June 4, 1903] 



NATURE 



99 



trie, hydraulic, and pneumatic power transmission. 

 Students of geography and history are provided with 

 an abundance of material, including the latest statistics 

 referring to the chief countries of the world the names 

 of which fall alphabetically between Natal and Portu- 

 gal, besides an elaborate account of the polar regions, 

 and an able review of the present state of our know- 

 ledge of oceanography. Mathematicians will find the 

 article on " Number " both interesting and original, 

 and readers who prefer biographical studies will meet 

 with appreciative estimates of the lives of such cele- 

 brities as Owen, Paget, and Pasteur, to name only 

 three. 



But no mere mention of a few of the contents can 

 serve more than to give a vague idea of the variety of 

 valuable material brought together in this volume, and 

 the space available makes it possible to refer only to 

 a few of the chief contributions. 



The prefatory essay of this volume — and it must be 

 remembered that these essays are a distinguishing 

 characteristic of this new edition — is by Mr. Frederick 

 Greenwood, and deals with the influence of commerce 

 on international conflict. In this scholarly presenta- 

 tion of an important problem, Mr. Greenwood shows 

 how the growth of commerce has given rise in recent 

 times to dreams of the extinction of war. He goes on to 

 explain, however, how war became later to be regarded 

 as a trade weapon and an instrument for tne provision 

 of new markets ; and as the discoveries of men of 

 science have placed resources for the destruction of men 

 at the disposal of the armies of the world so terrible 

 in their efficiency that, to ensure any chance of success 

 in a war between great Powers, each of them must 

 have armies so large and so expensively equipped as to 

 lead to a growing likelihood of war becoming so dread- 

 ful and so costly that it wouM not be endured. Yet 

 notwithstanding the horror and brevity of modern 

 battles, humanity still seems able to bear the excess, 

 and militarism flourishes. 



Of another factor influencing the industrial com- 

 petition of the nations Mr. Greenwood takes no notice, 

 and that is the increased attention being paid by the 

 leading nations to the higher education of their manu- 

 facturers and merchants. The combined efforts of 

 armies and nations are not enough to secure commer- 

 cial supremacy. A nation must, in addition, provide 

 a sufficient number of institutions of higher education 

 to secure opportunities for its citizens to become con- 

 versant with modern scientific knowledge, able to apply 

 the principles of science to modern industrial prob- 

 lems, and to extend the bounds of science into the un- 

 known. The volume itself does not, we find, ignore the 

 importance of higher technical education, for in addi- 

 tion to articles with a less direct bearing on the subject, 

 an essay on polytechnics by Sir Joshua Fitch is in- 

 cluded. The subject does not appear to have been 

 allotted the amount of space its importance merited, 

 and the consequence is that metropolitan polytechnics 

 are alone described. It is a pity that the opportunity 

 could not have been taken to familiarise British readers 

 with the complete and lavish provision of institutions 

 abroad corresponding to these polytechnics. The com- 

 parison to which such an article must have given rise 

 NO. 1753, VOL. 68] 



would have shown England's lamentable deficiency and 

 the low position she must be assigned when the sacri- 

 fices made by the leading peoples for the establishment 

 of institutions of the higher learning are passed in 

 review. 



BIO-CKEMISTRY . 

 The Chemical Changes and Products Resulting from 

 Fermentations. By R. H. Aders Plimmer. Pp. 

 vi+184. (London: Longmans and Co., 1903.) 

 Price 65. net. 



THE number of chemists who are interested in bio- 

 logical problems is now gradually on the in- 

 crease, whilst, on the other hand, the biologist realises 

 the importance of a further investigation of the 

 chemical changes concomitant with life. In these 

 circumstances, the book of Dr. Aders Plimmer cannot 

 fail to be particularly welcome, and the perusal of 

 this admirable rdsumd of the work in the borderland 

 between biology and chemistry will indicate to the 

 reader how much has been done and how much still 

 remains to be done in this most difficult, field of re- 

 search. 



Under his treatment of polysaccharides the author 

 gives a succinct account of the chemistry of starch, and 

 then proceeds to discuss the changes undergone by 

 monosaccharides and glucosides. In this connection 

 due prominence is given to the recent important ob- 

 servations of Croft Hill, Emmerling and E. Fischer 

 and E. F. Armstrong on reversible ferment action. 

 In the chapter on changes in esters reference 

 is made to the work on lipase, where Kastle 

 concludes that ferments do not act on substances 

 which can be electrolytically dissociated. It 

 should be noted, however, that Slimmer has subse- 

 quently pointed out that this view cannot be main- 

 tained, since glucovanillic acid and other electrolytes 

 are attacked by emulsin. Other chapters include 

 changes in urea and uric acid, blood, albumins, and 

 changes occurring as a result of oxidation and reduc- 

 tion. Nitrification and denitrification are also con- 

 sidered, and the volume is completed by an account 

 of the changes occurring as the result of putrefaction. 



It is pointed out in connection with lactic acid pro- 

 duction by microorganisms that the usual product is 

 the inactive acid, but that one of the pure optically 

 active forms may sometimes be obtained. In this 

 latter case the author is apparently of the view that 

 the inactive acid is first of all formed and then con- 

 verted into the one active form by the selective action 

 of the organism. Experimental evidence, however,, 

 seems to show that, if the action were of this nature, 

 the resulting product would not be the pure active acid. 

 but rather a mixture of inactive and active acids. 

 Frankland's resolution of i-glyceric acid, where the one 

 active constituent is attacked by Bacillus ethaceticus 

 and the other apparently remains untouched, is alto- 

 gether exceptional. In those cases, however, where 

 the lactic acid obtained is optically active, but is mixed 

 with some of the inactive form (as in Harden 's experi- 

 ments on the action of Bacillus coli communis oa 

 d-glucose, &c.), the possibility of the intermediate 



