass farming, 

 which, indeed, he condemns roundly as "stealing 

 from the land." Nor is he satisfied with other 

 current systems of beef production. Taking the 

 various systems at present in vogue, he has no 

 difficulty in demonstrating that on the average 

 British farm even the best of them represents but 

 a very inefllicient use of the possibilities of the soil. 



A great deal of our grass-land can be made far 

 more productive by suitable ameliorative treat- 

 ment, but more fundamental than this is the need 

 for improvement of the general quality of our 

 breeding stock. It cannot be denied that, despite 

 the pre-eminence of our best stock, the general 

 level of quality of cattle found on the majority of 

 our farms is deplorably low. This is in some 

 measure due to the great development of our 

 export of cattle, which has given to the foreigner 

 the pick, whilst leaving for the home farmer only 

 the moderate animals and the outcasts o£ our 

 pedigree herds. Moreover, the class of animal 

 which the foreigner demands is not that which 

 is best suited to the present home requirements. 



The export trade must continue to be an im- 

 portant feature of our pedigree stock raising, but 

 it is high time that organised effort should be 

 made through State action with the co-operation 

 of landed proprietors and agricultural associations 

 to encourage the de\elopment of types of cattle 

 especially suited for our own purposes and to 

 ensure their distribution over the farms of the 

 country. With an improved type of cow, capable 

 of producing a good yield of milk and early- 

 maturing, well-fleshed progeny, it will be possible 

 to combine intensive cultivation with the produc- 

 tion at reasonable cost of the milk, beef, cheese, 

 butter, and veal which the maintenance of a high 

 standard of living requires. 



There are many signs that the line of reorgan- 

 isation which Mr. Mackenzie indicates is the one 

 which British agriculture is most likely to follow, 

 and it is sincerely to be hoped that his book will 

 circulate widely amongst the leaders of agricultural 

 opinion and the farming community generally. 

 Last, but not least, h:s exposition of the need for 

 greater provision for research in animal husbandry 

 must be warmly commended. Without this the 

 improvement of live-stock must remain to a large 

 extent a blind groping after ends incapable of 

 precise definition. C. C. 



NO. 2629, VOL. 105] 



French Text-books of Chemistry. 



(i) Notions Fondamentalcs de Chimie Organique. 

 By Prof. Charles Moureu. Sixi^me Edition. 

 Pp. vii-f552. (Paris : Gauthier-Villars et Cie, 

 1919.) Price 16 francs. 

 (2) Cours de Chimie h Vusage des Etudiants 

 P.C.N, et S.P.C.N. By Prof. R. de Forcrand. 

 Deuxifeme edition. Tome i. Gin^ralitis — 

 Chimie minerale. Pp. viii-l-437. Tome 2. 

 Chimie organique — Chimie analytique ; Applica- 

 tions num^riques. Pp. 527. (Paris : Gauthier- 

 Villars et Cie, 1919.) Price 14 francs and 

 18 francs respectively. 

 (i) A S a science develops and facts multiply 

 jr\ and group themselves into laws and 

 theories, the system of imparting knowledge is 

 greatly simplified by using these generalisations 

 as pegs upon which to hang the facts. Whilst this 

 process is of the very essence of scientific growth, 

 it is important not only that the theories should 

 clothe the facts, but also that the tight or loose 

 parts of the garment should be clearly marked in 

 sartorial fashion for future modification. Nothing 

 is more misleading than the attempt to adjust 

 a theory by implication or by omission of details 

 to limbs it does not fit. How flabby many a 

 theory has looked on close inspection ! 



Herein lies a danger into which present writers 

 on organic chemistry may fall. The mere enu- 

 meration of compounds has been replaced by the 

 description of a few typical examples, and broad 

 generalisations have been illustrated and con- 

 densed into a few paragraphs. This system of 

 condensation, whilst it affords a useful survey of 

 the whole region of organic chemistry, may in the 

 process omit those apparently insignificant excep- 

 tions which, like the minute foreign substances in 

 metals, modify the whole character of the material. 

 We have been led to express these views in the 

 perusal of Prof. Moureu 's treatise. 



The fact that it has reached a sixth edition is 

 sufficient evidence that, whatever its merits or 

 defects, the book has established itself as a 

 popular text-book, and that it should have so 

 established itself is easy to understand. 



The number of compounds described, though 

 suflficiently numerous, is not more than is necessary 

 to illustrate some general process. Each chapter 

 and section is introduced by a few paragraphs on 

 gdnt^ralitds, admirably and lucidly explained. The 

 weak point of these gendralit^s is their brevity. 

 They merely touch the fringe of the subject, and 

 as there are no references, the student is not 

 encouraged to bridge the gaps. Tautomerism, 

 which finds a place under ketonic acids, is dis- 

 missed in less than three pages. 



