DISCOVERY 



139 



Dr. F()r5\^he's long experience enables him to give 

 valuable ad\-ice about the pitfalls and difficulties that 

 xnay be encountered, but he does not exclude smaU prac- 

 tical details such as the arrangement of the consulting and 

 ■waiting rooms and the hours of treatment. 



For a small book it contains rather a large number of 

 misprints, but these will doubtless be corrected in a later 

 edition. F. A. H. 



SHORTER NOTICES 

 Radiations from Slow Radium and Their Therapeutic 

 Value. By John B. Kr.^mer. (Bailliere, Tindall & 

 Cox, 1 25. 6d.) 

 A nicely produced but pretentious book, containing 

 ■several very inaccurate descriptions of simple scientific 

 facts, llr. Kramer's case is that impure (and therefore 

 ■weak) radio-active preparations (for which he has in- 

 vented the name Slow Radium) have a therapeutic value 

 similar to that of pure radium, if applied in proper amount 

 and for the proper tinae. This he supports wth many 

 ■facts, illustrations, and descriptions of cures. But since 

 radium is radium, whether pure and strong or impure and 

 ■" slow," this case needs no arguing ; it is admitted ; indeed, 

 it is self-evident. If IMr. Kramer really understood 

 ladio-activity, he would not only have escaped falhng 

 nto several egregious errors relating to it ; he would not 

 iave written this book. 



Patents and Chemical Research. By H. E. Potts, B.Sc. 

 (Liverpool University Press, 8s. 6d.) 

 This subject is intimately described by one who is both 

 a chemist and a patent-agent, and the book is primarily 

 addressed to research chemists who have an interest in 

 the commercial exploitation of their work. It is a plea for 

 the closest co-operation between chemist and patent- 

 agent. In making out his case, llr. Potts has succeeded in 

 writing an exceedingly interesting book, which all chemis- 

 try students attracted by the subject-matter of the title 

 would do well to read ; it is really an interesting talk 

 about the whole subject, with apt illustrations, and with- 

 out unnecessary technical or legal jargon. 

 Rays of Positive Electricity ; and Their Application to 

 Chemical Analysis. 2nd Edition. By Sir J. J. 

 Thomson, O.'Sl., F.R.S. (Longmans, Green & Co. 

 i6s.) 

 The Emission of Electricity from Hot Bodies. 2nd Edition. 

 By O. W. Richardson, D.Sc., F.R.S. (Longmans. 

 Green & Co., 165.) 

 These books, new editions in the series of Monographs 

 on Ph3-sics edited by Sir Joseph Thomson and Dr. Frank 

 Horton, give clear and up-to-date accounts of subjects 

 ■which the authors themselves have been first in developing 

 They are, of course, for advanced students onl)'. 



Sir Joseph Thomson's book includes an account and a 

 discussion of Dr. Aston's recent work. The plates in the 

 appendix are excellent, but the figures in the text have 

 suffered from the quaUty of the paper on which they have 

 been reproduced. The book, although on a highly 

 specialised subject, has the merit of being exceedingly 

 readable : the treatment and the style are a model for a 

 scientific monograph. 



Books Received 



(Mention in tlus column does not preclude a review.) 



The Temple Coins of Olympia. By Charles T. Seltman. 

 With a Foreword by Sir William Ridgeway. 

 Illustrated. (Cambridge : Bowes and Bowes.) 



.i Short History of the International Language yiovement. 



By Professor .\. L. Guer.\rd. (T. Fisher L'nwin, 



Ltd., 2 IS.) 

 Man. the Animal. By Professor W. il. Smallwood, 



Ph.D. Illustrated. (The Macmillan Co., 12s.) 



Plane Geotnetry. By L. B. Benny, M.A., F.R.A.S. 

 (Blackie & Son, Ltd., los. bd.) 



Atmospheric Pollution. Report by the Advisory Com- 

 mitteee on observations in the year ending March 31, 

 1921. (Pubhshed for the ileteorological Office, Air 

 Ministry, by H.M. Stationery Office, 2S.) 



Le Leggi delle Soluzione diluite ed Elettrolitiche secondo il 

 metodo sperimentale. By Ing. Professore Gaetano 

 Ivaldi. (Milano : Stab. Tip. Lit. Stueclii, Ceretti 

 E.C.) 



Earth Evolution and its Facial Expression. By William 

 Herbert Hobbs. (Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 15s.) 

 See re\'iew in this issue. 



Mathematics for Students of Agriculture. By Samuel 

 Eugene R.\sor. (Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 7s. 6d.) 

 A year's course of work in mathematics for students 

 taking agricultural courees in vocational and technical 

 schools and colleges, by the professor of mathematics in 

 the Ohio State University. 



Xotes and Examples on the Theory of Heat and Heat 

 Engines. By John Case, M.A. (Hefier, 7s. 6d.) 

 A very useful cram book with many good examples 

 worked and unworked. 



.4 Concise History of Chemistry. By T. P. Hilditch, 

 D.Sc, F.I.C. Second Edition. (Mathuen & Co., 

 Ltd., 6s.) 

 Students of chemistry will find this a useful book. It 

 is exceUent in plan, trustworthy, astonishingly compre- 

 hensive, easily consulted, and it is readable. The call for 

 a new edition has enabled the author to bring the record 

 up to date. Of course ever\-thing is not said, but how 

 could it be in 225 pages ? It is aU " business " ; no human 

 touches, not a single httle personal anecdote, no pictures. 

 A few slips have been carried over from the first edition. 

 Radium, for example, is described as having been isolated 

 in 1902 instead of in 1898. 



Organic Chemistry, or Chemistry of the Carbon Compounds. 

 By Victor von Richter. Vol. II. Chemistry of 

 the Carbocyclic Compounds. Translated from the 

 Eleventh German Edition by E. E. Fournier 

 d'Albe, D.Sc. (Kegan Paul, 35s.) 

 A reference book that has stood the test of time, crowded 

 with facts which are admirably arranged and well indexed. 

 In its English dress it has two obvious defects : it is trans- 

 lated from a book ten vears old, and the translation is 



