OCTOBEU 25, 1900] 



NATURE 



619 



writings of Hermann Kopp, and the more recent con- 

 tributions of Berthelot, leave little to be desired in 

 completeness, and provide a repository of information 

 invaluable for purpose of reference. This, however, is 

 literature for the fully fledged chemist or chemical author. 



The chemical student requires something different. 

 The importance to hmi of attending to the historical 

 aspect of chemistry is recognised by most teachers. It 

 is indeed maintained by some that there is no other 

 satisfactory way of approaching even the elements of 

 chemistry, than by performing experiments in historical 

 order. A Board School might be cited where the 

 older boys are given the Alembic Club reprints, and 

 asked to do the experiments as there described. What- 

 ever may be thought of this, it cannot be denied that a 

 study of chemical history is most important, not only for 

 a clear grasp of the origin and growth of our present 

 theories, but because of that more subtle influence on the 

 mind and imagination which perhaps may be included 

 in the much-abused word culture. 



The full advantage of historical study is not to be 

 obtained by the reading of such a work as the one under 

 notice, but rather by the careful study of those original 

 memoirs or books which will ever remain landmarks in 

 the track of scientific progress. At the same time, a 

 connected history is a useful and perhaps a necessary 

 adjunct to these partial studies, and this want is met 

 extremely well by the book under notice. 



Prof. Ladenburg has cast his story in the form of lec- 

 tures, and for the purpose in view this is a satisfactory 

 arrangement. In tracing the history of chemistry from 

 the time of Lavoisier to the present day a vast amount 

 of material has, of course, to be dealt with ; and of the 

 prodigious amount of reading and critical examination 

 entailed upon the author there is abundant evidence both 

 in the text and in the numerous references which are 

 appended. As to the general balance of the book it may 

 be said that the earlier part is fuller and more explana- 

 tory than the later. The account, for example, of the 

 controversy between Berthollet and Proust is very clear 

 and interesting, whilst the accounts of the controversies 

 that raged later in the century in regard to fundamental 

 questions of organic chemistry are much more compressed 

 and difficult to follow. The last chapter of the book is 

 little more than an enumeration of the chief chemical 

 topics that have engaged attention during the past fifteen 

 years. 



However, looking at the book as a whole, it must be 

 said that Prof. Ladenburg has produced a most useful 

 history, extremely readable considering the inevitable 

 compression, remarkably free from the bias of personal 

 opinions, and giving a connected view of the progress of 

 chemical science which will be of great benefit to 

 students. 



Dr. Dobbin has succeeded admirably in the arduous 

 work of translating narrative German into narrative 

 English. Here and there sentences are to be found 

 which declare their origin ; but on the whole the English 

 (or should one say British ?) flows smoothly, and there is 

 a remarkable absence of typographical errors or mistakes 

 of a more serious kind. Dr. Dobbin and the Alembic 

 Club may certainly be congratulated on their latest con- 

 tribution to chemical literature. A. S. 

 NO. I 61 7. VOL. 62] 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Untersuchun^en iiber Mikrostrukturen des erstarrleu 

 Schwefels nebst Bemerkungen iiber Sublimation^ 

 ijberschmelzung und Vbersiittigiing des Schwefels und 

 einiger anderer Korper. By O. Biitschli. Pp. iv -f 96 ; 

 4 plates. (Leipzig : W. Engelmann, 1900.) 



Untersuchungen iiber die Mikrostruktur kiitistlicher und 

 natiirlicher Kieselsduregallerten { Fabaschir., Hydro- 

 phan. Opal). By O. Butschli. Pp. 287-348 ; 3 plates. 

 (Reprinted from Verhandl. d. Naturhist.-Med. Vereins 

 zu Heidelberg^ N.F. Band vi. 1900.) 



A PREVIOUS work by the professor of zoology at Heidel- 

 berg (" Untersuchungen iiber Strukturen," 1898), reviewed 

 in Nature (vol. Ix. p. 124), dealt more especially with 

 the microstructure of organic substances, comparing them 

 with the supposed alveolar structure of protoplasm. In 

 the first of the present pamphlets the author de- 

 scribes in minute detail his observations in the same 

 direction made on inorganic substances, more particularly 

 sulphur. Amongst the various globular and crystalline 

 forms produced by the sublimation and subsequent 

 transformations of sulphur, he describes some which 

 have a radial or concentric arrangement of vacuities or 

 air-spaces suggesting an alveolar structure. The subject 

 is, however, treated throughout from a crystallographic 

 rather than from a biological point of view, and much 

 the same ground has been covered in a more concise and 

 earlier paper by Dr. R. Brauns, the professor of 

 mineralogy at Giessen (" Beobachtungen iiber die 

 Krystallisation des Schwefels aus seinem Schmelzfluss,'' 

 Neues Jahrb. f. Mineralogie, &^c., 1899, Beil.-Bd. xiii. 

 pp. 39-89 ; 7 plates). 



The second pamphlet describes with equal minuteness 

 the appearances shown under the microscope by chips 

 and thin sections of dried gelatinous silica, as well as of 

 the natural forms of colloidal silica, tabasheer and opal 

 (including hydrophane and precious opal), which are all 

 very similar in their minute structure. 



Both pamphlets are admirably illustrated with numerous 

 well-prepared microphotographs. 



T/ie School Journey. A Means of Teaching Geography, 

 Physiography and Elementary Science. By Joseph 

 H. Cowham. With additional "Journeys" by G. G. 

 Lewis and Thomas Crawshaw. Pp. 79. (London : 

 Westminster School Book Depot, 1900.) 

 For many years the study of geography at the West- 

 minster Training College has been supplemented by an 

 excursion from Croydon to Godstone, under the guidance 

 of Mr. Cowham, the lecturer on education at the college, 

 and the author of several excellent educational works. In 

 this volume a description is given of the chief character- 

 istics observable during the ramble ; and horizontal and 

 vertical sections, as well as photographic illustrations, 

 elucidate the physical geography of the district traversed. 

 In addition, the book contains accounts of excursions to 

 Greenwich and Woolwich, and along a river bank in 

 Lancashire, contributed by two of Mr. Cowham's former 

 pupils. 



The book appears at the right psychological moment ; 

 for the feeling that geography should, whenever possible, 

 be made an outdoor study, is spreading, and every state- 

 ment of experience is of value to teachers who want to 

 improve methods of instruction in geography but are un- 

 able to see clearly how to carry out schemes which have 

 been put on paper by persons who may not have given 

 full consideration to ways and means. Here, however, 

 we have notes upon actual excursions and how they 

 were planned and performed, and with these before them, 

 teachers should have no difficulty in arranging others it 

 they have some knowledge of physical geography. The 

 Geologists' Association and Prof Seeley s Geological 



