4IO 



NA TURE 



[March 5, 1903 



we are told that "tin is practically indefatigable "(P- 1 18), 

 that 



' we may thus, by reducing or abolishing the excitability 

 of one end by means of suitable chemical reagents (so- 

 called method of injury) obtain response in metals " 

 (p. 87 



and many other phrases borrowed from physiologists 

 occur plentifully in the text. The use of such terminology 

 appears in itself to indicate the unconscious bias of the 

 author towards the conclusion he has in view. 



In later chapters of the work, a series of apparent 

 resemblances between the retinal currents described by 

 physiologists and photoelectrolytic changes in sensitised 

 metal plates leads the author to the amazing assertion 

 that 



" there is not a single phenomenon in the responses, 

 normal and abnormal, of the retina which has not its 

 counterpart in the sensitive cell constructed of inorganic 

 material" (p. 169). 



After this, we are incapable of being further surprised, 

 even by the confident prediction that 



" the parallelism will thus be found complete in every 

 detail between the phenomena of response in the organic 

 and inorganic " (p. 147). 



We are all aware that living processes, apart from the 

 evidence of our own consciousness, can only reveal 

 themselves as physical and chemical changes ; among 

 these are the electromotive effects in living tissues which 

 afford one aspect of those subtle and complex physico- 

 chemical relationships comprised under the term 

 metabolism. The play and nature of this metabolism 

 constitute for most of us the fundamental mystery of 

 life ; but to Prof. Bose the living response presents "no 

 element of mystery " (p. 189). Metabolism, with its 

 phases of assimilation and dissimilation, has for him 

 no significance, and he characterises all correlations of 

 electromotive change with metabolic process as arbi- 

 trary and unnecessary assumptions (p. 126). Even the 

 connection of fatigue in animal tissues with the dis- 

 similation products of activity has, he says, long been 

 seen to be an inadequate explanation. He admits that 

 " the criterion by which vital response is differentiated 

 is its abolition by the action of certain reagents "(p. 188), 

 yet he declares that metals can be " transformed from a 

 responsive to an irresponsive condition by the action of 

 similar poisonous reagents " (p. 188). We are bewildered 

 by this apparent inconsistency, and are thankful to 

 reflect upon such statements as he does not make. 

 Among these, the most consoling is that of the re-creation 

 of a living tissue ; it is clear that although the metallic 

 combination may be turned backwards and forwards 

 through responsive and irresponsive stages, there is no 

 such retransformation of the living tissues when once 

 these have become what Prof. Bose calls "dead things." 

 This should give him pause in his prediction that the 

 reader will find that parallelism complete in every detail 

 which, upon the strength of specious and partial 

 resemblances, he claims to have established between the 

 behaviour of materials living and non-living. F. G. 



NO. 174O, VOL. 6/] 



THE LEAD ACCUMULATOR. 

 Secondary Batteries : their Theory, Construction, and 

 Use. By E. J. Wade. Pp. ix + 492. (London : The 

 Electrician Printing and Publishing Co., Ltd.) Price 

 10s. 6d. net. 



MR. SWINBURNE in his presidential address to 

 the Institution of Electrical Engineers remarked 

 that it was wonderful that we had the lead cell at all, 

 seeing that we owed it to a chance observation of 

 Plante. On a perusal of Mr. Wade's book it seems 

 even more remarkable that the " chance observation of 

 Plante " has been developed into so indispensable an 

 adjunct of electrical engineering. It is usually the 

 boast of the electrical engineer that his branch of 

 engineering can lay claim to being an exact science in 

 the truest sense. He is able to base on a solid founda- 

 tion of theory the design of a 4000 H.P. alternator or 

 a sensitive millivoltmeter, and feel confident that the 

 result will be what he requires. He can work con- 

 tentedlv with these things, because he feels that he 

 knows to what their behaviour under different con- 

 ditions is due. But with the accumulator it is different. 

 Probably nine electrical engineers out of ten do not 

 know what is the cause of the E.M.F. given by the 

 combination lead / sulphuric acid / lead peroxide, but 

 imagine that, like Topsy, " it just growed." Still less 

 would they be able to give any plausible explanation of 

 the frequently erratic behaviour of accumulators. This 

 is partly due to a narrow-minded contempt for 

 chemistry, more or less inherent in the electrical en- 

 gineer in his student days, and only regretted when the 

 time for studying first principles is past. But the ignor- 

 ance must be also partly ascribed to the unsatisfactory 

 condition of the knowledge amongst experts in the 

 subject. 



These circumstances make Mr. Wade's book all the 

 more welcome. The author has endeavoured to set 

 forth all that is known concerning the storage battery, 

 and great credit is due to him for the very thorough 

 way in which he has carried out his task. After a brief 

 introductory chapter, the author passes to the history of 

 the lead cell ; it is noteworthy that this chapter practic- 

 ally resolves itself into a history of the development of 

 the " grid " or other support for the active material, 

 so slight is the alteration that has been made from the 

 chemical side since the time of Plante and Faure. The 

 tenth and final chapter, in which are described all the 

 leading makes of cells, whether of English, continental 

 or American manufacture, is marked by the same 

 characteristic. 



The seventh, eighth and ninth chapters deal with 

 the manufacture, testing and use of lead cells, and these 

 will be found very instructive, especially by those in- 

 terested in the commercial application of the storage 

 battery. In the eighth chapter the author has attempted 

 to define the lines on which lead cells should be de- 

 signed ; the result is not very satisfactory, but the 

 fault does not lie with Mr. Wade. Until theory has 

 shown the way, design must necessarily be carried out 

 on empirical lines, and reliance must be placed on in- 

 tuitive perception of what is good and what bad. 

 In chapter iii. Mr. Wade discusses storage cells 



