REVIEWS. 



ASTRONOMY. 



The XigJif-SL-ics of a Year.Sy J. H. Elgie. 260 pages. 

 113 illustrations. Sj-in. X 5i-in. 



(Leeds; Chorley & Pickersgill. Price 6 • net.) 



The author adopts the course of noting down in a simple 

 manner what he saw when viewing the sUy at night, free from 

 clouds, several times each month : it thus assumes the nature 

 of a diary or journal, and is divided into the twelve months. 



It is solely intended for those who are content to learn the 

 positions and something of the stars in their courses ; there- 

 fore, for a non-telescopic observer. The author adopts this 

 journal form as the best way to meet the requirements of that 

 large class of intending observers who are said to find the 

 usual star-maps and books too full and bewildering in the 

 number of stars dealt with. He prefers to give in the text 

 diagrams of portions of the constellations and usually limits 

 himself to the first, second, and third magnitude stars : in this 

 way the most prominent and well-known configurations are 

 represented. 



Throughout the book the author, who has evidently a poetic 

 fancy, has enlivened his bare bones of astronomical observa- 

 tions with historical facts, with opinions of various writers, 

 and with frequent dives among the poets, from Chaucer's 

 time. Though we are not enamoured with poetic effusions, 

 being accustomed to the more solid branch of astronomy 

 dealing with observations of facts and with figures, to those 

 who like poetry and poetic imagination the book should 

 at once appeal ; they should not fail to obtain a copy and 

 verify for themselves all that is stated therein, and, in learning 

 the stars, they may contemplate upon them as suits the human 

 mind. 



The table of contents gives in detail the subjects referred to 

 each month and a list of diagrams is similarly given. .A full 

 index of eighteen pages is at the end of the book, which is well 

 printed in type of good size. ., , „ 



Rciiiarkahlc Eclipacs. — By W. T. Lynn. (Eleventh edition). 



3.S pages. 1 plate. 6T-in. X 4T-in, 



Rcnutrl^dhlc Comets. — By W. T. Lynn, (h'ifteenth edition). 



4,S pages. 2 plates. 



(S. Bagster & Sons. Price 6d. each, limp cloth.) 



There is always a freshness in the successive editions of 



these valuable, useful, and popular little books : not mere 



reprints of former editions. For beginners in Astronomy they 



serve both as introductions to the subject and as historical 



accounts. The one referring to the eclipses is quite a marvel 



of compact'.'iess, embracing a period of eclipses for three 



thousand years (B.C. 1063 to .\.D. 1999), and every page is 



crammed with interesting scientific and historical facts. The 



first two pages, explaining the nature of an eclipse, might, with 



advantage, be extended to three or even four, and a diagram 



inserted. Tables of contents are given at the end. The little 



book relating to comets meets with our approval in a similar 



manner. It, however, mainly deals with the more prominent 



comets of the past three hundred years; the ancient records 



are less precise and cannot be verified so well as eclipses by 



ante-dated calculations. Two useful books by a trusted 



author. The title of these little books might be. with 



advantage, printed on the back: an unlabelled book on a 



bookshelf is a nuisance. ,, , ,, 



r. A. b. 



The Stars from "S'ear to War. — Edited by Mrs. H. P. 



Hawkins. Fourth edition. 1 1 pages. 13 maps. (Price 1 •). 

 Tlie Star .Almanac for 1911. — Same editor. Second edition. 



Large illustrated sheet. (Price fid.) 

 The Star Caleiular for 191 1 . — Same editor. Card planisphere. 

 (Price 1/-.) 

 (Simpkin. Marshall. Hamilton, Kent & Co., and others.) 

 These three publications are of considerable utility to all sky- 

 watchers at night. There is an abu;idance of information for 



all enthusiastic beginners in Astronomy, and the star-maps 

 will certainly serve them when their knowledge has emerged 

 beyond that of a no\ice. These books might well be within 

 most country households — and the stars are observed far too 

 little by those living away from towns, with brightly lit and 

 dusty atmosphere — whether the squire's, the parson's, the 

 schoolmaster's, or governess's. If they were in the hands of 

 school-teachers and those with the educational care of children, 

 much simple astronomy might be imparted to those entrusted 

 to them. 



The prices at which these publications are offered, bring 

 them within the reach of all : the typographical reproduction 

 is excellent. 



F, A. B. 



CHEMISTRY. 



The Sniil^lc Carhnhydrates ami Gl iicosules. — liy E. 

 Fkaxki.anu Armsirong, D.Sc, Ph. P. 112 pages. 

 10}-in.X6-in. 



(Longmans. Green & Co. Price 3 6 net.) 



Even in physiological chemistry the process of specialisation 

 has proceeded so far that no worker may hope to keep fully in 

 touch with more than one or two branches of his subject. It 

 was, therefore, a happy idea of the editors of this series of 

 small handbooks upon biochemistry to issue concise mono- 

 graphs dealing with separate classes of physiological compounds, 

 so arranged that they would be useful for purposes of 

 reference, and capable of being brought up-to-date from time 

 to time, without the necessity of issuing a new edition of the 

 whole series. Various companions of this book, dealing wrth 

 proteins, fats, enzymes and so on. have already been noticed 

 in these columns, and the present monograph, which is 

 devoted to the simple sugars and glucosides, follows the same 

 general plan. Dextrose (glucose) is taken as the type of these 

 sugars, since, as the author points out. it is probably the first 

 sugar formed synthetically by the plant by way of formal- 

 dehyde from the carbon dioxide in the air, and is also the 

 form in which a large proportion of the carbohydrates in the 

 food of animals is absorbed into the system. The chapter 

 discussing the relationship between the chemical configuration 

 of the sugar molecule and its biochemical properties is 

 particularly interesting. -As in the case of the other mono- 

 graphs of the series there is an excellent bibliography and a 

 good index, and every chemist who is interested directly or 

 indirectly in the subject of the sugars will find this book of the 

 greatest use. .- , , , 



Elementary Chemical Theory. — By J. M. Waii>[0K1,. M..\. 

 (Oxon). 275 pages. 16 illustrations, "-l-in. x 5-in. 



(Methuen & Co. Price 3 6.) 



If we were asked to recommend a guide to the elements of 

 chemical theory suitable for students at an early period of 

 their work, we could suggest nothing better than this book. 

 It is clearly and simply written, and the author's experience as 

 a teacher of beginners has enabled him to anticipate and 

 answer the chief difficulties that will arise. It deals at 

 sufficient length \\ ith most of the subjects usually found in the 

 larger works upon the theory of Chemistry, and has an 

 excellent chapter upon radio-activity and its bearing upon the 

 possible constitution of the elements. Perhaps, in a future 

 edition, it may be found possible to devote more attention to 

 the " phase rule," and the principles of thermo-chemistry. 



.although the author anticipates ine\ itable criticism upon 

 his use of the hydrogen standard for the atomic weights, and 

 gives good reasons for its retention, we still think that an early 

 adoption of the oxygen standard would be the better course. 

 For since the use of H = 1 has been discarded in the annual 

 tables of International Atomic Weights, all scientific work is 

 now based upon the standard of = 16. Hence to accustom 

 students to the use of values which in practice they « ill ha\e 



241 



