304 



NATURE 



[July 26, 1900. 



to the various departments of the college, courses of study, &c. , 

 is to be found in the "Catalogue," which also contains many 

 full-page illustrations of the college buildings, interiors of the 

 laboratories, &c. 



Thk Journal of the Straits branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 

 for January, 1900, contains, inter alia, an important contribution 

 by Mr. H. N. Ridley on the flora of Singapore. The district 

 is a rich one, something like 1900 flowering plants, and 130 ferns 

 being recorded. Mr. Ridley opens with an interesting intro- 

 duction, in which he gives a sketch of the factors which determine 

 or modify the vegetation. He also describes some interesting 

 phenological facts, and finally gives a sketch of the history of 

 the botanical work in the Island. The chief space is, of course, 

 devoted to an enumeration of the plants, but it contains short 

 notes respecting the more striking individual species. 



The revised edition of " First Records of British Flowering 

 Plants," by Mr. W. A. Clarke, just published by Messrs. West, 

 Newman and Co., is full of extracts of interest to every one who 

 finds pleasure in the study of the British flora. To members 

 of Field Clubs and Natural History Societies the book is par- 

 ticularly valuable. It gives, in the form of extracts from printed 

 botanical works published in Great Britain, the earliest notice 

 of each distinct species of our native and naturalised plants, the 

 last edition of the '* London Catalogue " being taken as a basis. 

 The volume thus provides a concise answer to the question 

 which a naturalist often asks, viz. : " How long has this plant 

 been known as British ? " An interesting analysis of the " first 

 records " is given at the end of the book. William Turner was 

 the first to record the majority of our native plants. His works, 

 ranging from 1538 to 1568, contain notices of 238 flowering 

 plants, and may be considered the foundation of our British 

 flora. From Lobel (1570, &c.), Mr. Clarke obtains eighty first 

 records and from Gerard's famous Herball (1597), 182 species, 

 so that about 500 species of British plants were known and 

 described three hundred years ago. The book in which these 

 and many other particulars are given is one which every 

 naturalist should keep handy for reference. 



The Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society (vol. 

 xxxi. ), containing papers read from April to December of last 

 year, have just been published by Mr. Francis Hodgson. The 

 titles and brief abstracts of the papers have already appeared 

 among our reports of societies. 



The Great Eastern Railway Company's " Tourist Guide to 

 the Continent," edited by Mr. Percy Lindley, contains concise 

 notes and numerous illustrations of interesting and easily 

 accessible places in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, 

 Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The book is a useful 

 travelling companion for Continental tourists, and is as matter- 

 of-fact as most guide-books. 



The volume of Proceedings of the forty-eighth meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science, held at 

 Columbus a year ago, has just been received. The presidential 

 addresses, papers and abstracts cover a wide field of scientific 

 work. A noteworthy feature is the series of portraits of former 

 presidents of the Association, accompanying an address by 

 Dr. Marcus Benjamin. 



The value of a well chosen set of inorganic chemical pre- 

 parations as a part of a course of general chemistry is now 

 generally acknowledged, although the number of elementary 

 text-books dealing with this branch of the subject is compara- 

 tively small. The works of Prof. Erdmann, of Halle, in this 

 field are well known, and the English translation of his 

 "Introduction to Chemical Preparations" (Chapman and Hall) 



NO. 1604, VOL. 62] 



byDr.lF. L. Dunlap, the German edition of which has already 

 been noticed in these columns, will be of great service to 

 students in England and America. 



The seventh part of vol. ii. of the seventh edition of 

 Fresenius's "Quantitative Chemical Analysis," translated from 

 the revised sixth edition by Mr. C. E. Groves, F.R.S., has just 

 been published by Messrs. J. and A. Churchill. This com- 

 pletes the new edition of the work, which has been revised 

 throughout. The special part, dealing largely with applications 

 of chemical analysis to industrial products and other technical 

 matters, has been considerably extended, and many new 

 analytical processes have been introduced. The last section of 

 the work includes sixty exercises especially designed for teaching 

 the theory and practice of quantitative chemical analysis. In 

 addition, there is an appendix containing analytical notes and 

 tables for the calculation of analyses. Practical chemists and 

 teachers are thus now provided with a complete new edition of 

 a standard work on analysis. 



The reaction discovered by Lubawin of the formation of o- 

 amino-acids by the interaction of ammonium cyanide and alde- 

 hydes, has been extended by Dr. W. Gulewitsch to ketones, and 

 in the current number of the Berichte he describes the details of 

 the preparation of a-amino-isobutyric acid from acetone, the yield 

 under favourable conditions being as high as 74 per cent, of the 

 theoretical. The same number of the Berichte also contains a 

 masterly investigation of the action of soda solution upon nitroso- 

 benzene by Prof. Bamberger. No less than twelve substances 

 have been isolated from the products of this extremely complex 

 reaction, including azoxybenzene, nitrobenzene, aniline, /-nitroso- 

 phenol, o-amidophenol, /-amidophenol, hydrocyanic acid, am- 

 monia, and four new acids, and there are still further products 

 awaiting investigation. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Bonnet Monkey {Macacus sitiicus) from 

 India, presented by Mr. P. M. Thornton ; a Rhesus Monkey 

 {Macacus rhesus) from India, presented by Miss A. N. Ball ; 

 a Humboldt's Lagothrix {Lagothrix humboldti) from the Upper 

 Amazons, presented by Mr. W. S. Churchill ; two Masked Para- 

 doxures {Paradoxurus larvatus) from China, presented by Mr. 

 W. T. Lay; a Senegal Parrot {Poeocephalus senegalus) from 

 West Africa, presented by Mr. S. Cordwell ; two Chukar 

 Partridges (Caccadis chukar) from North-west India, presented 

 by Mr. Chas. E. Pitman; a Missel Thrush {Turdus viscivorus), 

 European, presented by Mr. J. B. Williamson ; a Common 

 Cuckoo {Cuculus canorus), British, presented by Miss Lucy 

 Holland; two Larger Hill Mynahs {Gracula intermedia) from 

 Northern India, a Mauve-necked .Cassowary (CtWMarzMJ violi- 

 collis) from the Aru Islands, a Clumsy Tortoise ( Testudo inepta) 

 from Mauritius, four Elephantine Tortoises {Testudo elephantina) 

 from the Aldabra Islands, an Alligator Terrapin {Chelydra 

 serpentina), six Blanding's Terrapins {Emys blandingi) from 

 North America, deposited ; a Guira Cuckoo ( Guira piririgua) 

 from Para, six Painted Frogs {Discoglossus pietus), South 

 European, purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Astronomical Occurrences in August. 

 August 4. iih. 55m. Minimum of Algol (3 Persei). 

 7. 8h. 43m. ,, ,, ,, 



7. 5h. Conjunction of Mars and Neptune. (Maas 



i°27'N.) 

 9. Iih. 34m. to I2h. 40m. Moon occults the star 



D.M. - 16°, 5609 (mag. 6). 

 II. Maximum of August meteoric shower. Perseids. 

 (Radiant 45° + 57°). 



