122 



NATURE 



[April 12, 19 17 



Technology at South Kensington, the Royal Col- 

 lege of Science for Ireland, the Universities of 

 Harvard, Illinois, and of Sydney, Australia, and 

 gives photographs of their respective elevations 

 and internal arrangements. As types of labora- 

 tories for special purposes he describes, with illus- 

 trations, those of the Brewing School of the 

 University of Birmingham, of the Manchester 

 Municipal School of Technology, and of the Berlin 

 Technical High School. A full account is 

 given of the appointments and work of the 

 Government Laboratory in Clement's Inn Passage, 

 with numerous illustrations of the special ap- 

 paratus employed there, as well as a digest of 

 one of the annual reports of the Chief Chemist 

 as illustrating the great variety of chemical work 

 now needed by the Government. This section 

 concludes with a short account of certain instru- 

 ments and apparatus, with particular reference 

 to the most recent appliances and developments. 



Part ii., comprising ten chapters, extending in 

 all over 125 pages, deals with modern chemical 

 discoveries and theories. A short sketch of the 

 history of chemistry and of the development of 

 its principles occupies about a dozen pages. This 

 is necessarily highly condensed — a mere apergu 

 done with the lightest possible touch. But no 

 significant feature is left unnoticed, although some 

 of the most momentous of new departures are 

 dismissed in a dozen lines. The exigencies of his 

 subject — chemical discovery and invention in the 

 twentieth century- -together with limitations of 

 space, have, no doubt, imposed what at first sight 

 seems a certain want of proportion in the treat- 

 ment of the subject-matter. The lay reader who 

 desires to realise what is the work of the chemist 

 is really as much concerned with the broad funda- 

 mental truths upon which the science rests as he 

 is with electrons and isotopes. But Sir William 

 Tilden presumably has had to conform to the 

 title imposed upon him by the circumstance of a 

 companion volume under a somewhat similar 

 title, and what his reader may lose in chap. iv. 

 he gains abundantly in the rest of this particular 

 series. In some eight or nine chapters he is 

 treated to a full and clear description of those 

 discoveries which have already made this epoch 

 one of the most remarkable — perhaps the most 

 remarkable up to now — in the history of science. 

 The chapters on electric discharge in gases, on 

 the chemical elements, on the discovery and 

 properties of radium, and on the genesis and 

 transmutations of the elements together deal with 

 facts and theories which have shaken the very 

 foundations of the science, and of which the out- 

 come is not yet. The whole story has been put 

 together in an admirable manner, and constitutes 

 one of the most fascinating sections of the work. 

 Part iii. deals with the utilitarian aspects of 

 chemistry, particularly with some of the more 

 interesting or more important of its modern ap- 

 plications. The mass of material to be dealt with 

 is necessarily very large, and in spite of the 

 severest condensation, this section is the longest 

 NO. 2476, VOL. 99] 



in the book. It ranges over such diverse subjects 

 as the modern uses of hydrogen, oxygen, and 

 nitrogen, the luminosity of flames, the incan- 

 descent-mantle industry, petrol, coal-tar, syn- 

 thetic dyes and drugs, perfumes, cellulose, rubber, 

 and explosives. This section constitutes very 

 attractive reading. It is excellently illustrated 

 with well-chosen photographs, and has been 

 brought up to date as regards processes and 

 statistical information. Within the limits of 150 

 pages no more illuminating or instructive account 

 of the trend of modern chemical application could 

 be given. It is as full of meat as an egg. 



The last section of the book is devoted to a 

 comparatively short account of modern progress 

 in organic chemistry, and considering what 

 modern organic chemistry has become, there is 

 probably no section which has cost the author 

 more trouble and thought. Of course, tnere are 

 whole sections of this branch of chemistry which 

 make no appeal to a general reader. Its problems 

 are for the most part purely academic, and are 

 not capable of being stated in terms intelligible 

 to the lay mind. Sir William Tilden has, there- 

 fore, wisely confined himself to certain special 

 sections, some of which, like that of sugar, might 

 equally have found a place in the preceding part. 

 Still, the subject enables a short account to be 

 given of the chemistry of sugars in general, and 

 of the mutual relations and constitution of the 

 members of the several groups. Other chapters 

 are on the proteins, enzymes, and natural 

 colours, in which, considering the restricted space, 

 a sound and accurate statement of present-day 

 knowledge is given. 



We congratulate the author on the production 

 of a work as useful as it is accurate and interest- 

 ing. The book is admirably got up and excellently 

 illustrated, and constitutes a worthy and timely 

 addition to popular chemical literature. 



BRITISH PLANTS AND BOTANICAL 

 ■ TERMS. 



(i) Illustrations of the British Flora: a Series of 

 Wood Engravings, with Dissections, of British 

 Plants. Drawn by W. H. Fitch, with addi- 

 tions by W. G. Smith. Fourth (revised) edition. 

 Pp. xvi + 338. (London : L. Reeve and Co. , 

 Ltd., 1916.) Price 95. net. 

 (2) A Glossary of Botanic Terms, -with their De- 

 rivation and Accent. By Benjamin D. Jackson. 

 Third edition. Pp. xii + 427. (London : Duck- 

 worth and Co., 1916.) Price 75. 6d. net. 

 (i) "T^HE figures prepared by W. H. Fitch for 

 J- the original illustrated edition of 

 Bentham's "Handbook of the British Flora" 

 have become one of the traditions of British 

 botany. Remarkably compact, and for their size 

 admirably depicting thej important features in 

 habit and characters of flower and fruit, they have 

 proved one of the most widely used aids to the 

 identification of British plants. Mr. W. G. Smith, 



