December ii, 1902] 



NA TURE 



!25 



Haliday and Walker, paid some attention to Cynipida;, 

 others, such as Stephens and Smith, almost entirely 

 neglected them ; and it was not until Mr. P. Cameron pub- 

 lished vols. iii. and iv. of his " Monograph of the British 

 Phytophagous Hymenoptera" that we had a satisfactory 

 account of our British species. On the continent, more 

 had been done by Mayr, Adler and others, and now the 

 Abbe" Kieffer has furnished us with a full account of the 

 European and Algerian species of these interesting but 

 still somewhat neglected insects ; and although every 

 monograph or catalogue always helps to make itself in- 

 complete by stimulating the activity of all observers who 

 are sufficiently interested in the subject to take up or to 

 continue the study, yet the book may reasonably be ex- 

 pected to hold its place as the leading authority on the 

 subject for many years to come. W. F. K. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Chemisches Praktikum. i Teil. Analytische Ubungen. 

 By Dr. A. Wolfrum. Pp. xviii + 562. (Leipzig: 

 W. Engelmann, 1902.) Price iar. net. 



The object of the author is to present a course of 

 practical instruction in analytical chemistry on a technical 

 basis. It is intended that the student shall be confronted 

 throughout his course of work with the technical 

 application of the principles and methods which he makes 

 use of in the laboratory. The author hopes by this 

 means to improve the training of the student whose aims 

 are directed towards chemical work in the arts and 

 manufactures. 



The subject-matter is divided into three sections, under 

 the headings qualitative, quantitative and technical 

 analysis. In the first section, the ordinary reactions of 

 the metals and acids are given, ionic nomenclature being 

 employed. The rare metals are dismissed by a consider- 

 ation of thorium and cerium, these alone in the author's 

 opinion being of sufficient technical importance to merit 

 discussion. The qualitative analysis of organic substances 

 is then treated, the reactions for the most important 

 organic radicals being given. The section concludes with a 

 long list of important organic compounds for which the 

 special tests are given, as well as directions for ascertaining 

 the presence of the most frequently occurring impurities. 



In the section on quantitative analysis, the order of 

 treatment is, gravimetric estimation of the metals and 

 acids, elementary analysis of organic compounds, 

 volumetric analysis and estimation of the most important 

 atomic groups of organic compounds. Twenty pages are 

 devoted to the methods of determining molecular weights 

 of organic compounds and fifteen to gas analysis, but, 

 singularly enough, not a single diagram is appended 

 to illustrate the special apparatus used in operations with 

 gases. 



Under technical analysis, which forms the subject of 

 the last 200 pages, is discussed the analysis of water, fuels, 

 ores and metallurgical products, products of the chemical 

 manufacturing industries, artificial mineral colouring 

 matters, artificial manures, lime, cement, clay, raw 

 materials and products of the sugar industry, ethereal oils, 

 aniline colours and products used in the manufacture of 

 these colours. 



The book, as will be seen, contains a wealth of 

 material. It is doubtful, however, whether such a work 

 could be placed with good results in the hands of the 

 average student of chemistry. The amount of material 

 accumulated by the author within such a small compass 

 is so great that the efficiency of the book as a working 



NO. 1728, VOL. 67] 



guide for the student must necessarily suffer. All 

 experienced teachers are aware that a book which the 

 average student is to use in his daily work in the labora- 

 tory must contain full working details, and the " Chem- 

 isches Praktikum" does not. 



As a reference book, however, it will without doubt be 

 found very useful in the laboratory, and for such a purpose 

 can be warmly recommended. H. M. D. 



The Coal-fields of Scotland. By Robert W. Dron. Pp. 

 vi + 368. (London : Blackie and Son, Ltd.) Price 

 1 5 j. net. 



Numerous descriptions have been published of the 

 Scottish coal-fields from the time of Ball, Milne and 

 Landale to our own day. Most of these, however, have 

 been scattered through the volumes of scientific journals 

 or published in official reports which, as a rule, have been 

 badly printed, expensive, and insufficiently made known to 

 the public. By far the most important contributions to the 

 subject are those to be found in the maps and memoirs 

 of the Geological Survey. These publications contain 

 a storehouse of information ; they were the first, and 

 are still the most detailed and complete, review of the 

 whole geological structure of the coal-fields. The maps 

 present a graphic picture of the disposition of the coal- 

 seams and the extent to which they have been dislocated 

 and folded. The memoirs furnish a large amount of 

 information which could not be embodied in the maps, 

 and both taken together form the basis on which all 

 subsequent descriptions must rest. The progress of 

 development has led to the opening of some new fields 

 and to the exhaustion of others, since the appearance of 

 the Survey publications, but we understand that arrange- 

 ments have been made for an official re-examination of 

 the coal-fields and the preparation of new editions of the 

 maps. The work of the Survey will thus be brought up 

 to date, and will maintain the high position which it has 

 always held. 



Without these official maps and memoirs, Mr. Dron 

 could not have produced the volume which he has just 

 published. He acknowledges, in his preface, in a general 

 way that he has freely utilised "all available sources of 

 information, including the publications of the Geological 

 Survey." It would have been well, however, had he 

 made more specific acknowledgment of his obligations. 

 Xo one who is not familiar with the subject would suspect 

 from his chapters how deep his indebtedness is all 

 through the book. The occasional allusions to the 

 Survey work seem strangely inadequate in comparison 

 with the fulness of his references to private individuals 

 of whose assistance he has availed himself. The maps, 

 for instance, with which he embellishes his book are 

 reduced (not very satisfactorily) from those of the Geo- 

 logical Survey, but there is no reference to the source 

 from which they are derived. The volume, though it 

 has no originality, supplies a convenient summary of what 

 is at present known regarding the coal-fields of Scotland, 

 and may be useful as a popular handbook of the subject. 



A Glossary of Popular, Local, and Old-Fashioned Names 

 ■ of British Birds. By C. H. Hett. Pp. vi + 114. 

 (London : H. Sotheran and Co., 1902.) Price is* 



To the last edition of his " Bird Notes," the author 

 appended a glossary of synonyms of the British species. 

 The present little volume is an amplification of that 

 glossary, and appears to be as nearly complete as 

 possible. The work commences with a classified list of 

 the British species (in which we notice that the author is 

 a conservative in the matter of nomenclature), and then 

 follows the glossary. It should enable amateur ornitho- 

 logists residing in country districts to identify all the 

 local birds without difficulty. R. L. 



