3 66 



NA TURE 



[February 19, 190^ 



Sclater, it was determined by the committee that in 

 view of the long time that must elapse before the com- 

 pletion of the whole work, it should be divided into 

 three portions — the first to contain names given from 

 the beginning of 1758 to the end of 1800, the second 

 those given from 1801 to 1850 inclusive, and the third 

 those published in the latter half of the last century. 

 We have now, therefore, before us the first o these three 

 portions, from 1758 to 1S00 inclusive. It is contained 

 in one volume of 1 195 closely printed pages, with about 

 fifty-eight names in each page. 



As the Clarendon Press had published the " Index 

 Kewensis," it was supposed that the University of 

 Oxford would gladly undertake the present work, and the 

 first offer of it was made to Oxford. It was found, how- 

 ever, that such stringent terms were required there as 

 could not be acceded to, and the sister University,. being 

 more liberally disposed, has thus obtained he honour 

 of introducing to science the " Index Zoologicus." 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



I 'ergleickende chemische Physiologic der niederen Tiere. 

 By Ur. Otto von Furth, Privatdocent and Assistant in 

 the Chemico-physiological Institute of the University 

 of Strassburg. Pp. xiv + 670. (Jena : Gustav Fischer, 

 1902.) Price 16 marks. 

 Dr. Otto V. Furth has shown himself one of the 

 ablest of the younger workers in the subject of chemical 

 physiology, and he is already well known for his admir- 

 able researches on the subject of muscle-plasma and 

 the chemistry of the suprarenal capsules. He has 

 also contributed to physiological journals several inter- 

 esting papers on the chemistry of invertebrates, which 

 he has investigated during a stay at the zoological station 

 at Naples. During his residence there, he appears to 

 have inhaled with the sea breezes the proper invertebrate 

 atmosphere for the carrying into execution of the present 

 ambitious volume. Although the book is entitled the 

 " Chemical Physiology of the Lower Animals," it 

 relates mainly to the invertebrates, and at the end of each 

 chapter is a brief summary contrasting these with the 

 Vertebrata. Vertebrate physiology is fairly fully treated in 

 all text-books of human physiology, and so the book 

 meets what was a distinct want. Max Verworn, it is 

 true, in his "General Physiology" approaches the subject 

 by the study of the cell and of simple organisms, but the 

 ground covered by v. Furth's book is quite distinct from 

 this. 



The general scope of the book may be indicated by a 

 brief enumeration of the subjects treated. After a few 

 general chapters on the chemistry of the compounds met 

 with in the animal kingdom and on the chemical compo- 

 sition of protoplasm, the first main heading is the blood, 

 and this fluid in echinoderms, worms, molluscs, crus- 

 taceans, insects and tunicates is described. Breathing, 

 nutrition and excretion are then treated under similar 

 headings. Then the various animal poisons, and special 

 secretions like mucin, the ink of cephalopods, silk, wax, 

 &c, are described. The skeletal tissues, the pigments 

 and the muscular tissues form the subjects of the next 

 chapters, and at the end is an account of the genital 

 secretions, under which, inter alia, a description of Loeb's 

 experiments on artificial parthenogenesis is given. 



It may be a matter of surprise to many well-informed 

 physiologists what a large mass of material existed in 

 relation to what has been regarded as the comparatively 

 neglected subject of invertebrate physiology, and what 

 nteresting reading it makes when collected into an 

 organic whole. Another general reflection will be what 



NO. 1738, VOL. 67] 



a vast field for research is still open to fill up the gaps 

 in our knowledge. 



The diligence the author has evinced in writing his 

 book is beyond all praise. His lists of bibliographical 

 references will prove most useful to future students of 

 this branch of science Unlike many of his countrymen, 

 he has consulted, not only those papers which are written 

 in his own language, but he has been cosmopolitan in his 

 reading. His aim, as just stated, has been an ambitious 

 one, and we congratulate him most heartily on a decided 

 success. 



Thermodynamique ct Chimie. Lemons ilimentaires 

 a I'usage des Cliimistes. Par P. Duhem. Pp. ix 

 + 496. (Paris : A. Hermann, 1902.) Price 12s. 

 The second law of thermodynamics has had a 

 curious history. It originated out of attempts to 

 estimate the motive power of fire, it subsequently led 

 to the notion of the thermodynamical potential, this in 

 turn gave birth to the phase rule, and now it is in 

 the domain of chemistry that the law obtains its most 

 fertile applications. Prof. Duhem has already pub- 

 lished a treatise in four volumes on thermodynamic 

 chemistry, which has been reviewed in these columns 

 (" Traite elementaire de Mecanique chimique fondee 

 sur le Thermodynamique." Paris, 1897-99), Du t a de- 

 mand has arisen among chemists for a more elemen- 

 tary treatise, assuming but little knowledge of mathe- 

 matics. As the author points out, the philosopher, the 

 mathematician, the physicist and the chemist — he 

 might have added the engineer — require separate 

 treatises on thermodynamics. 



Prof. Duhem confines himself to " three-day 

 methods," that is, to methods formerly included in 

 the syllabus of the first three days of the Cambridge 

 Tripos — or, in other words, he uses neither calculus 

 nor coordinate geometry, unless graphical repre- 

 sentations are regarded as implying coordinate geo- 

 metry. After an elementary introduction to the 

 properties of the thermodynamic potential, he con- 

 siders the phase rule, the properties of invariant, 

 univariant, bivariant and multivariant systems, the 

 displacement of the equilibrium state for variations of 

 temperature and pressure, the properties of perfect 

 gases, and the dynamics of false equilibria and ex- 

 plosions. The work appears to afford an excellent 

 account of the large field of chemical investigation 

 first started by Gibbs, Moutier and others which has 

 led to such important results in the hands of van der 

 Waals, Bakhuis Roozboom, van 't Hoff, Sainte Claire 

 Deville, and a large army of still more recent workers 



G. H. B. 



Diis Problem der geschlechtsbestimmenden Ursachen. By 

 Dr. M. von Lenhossek, Professor of Anatomy in the 

 University of Budapest. Pp. 99; 2 figs. (Jena : Gustav 

 Fischer, 1903, published 1902.) Price 2 marks. 

 Prof. M. von Lenhossek gives us an admirably clear 

 and scientific deliverance on the much-discussed problem 

 of the factors which determine the sex of offspring. He 

 takes account of most of the data and most of the 

 theories, and comes to the conclusion that the deter- 

 mination is in the hands of the maternal parent and 

 that the decision is given prior to fertilisation. He 

 does not seem even to allow — what seems to us almost 

 proved by the experiments of Yung and others — that the 

 original bias may be altered in early stages of develop- 

 ment. We adhere to the eclectic position that the de- 

 termination of sex depends upon numerous variable 

 factors, operative before, in and after fertilisation. The 

 author's references to the literature on the subject are so 

 numerous that we may point out the omission of any 

 recognition of Starkweather, Hensen, Geddes and 

 Thomson, Henneberg, Beard and Van Lint. J. A. T. 



