124 



NATURE 



[June io, 1897 



later a temple of Osiris seems to have stood on the 

 island, for a governor of Nubia, called Merimes, cut his 

 name, which is found, along with those of his prede- 

 cessors and successors, in remembrance of a visit thereto, 

 on rocks on the island of Biggeh (see Brugsch, " Egypt," 

 i. p. 423). In the reign of Rameses II., the builder of 

 the temples at Kalabsheh and Abu Simbel, no mention 

 is made of Philas, and, curiously enough, no remains 

 inscribed with his prasnomen and nomen have been 

 found there. The probable explanation of the silence 

 of the monuments about Philas is that the island was 

 usually reckoned as a part of Biggeh, and even the 

 Greeks and Romans included both islands in the name 

 of Philce. Be this as it may, we believe that a temple, 

 or temples, existed at Philas from the earliest period, 

 and that their remains were removed entirely by those 

 who set up the buildings for Nectanebus and his suc- 

 cessors ; for, after Captain Lyons' exhaustive survey, it 

 is impossible that any can be found there. 



It is now our pleasant duty to call the reader's atten- 

 tion to the series of sixty-seven plates which illustrate 

 Captain Lyons' report, and to fully endorse Mr. Garstin's 

 statement that if the ruins of Philas were to "disappear 

 to-morrow, the scientific world would still possess a 

 record of each detail of their outline and construction," 

 and we rejoice to hear the promised survey of Nubia 

 has been already begun. Though every intelligent 

 person would view with indignation the slightest damage 

 done unnecessarily to the temples at Philse, still it must 

 be admitted that antiquarian sentiment should not stand 

 in the way of the prosperity of the country of Egypt. 

 If the scheme of a reservoir at Aswin produces a com- 

 plete survey of the country for two hundred miles south 

 of it, we may hope that a scheme for a reservoir at 

 Gebel Silsileh will be followed by a complete survey of 

 the country to the north of it. Finally, we congratulate 

 Mr. Garstin and Captain Lyons on the completion of a 

 delicate piece of work, and thank H.E. Hussein Fakhri 

 Pasha for sending forth to the world the results in such 

 a sumptuous form. 



ASSAYING IN WORKS LABORATORIES. 



Notes on Assaying. By P. de P. Ricketts, E.M., Ph.D., 

 Professor of Analytical Chemistry and Assaying, 

 School of Mines, Columbia University ; and E. H. 

 Miller, A.M., Ph.D. of Columbia University, Pp. 

 viii4-3ii. (New York: John Wiley and Sons. 

 London : Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1897.) 



Recueil de Precedes de dosage pour I analyse des com- 

 bustibles^ des minerals de fer, des f antes des aciers et 

 des fers. Par G. Arth, Professeur de Chimie Indus- 

 trielle a la faculte des Sciences de Nancy. Pp. iii -V 

 313. (Paris : G. Carre et C. Naud, 1897.) 



THE reissue in a new and enlarged form of Prof 

 Ricketts' well-known book will be welcomed by 

 all who have used the former editions. As Dr. Miller 

 now assists his chief, the book appears as a new one. 

 It is intended to be used in the laboratories of works 

 where only notes for reference are required, and long 

 and detailed descriptions of well-known operations are 

 unnecessary. The result is that it is written in a crisp 

 and telegraphic style, which should commend itself not 

 only to Americans, but to all busy assayers. On the 

 other hand, students would often require a little supple- 

 NO. 1441, VOL. 56] 



mentary oral teachirf^ to enable them to perform the 

 operations efficiently. 



The first part, comprising an account of apparatus, 

 reagents and methods, is good of its kind, although there 

 is little that is new. Regarding litharge, there is a 

 noticeable statement that "it should be free from red 

 oxide of lead, as the latter has the power of oxidising 

 silver and thus causing loss of that metal during the 

 assay." This property, however, is shared by litharge ; 

 and it would be interesting if experiments were made 

 showing the relative losses due to the action of the two 

 reagents. 



In the part dealing with the fire assays of ores and of 

 bullion, the most interesting sections are those on the 

 assay of gold and silver. The method given of parting 

 the beads from gold ores, by heating them with acid in 

 porcelain crucibles, is seldom used in this country, 

 though it is in general use in America and Australia 

 Its merits are little understood in Great Britain, where 

 it is often adversely criticised. It would appear that no 

 adequate defence of it has yet appeared in print, though 

 it would not be difficult to furnish one. Space forbids 

 any attempt of the kind here. It is sufficient to observe 

 that objections to it have been raised mainly by those 

 who have never tried it, and who do not know how easy 

 it is to obtain exact results by its aid. 



The method of assay of gold bullion is described as 

 being that used at the Royal Mint, London, where, the 

 authors imply, the greatest accuracy is obtained. Besides 

 the assay of all metals usually found in ores, an account 

 of qualitative blow-pipe analysis is given, and the whole 

 book is far more complete in its present form than was 

 the case with the previous issues. 



M. Arth's book is also one of considerable merit. It 

 is an account of the exact methods of analysis used in 

 iron and steel works in France, and will be useful to the 

 works analyst in all countries. It distinguishes between 

 two kinds of analyses : the one required as a daily control 

 of the works, the other to serve as a basis for experiments 

 or in delicate researches. The rough and ready methods 

 employed for the former purpose are, of course, unsuit>- 

 able for the latter, and -vice versa. Both kinds are 

 described, but the first-named class is undoubtedly the 

 more efficiently treated, the Kjeldahl method for the 

 estimation of nitrogen in fuel being, for example, fully 

 described, and Dumas' method deliberately omitted 

 except by name. 



The methods of analysis used in steel works in France 

 do not appear to differ materially from those used in 

 this country, and some which are described were even 

 devised on this side of the Channel. It is evident, 

 therefore, that this book will prove as useful to our 

 analysts as to their colleagues in France. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Life and Letters of William Barton Rogers. Edited by 

 his Wife, with the assistance of William T. Sedgwick. 

 Vol. i. pp. viii -f- 427. Vol. ii. pp. vi -h 451. (Boston 

 and New York : Houghton, Mifflin, and Co., 1896.) 

 A TRULY great achievement of the life of William Barton 

 Rogers was the foundation and establishment of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Institute of Technology, which ranks among 

 the best technological schools in the world. His scheme 

 was adopted by a general committee in October i860, and 



