462 



NATURE 



[March 15, 1900 



as ^-glucose, it is evident that the chemist and physicist, 

 the physiologist, the analyst and the technologist con- 

 cerned with fermentation industries are all catered for by 

 the author, and in such a way that there should be very 

 little difficulty in finding out what is known concerning 

 any particular sugar or carbohydrate from the special 

 point of view fropi which the reader consults the 

 volume. 



There are a few other points to which attention may 

 be directed. The systematising of the nomenclature, so 

 as to bring the latter into harmony with the stereo- 

 chemical formulas, is more complete than has hitherto 

 been attempted in any work dealing with this class' of 

 compounds. The numerical system of indicating position 

 in the space-formula is certainly to be commended. We 

 give a couple of examples to illustrate the value of the 

 method : — • 



rf-Glucose. 

 HO H HO HO 



CHO . C . C . C . C . CH2 . OH 



H HO H H 



2.4.5 

 Hexanepentolal — 6 



rf-Fructose. 

 H HO HO 



CH2OH . CO . C . C . C . CH2 . OH 



HO H H 

 4.5 

 Hexanepentol - i — 6-one-2 



Another point which those who have occasion to con- 

 sult such works will appreciate, is the distribution of the 

 references to original papers among the text, instead of 

 relegating them to footnotes, or, worse still, to the end 

 of the book. Some readers may not agree with this 

 view, but it has been impossible, in writing this notice, to 

 avoid comparing M. Maquenne's volume with a somewhat 

 similar work at present in existence, viz. the " Kurzes 

 Handbuch der Kohlenhydrate," by Dr. Tollens, the first 

 volume of which was published in 1888, and the second 

 in 1895. Ii' the German work the references consist of 

 densely-packed and absolutely bewildering series of pages 

 at the end of the volume, so that in hunting up a reference 

 the reader must turn from the page which he is reading 

 and wade through the serried ranks of numbered 

 references till he finds the one he wants, by which time 

 he will have, no doubt, mislaid the paragraph from which 

 he set out. In making use of such works as the one 

 under consideration, in which the authority for every 

 statement is referred to, it is certainly more convenient 

 to have the references in brackets immediately under the 

 notice of the reader. If the references are not wanted, 

 the reader has only to pass on to the end of the bracket, 

 and begin the following sentence. 



This comparison of the French and German works 

 brings out another point, however, in which Dr. Tollens 

 will be found to have the advantage. The complex 

 polyoses, such as starch and cellulose, are treated of 

 much less completely by the French than by the German 

 author, so that in this division Dr. Tollens's book will 

 take precedence as a work of reference. In fact, M. 

 Maquenne refers his readers to the German work for 

 NO. 1585, VOL. 61] 



more complete information on these subjects. The other 

 standard German authority on this subject, " Die Chemie 

 der Zuckerarten," by E, O. v. Lippmann (1895), will find 

 a serious rival in the present work. 



In favourably "recommending this latest contribution 

 to the chemical literature of the carbohydrates to the 

 attention of English chemists as a work of the greatest 

 value to the general student, and as indispensable to the 

 specialist, we have only to utter the caution — perhaps 

 somewhat unnecessarily — that M. Maquenne does not 

 profess to deal with his subject from the technological 

 point of view. It may prevent disappointment if we 

 point out that the manufacturer who is seeking for in- 

 formation concerning construction of plant, processes of 

 extraction, refining, and so forth, will have to look else- 

 where for guidance. Of the general value of the present 

 volume as a literary production, we have only to say 

 that the information given is complete, accurate, and up 

 to date. The only omission that we have been enabled 

 to detect relates to </-mannose, of which the author says 

 (P- 559) :— 



" Malgre ses rapports avec celle-ci [^-mannite] et ses 

 analogies de constitution avec le glucose et le levulose, 

 il ne parait exister chez les plantes, comme le galactose, 

 qu'k I'dtat de inannosides complexes," &c. 



The occurrence of free mannose in plants is, therefore, 

 not recognised by M. Maquenne. Nevertheless, Messrs. 

 Tsukamoto, Tsuji, and Kinoshita are said to have ex- 

 tracted this sugar from the stalks of the Japanese 

 Amorphophallus konjak, and Messrs. Flatau and Labbe 

 have recently announced that the sugar contained in 

 orange peel is mannose.^ The author may have over- 

 looked these statements, or he may not accept them ; 

 at any rate, it seems worth while calling attention to the 

 omission. R. Meldola. 



A NEW BOOK ON MAN. 

 The Races of Man : an Outline of Anthropology and 

 Ethnography. By J. Deniker. With 176 illustrations 

 and two maps. Pp. 611. (London : Walter Scott, 

 Ltd., 1900). 



THE Contemporary Science Series has been enriched 

 by the addition of this very valuable work on 

 general anthropology by Dr. J. Deniker, the distin- 

 guished Chief Librarian of the Museum of Naturaj 

 History in Paris, who is well known for his origina 

 contributions to that science. Dr. Deniker has read 

 widely, and at various times has systematised the writings 

 of others. These are necessary qualifications for the 

 writer of a general survey of the science of man ; but in 

 addition, our author has made investigations in various 

 departments of physical anthropology which give a 

 precision to his treatment, and this element of first-hand 

 knowledge causes the reader to feel more reliance on his 

 judgment than might otherwise have been the case. 



The book is fairly evenly divided between a summary 

 of the scope of physical anthropology and ethnography^ 

 and a systematic account of races and peoples. The 

 former section deals with somatic characters, such as the 

 distinctive characters of man and apes, the morpho- 



1 Bull. Soc. Chim. [3] xix. 408. 



