176 



NA TURE 



[December 21, 1899 



This year the volume reaches the grand total of 1516 

 pages, and is the largest yet issued, exceeding that of 

 last year by about 40 pages. The popularity of such a 

 book can be best judged by its sale, for photographers 

 soon find out which of the numerous books on this 

 subject are suited to their needs. We gather from the 

 British Journal of Photography that the 1899 edition of 

 this almanac, an edition which was composed of 20,500 

 copies, was rapidly disposed of within three months of 

 publication, a fact which speaks for itself. This, the 

 thirty-ninth annual issue, is quite up to, even if it does 

 not exceed in interest, the previous volumes. It will be 

 found an absolute mine of information : we notice a great 

 number of articles dealing with all branches of the art 

 which gives the reader hints for future work, and results 

 of the experience gained by others. Other parts are 

 devoted to a summary of the progress made during the 

 past year, practical notes and suggestions , miscellaneous 

 information, and many other sections of interest. As 

 usual, the advertisements form a great portion of the 

 book. 



The almanac is carrying on the crusade of advocating 

 the use of the metric system in all photographic matters, 

 and has great hopes of the practice becoming universal. 

 To further this object the metric equivalents of the 

 British system are given in all tables and formula;. 

 Much more might be written about the contents of this 

 volume, but it is hoped that sufficient has been said to 

 enable the reader to form the opinion that it ought to 

 find a place in every photographic studio. 



The frontispiece is an excellent bromide print by 

 Messrs. Wellington and Ward from a negative by Mr. 

 H. Walter Barnett, and numerous other illustrations will 

 be found intermingled with the text. 

 The Elements of Blowpipe Analysis. By Frederick 



Hutton Getman. Pp. TJ. (New York : The Macmillan 



Company. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1899.) 

 The contents of this slight book include the orthodox 

 blowpipe tests such as are found in most books on quali- 

 tative analysis, together with an account of the behaviour 

 of some of the principal ores before the blowpipe. A 

 meritorious feature is that the general chemical action of 

 the common fluxes is explained. In other respects it is 

 not easy to find points calling for special praise. An in- 

 corporation of some at least of the admirable tests de- 

 scribed in Bunsen's " Flammenreactionen" would have 

 made an improvement. The following minor errors are 

 perhaps worth noting. On p. 10, decrepitation is de- 

 scribed as *' the crackling of a substance due to the sudden 

 expansion of combined water on heating," and incand- 

 escence as " the white light emitted by a substance that 

 is infusible when subjected to a high temperature." On 

 pp. II and 13, silver oxide is printed AgO. On p. 17, 

 the formuke ot borax and microcosmic salt are given 

 without water of crystallisation — an important omission 

 from the assayers point of view. On p. 40, the only test 

 for phosphates is that of flame colouration, the reduction 

 with sodium or magnesium being omitted. 

 The Elements of Euclid. Books i.-vi. By R. Lachlan. 



New and revised edition. Pp. ix -1- 489. (London : 



Edward Arnold, 1899.) 

 The editor of these Elements tells us in the preface that 

 he has endeavoured to make the subject as easy as pos- 

 sible for beginners by the use of simple language, and by 

 presenting the argument in the clearest form. Further, 

 he has attempted to embody in the book, and with great 

 success, the additions and improvements in statement 

 and method which twelve years' experience as an 

 examiner and teacher has shown to be desirable. 

 Throughout the book Euclid's sequence of propositions 

 has been maintained, but in many cases several well- 

 known alternative proofs have been substituted for those 

 of Euclid. In places where the student might experience 



NO. 1573, VOL. 61] 



difficulties fuller notes are added ; and attached occasion- 

 ally to propositions are others which it is important for 

 the beginner to know. The appendix to the last book 

 contains many interesting problems of theorems for more 

 advanced students, and this is followed by a consider- 

 able number of miscellaneous exercises. Students and 

 teachers should find this form of the Elements of Euclid 

 in many respects serviceable. 



Essais du Coinmerce et de Plndustrie. By L. Cuniasse 

 and R. Zwilling. Pp. viii + 302. (Paris : Carre and 

 Naud, 1899.) 

 The essential features of a book dealing with the subject 

 of commercial analysis, whether intended for student or 

 professional analyst, are careful elaboration and extreme 

 mmuteness of detail. As it is impossible for any analyst to 

 have had an experience of more than a limited number 

 of analytical pmcesses, or at least such an experience as 

 would justify him in publishing them, one naturally 

 expects a book on commercial analysis to be devoted to 

 special branches of the subject, unless, of course, a 

 number of writers co-operate in its production. There 

 are many special treatises of the kind relating to assay- 

 ing, iron and steel analysis, to the analysis of soaps and 

 fats, tanning materials, &c., which supply everything 

 that is needful in this respect. To state that the present 

 volume contains an account of nearly every branch o\ 

 commercial analysis within the compass of 279 small 

 octavo pages, that the subjects of leather, glue, vinegar, 

 &c., are dismissed in one page, and that the analyses of 

 other products are treated in the same cursory and 

 superficial manner, is a doubtful recommendation. 

 Dairy Chemistry : a Practical Handbook for Dairy 

 Chemists and others having control of Dairies. By 

 H. Droop Richmond. Pp. xix-l-384. (Charles Griffin 

 and Co., 1899.) 

 This is a handbook for the chemist's laboratory, and 

 deals especially with the matters on which his opinion 

 will be asked, and with the methods of e.xamination he 

 may employ. Although of considerable size, it by no 

 means includes the whole subject of dairy chemistry. 

 The relations of the cow's diet to milk production, and 

 its influence on the quality of the milk, and also the 

 chemistry of dairy operations, are not discussed, though 

 some parts of these subjects are referred to by the way. 

 The author has had peculiarly favourable opportunities 

 for becoming a master of his subject, and the book is full 

 of information which will be valuable to the dairy 

 chemist. Nevertheless, it is not unfrequently disap- 

 pointing. The different parts of the subject are treated 

 with very different degrees of fulness, and the expositions 

 are not always clear. The book will be of most use to 

 those who are already acquainted with the subject. 

 A Manual of Surgical Treatment. By Prof. W. Watson 

 Cheyne, F.R.S., and F. F. Burghard, F.R.C.S. In six 

 parts. Part ii. Pp. xix -f 382. (London : Longmans, 

 Green and Co., 1899.) 

 The second part of this manual of surgical treatment 

 fully justifies the good opinion which was recently ex- 

 pressed in these pages of the first part. It deals with 

 deformities, the surgical affections of the skin, nails, 

 lymphatics, bursce, muscles, tendons, nerves and blood- 

 vessels. The authors prefix to the volume a very proper 

 statement that it is their endeavour to give only the 

 salient points in the symptoms and pathology of surgical 

 diseases, whilst they enter more fully into the question 

 of treatment. The various topics are treated in a clear 

 and concise manner, the information is accurate and 

 modern, and there is an excellent index. If the future 

 parts fulfil the promise of those already issued, the work 

 will take rank as one of the best amongst the many 

 surgical treatises which have recently issued from the 

 English press. D'A. P. 



