ii8 



NATURE 



[April 6, 19 16 



tial to the " crossing--over " explanation of the 

 linkage of characters in heredity, and it is to be 

 hoped that the cytologist will be able to decide 

 the point one way or the other. Another pheno- 

 menon which requires clearing up is the absence 

 of any "crossing-over " in the male for any char- 

 acter whatever, though the number and arrange- 

 ment of the chromosomes in the two sexes are aj>- 

 parently identical. It is, of course, not impossible 

 that what now appears to be a weak f>oint might 

 turn out to be a strong one if the cytologist could 

 show that the behaviour of the chromosomes 

 during the maturation divisions differed in the 

 two sexes. 



There are other objections to the chromosome 

 theory which would require too much space to 

 set out in detail, but whether the theory advocated 

 by Prof. Morgan prove to be well founded or not, 

 there can be no doubt that he has given us a most 

 interesting and stimulating book. Not only does 

 it give a clear and well-illustrated account of one 

 of the most important groups of facts relating to 

 heredity yet elucidated by the experimental 

 method, but at the same time it offers the most 

 successful attempt so far made to relate these 

 facts to our knowledge of cellular anatomy. 

 Together with the author we hope sincerely that it 

 may be widely read outside the circle of professed 

 students of heredity, and especially that it may 

 be digested by those whose particular province is 

 the minute structure of the cell. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF SULPHUR AND 

 SULPHUR COMPOUNDS. 



Manuals of Chemical Technology. V. Sulphuric 

 Acid and Sulphur Products. By Dr. G. Martin 

 and Major J. L. Foucar. Pp. viii + 77. (Lon- 

 don : Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1916.) Price 

 75. 6d. net. 



A MELANCHOLY circumstance attaches to 

 this book, which to a large extent disarms 

 criticism. Before the section on sulphuric acid, for 

 which Major Foucar, a former assistant manager 

 of the Beckton Gas Works, was responsible, was 

 ready for the press, war broke out, and Major 

 Foucar was killed when leading his men into 

 action. It devolved, therefore, on Dr. Geoffrey 

 Martin, the editor of the series, to put together the 

 material which had been collected, and at the 

 same time to extend the scope of the volume. 



The result is a book of some seventy pages — a 

 space wholly inadequate to deal properly with the 

 important subject with which it professes to deal. 

 It is divided into four chapters, treating, respec- 

 tively, of the sulphur industry, sulphuric acid, the 

 manufacture of sulphur dioxide, and of certain 

 "other sulphur compounds, viz., carbon disulphide, 

 sodium thiosulphate, and hyposulphite and sul- 

 phuretted hydrogen. The total amount of space 

 given to these subjects is about sixty-five pages, 

 the rest of the book, exclusive of the short preface 

 and indexes, being made up of tables of weights 

 and measures and comparisons of thermometer 

 and hvdrometer scales of the conventional type. 



NO. 2423, VOL. 97] 



Each chapter consists of short, disconnected notes 

 on features of interest rather than of systematic 

 accounts of the several industries. It is not very 

 obvious what class of readers it is intended to 

 serve. The student may gain from it a superficial 

 knowledge of the technology of sulphur and of 

 such of its compounds as are mentioned, but the 

 actual manufacturer will find its information far 

 too slight and " scrappy " to be of practical service. 

 The language of the preface would seem to imply 

 that the person aimed at is that ubiquitous indi- 

 vidual known as the general reader. But if this 

 is so we fear that person will gain a somewhat 

 confused idea of its purport, for, small as is the 

 amount of information conveyed, a glance through 

 the pages of the book shows that it obviously pre- 

 supposes some previous knowledge of the subject. 



The account of the sulphur industry, constitut- 

 ing chapter i., will serve to illustfate what we 

 mean. The whole chapter occupies five pages, of 

 which half is given to a meagre description of the 

 sources and mode of extraction of natural sulphur ; 

 about a page is given to a still more meagre 

 account of the Chance-CIaus method of sulphur 

 recovery, the so-called thiogen process of treat- 

 ing smelter-smoke, and the Burkheiser and Feld 

 methods of obtaining sulphur from sulphuretted 

 hydrogen in coal-gas purification, whilst the re- 

 mainder is concerned with the properties and uses 

 of sulphur. The reference to the Sicilian industry^' 

 and the allusion to the "calcarone " method convey 

 no meaning to the uninitiated or any information 

 to those who are initiated. The account of the 

 Gill kiln and of the method of its working is so 

 slight as to be practically valueless. The Frasch 

 process of winning Louisiana sulphur is one of 

 the most striking achievements of modern tech- 

 nology. It constitutes indeed one of the romances 

 of applied science. Although Dr. Martin's method 

 of treatment seems to disallow anything in the 

 nature of descriptive writing, we think it would 

 have added greatly to the interest and value of his 

 book if he had given a fuller account of it. It is 

 still not so generally known in this country as it 

 ought to be, in spite of the fact that, as he truly 

 states, it dominates the world's sulphur market. 



Our general impression of this book is one of 

 disappointment as a wholly inadequate treatment 

 of a vastly Important subject. 



HOMER AND HISTORY. 



Homer and History. By Dr. Walter Leaf, Pp. 

 xA-I + 375. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 

 1915.) Price 125. net. 



THE researches of Dr. Leaf have opened a 

 new phase in the discussion of the Homeric 

 problem. His first task is to discard the inter- 

 pretations which have hitherto held the field. ; 

 Until the publication of Wolf's "Prolegomena" 

 the unity of the Epic was, as a matter of course, 

 accepted. We were then invited to believe that 

 the Iliad at least was a collection of lays welded; 

 into a single whole by some skilful editor. With 

 the study of comparative philology came the 



