October S, 1903J 



NATURE 



547 



OVR BOOK SHELF. 



Krgcbnisse der Physiologie. Edited by L. Asher 

 (Bern) and K. Spiro (Strassburg). Erster Jahrgang. 

 I Abtheilung. Biochemie. Pp. xix + 929. (Wies- 

 baden : J. F. Bergmann, 1902.) Price 17 marks. 

 The German physiological school is engaged just now 

 in producing a monumental work. Under the able 

 editorship of Drs. Asher and Spiro, two of the most 

 energetic of the younger physiologists of the Father- 

 land, the most eminent workers in different branches 

 of the science have been persuaded to contribute of 

 their best. We notice also that among the collabor- 

 ators are several from other countries in addition. 

 The editors do not aim at producing a text-book even 

 for the advanced student, but a series of essays, each 

 written by a master of his craft on some subject 

 to which he has paid particular attention, and 

 has himself made a subject of investigation. Giving, 

 as each article does, not only the history of the 

 subject with full biographical references, but also 

 an account of the latest discoveries, and discussions 

 of conflicting views on the many vexed questions 

 treated, it will prove a veritable mine of facts to the 

 investigator, and will, indeed, be indispensable 

 to all who are attempting real and serious work in the 

 future. 



The volume before us treats of what it is now the 

 fashion to call biochemistry, and we notice with 

 pleasure that some of the articles deal with the com- 

 parative and also with the botanical aspects of this 

 rapidly growing branch of physiology. We shall not 

 attempt to give a resume of the book, or even a list 

 of the articles and their authors. This is a sort of 

 book which must be read, and not merely talked about. 

 Suffice it to say that among the authors are those of 

 the standing of I. Munk, Hammarsten, F. Voit, 

 Pawlow, Hugo Wiener, and Hofmeister. 



In any work in which many participate, there is 

 always a certain amount of inequality. In the present 

 volume this is not so noticeable as in most books of a 

 similar nature, for each author seems to have made a 

 si)ecial effort to produce an article or articles of the 

 highest possible standard. 



We do not pretend that the book is light or attractive 

 reading, and we imagine that the authors themselves 

 would be the first to repudiate any suggestion that 

 they intended it to be so. The German language, for 

 one thing, does not lend itself to such a frivolous pur- 

 pose. It is solid, hard reading, written with the 

 German ideal of thoroughness for the student and 

 the worker by those who are themselves workers and 

 students. 



Thermodynamik. By Prof. Dr. W. Voigt. Band i. 

 (.Sammlung Schubert, vol. xxxix.) Pp. xvi + 360; 

 with 43 figures. (Leipzig : G. J. Goschen, 1903.) 

 Price 10 marks. 

 The subject of thermodynamics can be treated either 

 as a deductive or as an experimental science. Accord- 

 ing to the former method, the second law affords a 

 definition of absolute temperature, and a perfect gas 

 is a hypothetical substance, defined by certain con- 

 ditions, which is proved to possess the property of 

 acting as a thermometer for the measurement of 

 absolute temperature. In the present case the opposite 

 treatment is followed. The book opens with an in- 

 troduction dealing with thermometry and calorimetry, 

 followed up by a section on the equivalence of work 

 and heat in which the specific heat of water finds its 

 old traditional title of mechanical equivalent of heat, 

 and the methods of determining it are severally and 

 separately discussed. The next chapter deals with the 

 thermodynamics of perfect gases, and includes sections 

 on Carnot's cycle as applied to such gases. It is not 

 until the third chapter that the second law is applied 



NO. 1 771, VOL. 68] 



generally to bodies defined by two variables, while in 

 the fourth or last chapter the principles of thermo- 

 dynamics are extended to systems defined by any 

 number of variables. The book thus has its parallel, 

 to a certain extent, in those treatises on applied 

 mechanics which deal with the equilibrium of levers 

 or motion of pulleys before introducing the parallel- 

 ogram of forces or the laws of motion. At the present 

 time many students working in physical laboratories 

 acquire an experimental knowledge of principles which 

 their lack of mathematical ability prevents them from 

 approaching from the deductive side. No doubt this 

 is a pity, but vihile such students continue to exist and 

 to require teaching, it is difficult to see how a subject 

 like thermodynamics could better be presented to them 

 than is done in Prof. Voigt 's treatise. 



Arithmetic for Schools and Colleges. By John Alison, 



M.A., F.R.S.E., and John B. Clark, M.A., F.R.S.E. 



Pp. xliii + 304. (Edinburgh : Oliver and Boyd, 1903.) 



Price 25. 6rf. 

 No better exposition of the nature of arithmetical oper- 

 ations and of proofs of the various rules of arithmetic 

 than that which these two Scottish authors here pre- 

 sent to us can be found. The first twelve chapters 

 treat of the more theoretical branch of the subject, and 

 explain with great exactness the laws of arithmetical 

 processes and the manipulation of vulgar and decimal 

 fractions. The authors never miss an opportunity of 

 pointing out the means of shortening a calculation 

 and, at the same time, of explaining and justifying 

 the process. In these first twelve chapters we would 

 specially signalise those on " laws of operations " and 

 " decimal approximations " as interesting to the 

 philosophically minded student; but, indeed, the whole 

 of the work is marked by great thoroughness. In the 

 chapter on evolution, Horner's method is e.xplained 

 and amply illustrated. There is a very good chapter 

 on the metric system, including its employment in 

 dynamics, heat, and electricity, illustrated by a large 

 collection of examples. The nature of ratio and pro- 

 portion is also very well explained and exemplified in 

 three special chapters. The practical subjects (per- 

 centages, profit and loss, interest, &c.) are treated as 

 mere examples of the theory of proportion. 



Once only in the book do we meet with a vicious 

 Saxon expression : "If the first term of a proportion 

 be greater than the second, the third shall he [instead 

 of is] greater than the fourth " (p. 202); but this is 

 not repeated in subsequent similar propositions. 



Except by the introduction of the diagrammatical 

 relations between variable quantities, as exhibited by 

 curves on squared paper, it is difficult to see how this 

 very excellent treatise could be improved. 



G. M. M. 

 Les Materiaux artificiels. By Marie-Auguste Morel. 



Pp. 178. (Paris : Gauthier-Villars and Masson 



et Cie.) 

 This volume belongs to the " Encyclop^die Scientifique 

 des Aide-M^moire," published under the general 

 editorship of M. L^aut^. It contains information of 

 an interesting kind about numerous materials used in 

 building and other constructive arts. The first 

 chapter, on semi-artificial substances, includes a treat- 

 ment of lime, cements, bricks, tiles, and other 

 materials. This is followed by successive chapters 

 giving accounts of those artificial materials dependent 

 for their manufacture on technical chemistry ; those 

 used in association with metal armatures ; those — such 

 as mortar, artificial stone — formed when artificial 

 materials are mixed with other non-metallic sub- 

 stances. The concluding sections include a mis- 

 cellany of subjects, such as the preservation of wood, 

 the use of soluble glass, and a description of Lincrusta- 

 Walton. • ■ • 



