112 



NATURE 



[October g, 1919 



concentrated on war work. According to him, 

 many firms readily fell in with the suggestions of 

 the Department to depart from routine practice 

 and embark on experimental work, often at a con- 

 siderable financial loss to themselves. 



OVR BOOKSHELF. 



Pre-History in Essex, as Recorded in the Journal 

 of the Essex Field Club. By S. Hazzledine 

 Warren. (Essex Field Club Special Memoirs, 

 vol. V.) Pp. vii + 44. (Stratford, Essex: The 

 Essex Field CluS; London: Simpkin, Marshall, 

 and Co., Ltd., 1918.) Price 2S. 6d. net. 

 The title "Pre-History in Essex" would suggest 

 that the subjects treated in this special memoir 

 are entirely prehistoric. But we find mentioned 

 papers such as "Fifty Years Ago in Essex," 

 "Tree-Trunk Waterpipes," "The Coming of Age 

 of the Essex Field Club" (1901), etc. Indeed, the 

 number of papers on various subjects mentioned 

 is such that in most cases two or three lines com- 

 prise all the explanation of their nature. 



Among the few subjects to which more space 

 is given are the Deneholes of Hangman's Wood. 

 Mr. Warren does not take the view given in the 

 report on the Denehole Exploration at Hangman's 

 Wood (E. Nat. i, 1887), but considers that "they 

 possess in every way the normal character of com- 

 paratively modern chalkpits " (p. 34). Now about 

 half a mile west of Hangman's Wood is the 

 eastern margin of an area of bare chalk extending 

 thence to Purfleet, besides much smaller exposures 

 of chalk near Little Thurrock and East Tilbury, 

 with modern chalkpits in each place mentioned. 

 Hence modern chalkpits at Hangman's Wood, 

 where the chalk is about 60 ft. beneath the 

 surface, where each pit occupies a very small 

 horizontal space, and is separated from the other 

 pits, and shaped so as to show intended separa- 

 tion, are surely incredible. And the evidence is 

 surely in favour of the E.F.C. Exploration view- 

 that these deneholes were family stores. Then 

 the notion of the E.F.Ci explorers that deneholes 

 meant denholes was considered by that eminent 

 philologist, the late Sir J. A. H. Murray, to be 

 incorrect, den-eholes being Daneholes. 



However, " Pre-History in Essex " will form a 

 decidedly useful list of the papers published by 

 the Essex Field Club since 1880. 



T. V. Holmes. 



The Chemists' Year-Book, 1918-19. Edited by 

 F. W. Atack, assisted by L. Whinyates. Vol. i., 

 pp. vi-(-422; vol. ii.,pp. iv-f 423— 1 146. (London 

 and Manchester : Sherratt and Hughes, 1919.) 

 Price 15.S. net 2 vols. 

 The chemical pocket-books used in this country 

 before the recent war were chiefly of German 

 origin. Mr. Atack brought out the first edition 

 of his "Year-Book" in 1915 : its appearance 

 indicated that, as with sundry other chemical 

 products and adjuncts, we were quite capable of 

 supplying our own requirements in this respect. 

 A large amount of information has been packed 

 NO. 2606, VOL. 104I 



into the two small volumes. Much of the space is- 

 devoted to tables showing the chief physical and 

 chemical properties of numerous organic and in- 

 organic substances — their formulae, molecular 

 weights, boiling-points, and so on. There are 

 also the ordinary tables of specific gravity, solu- 

 bility, etc., and much useful matter of a mis- 

 cellaneous kind, including historical references,, 

 mensuration data, and lists of scientific journals. 

 In addition, the volumes include a number of short 

 articles which summarise the theory and practice 

 of various branches of chemical ' technology.^ 

 Thus, to mention only a few by way of examples, 

 there are sections on electro-chemical analysis, 

 fuels, dairy products, brewing materials, textile 

 fibres, dyestuifs, tobacco, and photography. 

 These condensed accounts serve to furbish up the 

 reader's acquaintance with branches of work in 

 which he may have become "rusty." 



Several new sections have been added to the 

 present edition. They include one on agricultural 

 chemistry by Dr. E. J. Russell, and one on the 

 analysis of ceramic materials by Dr. Mellor. 

 Other parts of the work have undergone a general 

 revision, and chemists will find the " Year-Book "■ 

 a convenient and useful vade mecum. 



The Geographical Part of the Nuzhat-Al-Quliih. 

 Composed by Hamd-Allah Mustawfi of Qazwin 

 in 740 (1340). Translated by G. Le Strange, 

 and printed for the Trustees of the " E. J. W. 

 Gibb Memorial." Vol. xxiii. Pp. xix-l-322. 

 (Leyden : E. J. Brill; London: Luzac and Co., 

 1919.) Price 8s. 

 We have here an English translation of the 

 original Persian text of the " Nuzhat-Al-Qulub " 

 published in this valuable series three years ago. 

 The author, Hamd-Allah, was a man of note in 

 his day, holding the post of Mustawfi, or State 

 Accountant, to Abu SaTd, the last of the decadent 

 Ilkhan dynasty, the first Mongol rulers of Persia, 

 and great-grandson of Hulaqu, the conqueror of 

 Baghdad. The author must have been in pos- 

 session of much geographical and statistical in- 

 formation, and in many ways his account of 

 Persia and Mesopotamia in the middle of the 

 fourteenth century is valuable ; but he depended 

 largely on materials collected by other writers, 

 much of which is now available in published texts. 

 The book takes the form of a gazetteer, but, 

 except as regards places like Qazwin, the author's 

 native city, little new information is forthcoming. 

 Perhaps the best chapter is that describing the 

 mines of western .'\sia producing metals, precious 

 stones, and other minerals. His science is that of 

 his own day, that of the scriptures and traditions 

 of Islam, as when he tells us that one of the chief 

 values of mountains is that they prevent the ground 

 from moving. But the treatise abounds in 

 miracles and folklore. Mr. Le Strange 's special 

 local knowledge is well exhibited in his identifica- 

 tion of many of the obscure places mentioned in 

 the text. The volume is in every way creditable • 

 to the editor and to the trustees of the E. J. W. 

 Gibb Memorial Fund. 



