412 



NATURE 



[February 28, 1895 



the rock of the Slcinerm ^fecr — as only the work of 

 rain. Is it possible that they were chiefly excavated in 

 the Glacial epoch, when many elevated rocky plateaux 

 would be buried under permanent, or nearly permanent, 

 snow-beds, the drainage from which would give a supply 

 of water, which was engulfed before it had the oppor- 

 tunity of excavating a glen ? Some things seem not 

 unfavourable to this suggestion. T. G. BoNNEY. 



OCR BOOK SHELF. 



BuUilin of tilt Botanical Departinent, Jamaica. April 

 18S7 to September 1S94. Edited by the Director, W. 

 Fawcett, B.Sc. (Published by the Department of 

 Public Gardens and Plantations ) 

 .Since the increase of botanical stations in the British 

 West Indies, there has been greater activity in the older 

 establishments, and the Directors have followed the ex- 

 ample of Kew, in issuinga monthly budget of information 

 useful to planters and others, whether they plant for profit 

 or pleasure. We have lately received a complete file of 

 the organ of the Jamaica Garden, bearing the above title. 

 This was started m 1SS7, and it has increased from a 

 single page of foolscap size to a sheet of ordinary octavo ; 

 and the price is only twopence. The contents are of a 

 varied and miscellaneous nature ; but information on 

 the cultivation and diseases of economic plants, and on 

 the value and preparation of their products, largely pre- 

 dominates. It includes not only the results of local 

 experience ; the editor has also drawn upon the numerous 

 sources open to him, thanks to the more intiinate con- 

 nection between similar establishments throughout the 

 empire, due, to a large extent, to the efforts of the 

 Director of Kew. 



Among other things, there are lists of the economic 

 plants, of plants yielding edible fruits, and of trees useful 

 either for timber or shade, cultivated in the Jamaica 

 botanic garden. Botanical and common names are 

 given, as well as the native countries of the respective 

 plants, together with theprices (of seeds or plants) at which 

 they are offered to the inhabitants of the island. The 

 prices, it may be mentioned, are ridiculously low ; 

 merely nominal, in fact. Free grants are also made ; 

 but in order to avoid waste of valuable plants, ihe con- 

 ditiins are somewhat stringent, though not more so than 

 an intelligent and earnest cultivator would cheerfully 

 submit to. Another interesting feature is Mr. Jenman s 

 descriptive enumeration of the Ferns of Jamaica. This 

 was commenced in 1890, and is still unfinished. It is to 

 be hoped that this will some day be issued separately, as 

 the Fern-vegetation of J.imaica is perhap-; the richest in 

 the world, comprising between 4C0 and 500 species. 



Die \faichinfllen Hilfsmittcl Her CItemischen Teclmik. 

 Von A. Parnicke, Civil-ingenieur, vorm. Ober ingenieiir 

 der Chemischen Fabrik Griesheim. (Frankfurt : H. 

 Bechhold, 1894.) 

 We are accustomed to hear little but praise of the German 

 University sysie n of education. There is, however, a re- 

 verse to the shield While admitting the value of the train- 

 ing received by the University student in pure chemistry, 

 the author of this work points out that only in a few of 

 the higher technical schools isany systematic instruction 

 given concerning the employment of machinery in manu- 

 facturing chemistry. The consequence is ih.it many 

 young chemists find, at the commencement of their 

 practical career, that they have either to laboriously 

 collect, from many scattered an 1 not easily accessible 

 sources, the information thev require, or perforce remain 

 mere cooyists of the mclhod-i of oihcrs, for lack of the 

 knowledge which might enable them to intelligently 

 use the mechanical appliances best suited to attain their 

 ends. 



NO. 



1322, VOL. 51] 



The work under review represents an endeavour to 

 lessen the difficulties in this direction. In some 29c 

 pages,a synopsis is presented of the principal mechanical 

 arrangements with which the chemist may be concerned. 

 A vast amount of information is set out in well-arranged 

 sequence, and, though many of the descriptions are 

 necessarily somewhat sketchy on account of the large 

 number of appliances to be described, a study of the 

 pages before us cannot fail to be of great use to the 

 limited class for whom they were written. The book is 

 well illustrated, having no fewer than 337 figures ; these 

 would have possessed a much greater value had dimen- 

 sions been more generally given. From the point of 

 view of the highly-trained chemist, it is perhaps to be 

 regretted that valuable space is occupied by descrip- 

 tions of certain machines of well-known types, such as 

 common weighing machines. No doubt the volume 

 is rendered more complete by the inclusion of such 

 matter, yet it would seem of far greater importance 

 that a chapter should have been added dealing with the 

 many useful types of pressure and temperature regulators 

 and their applications. It could hardly be expected 

 that all parts of the book should be equally up to date : 

 the account given of pyrometers is notably incomplete, no 

 mention being made, for instance, of the now well-known 

 instrument designed by Le Chatelier. Knglish students 

 may find in this compilation a useful index serving as a 

 guide to direct their attention to the most important 

 mechanical devices used in chemical operations ; but we 

 think that they will benefit more by undertaking the 

 additional labour of unearthing details from the many 

 admirable treatises and dictionaries already in existence 

 in their own language. W. T. 



Air, Water, and Disinfectants. (Manuals of Health 



Series.) By C. M. Aikman, M.A., D.Sc. Pp. 126. 



(London : S. P. C. K., 1895) 

 This little bonk contrives to tell us a great many most 

 interesting and instructive facts, without for one moment 

 running the risk of boring us. It is written in an attrac- 

 tive style, and whilst popular, the author never forgets 

 what is due to the subjects he is discussing. 



Microbes, not perhaps, without reason, furnish material 

 for a substantial portion of the text, and free use is made 

 of'' Our Secret Friends and Foes," which, however, Dr. 

 .Aikman amply acknowledges. 



The little >ection on "Duit particles in theair" contains 

 an interesting ristiinc ai Dr. Aitken's investigations, and 

 as they have been, we believe, chiefly published in Edin- 

 burgh scientific journals, will doubtless suggest much 

 that is novel to the general reader. Many such will be 

 astonished to learn " that a cigarette smoker sends 

 4,000,000,000 particles of dust, more or less, into the air 

 with every puff he makes," and that one cubic inch of the 

 air of a room at night, when the gas is burning, may con- 

 tain as many dust particles as there are inhabitants of li Ci 

 Great Britain I " • 



We cordially recommend this little book to all those 

 who wish to obtain an accurate, though popular, idea of 

 the nature of air, water, and disinfectants. |I ■ 



An Elementary Text-book of Anatomy. By Prof. H. E. * • 

 Clark. (London : Blackie and Son, 1895 ) 



A Ticx r-nooK of anatomy, suitable as an introduction to 

 juni<ir students of medicine, and sim|ile enough to be 

 unilcrstood by all who wish to read about the structure 

 r>f their bodies. The bonk is limited to the anatomy of 

 the human subject, and is divided into seven sections, 

 dealing respectively with the tissues, bones, joints, 

 muscles, vessels (ihe heart, blood-ve>sels, and lymphatic 

 vessels), nervous system, and internal organs. It con- 

 tains numerous instructive illustrations, as well as a useful 

 glossary, and is altogether a serviceable elementary 

 manual of anatomy. 



