August 15, 1901] 



NA TURE 



375 



Familiar Butterflies and Moths. By W. F. Kirby, 

 F.L.S., F.E.S. Pp. 114; with iS plates containing 

 216 illustrations in colour. (London, &c. : Cassell and 

 Co., Ltd.) Price bs. 



The interest of this book centres in the coloured plates, 

 which for the most part are excellent, and, so far as they 

 go, will enable anyone to name his insects supposing 

 them to be among the number figured, for it must be 

 remembered these are only a " selection." Probably the 

 only really bad figure is Fig. 1 1 on Plate x. Nearly one- 

 fourth of the number are butterflies, and nothing is 

 figured beyond the Geometridre. .A. not inconsiderable 

 number of the species noticed do not occur in Britain, 

 but this should be no drawback, because so many of our 

 amateur entomologists travel abroad nowadays and form 

 collections on their tours. The text is written to the 

 figures and is sound, and the whole book is remarkably 

 well got up. It does not pretend to be of the strictly 

 scientific class, but we can commend it to the notice of 

 those desirous of making a cheap, handsome and useful 

 present. 



Lehrhuch der mathematischen Chcmie. Yon J. J. van 

 Laar. Pp. xiii + 224. (Leipzig ; Johann Ambrosius 

 Barth, 1901.) 



This book does not cover the whole ground of mathe- 

 matical chemistry, but is concerned solely with equili- 

 brium. The treatment is thermodynamical throughout, 

 Planck's potential function being taken as mathematical 

 basis. 



The first section of the book gives the general thermo- 

 dynamical theory ; the second section, which has eight 

 times the bulk of the first, applies the theory to concrete 

 cases, examples being given of all ordinary equilibria in 

 gaseous, dissolved and condensed systems. 



To those who desire a formal mathematical treatment 

 of this important branch of chemical theory the book 

 may be heartily commended, more especially as due at- 

 tention is paid to experimental work where possible, so 

 that comparison between theory and experiment is 

 made easy. 



Fhilifs Educational Terrestrial Globe. Diameter 9 

 inches. (London : George Philip and Son, 1901.) 

 Price 1 5 J. 

 It is unnecessary here to urge that familiarity with the 

 features of a good terrestrial globe is an excellent faculty 

 for the student of geography to possess. Good globes 

 of a serviceable size should be regarded as essential to 

 the satisfactory teaching of the subject. Messrs. Philip's 

 new globe shows commercial routes, ocean currents and 

 the new political boundaries ; and it is a very clearly- 

 printed representation of the world. The distances in 

 nautical miles are shown upon the principal steamship 

 routes. Of course it is impossible to represent details 

 upon a globe nine inches in diameter, as the scale is so 

 small that the British Isles can be covered with a three- 

 penny piece. But the correct general view obtained by 

 the inspection of even a small globe has many advan- 

 tages in the early stages of geographical instruction. 

 For real work, however, it is essential that a complete 

 meridian divided into degrees, and a wooden horizon, be 

 provided. The importance of this is apparently not 

 sufficiently appreciated by globe makers, for all the com- 

 paratively cheap globes, such as that under notice, are 

 mounted with a semi-meridian of brass, which is some- 

 times not even divided into degrees, and they have no 

 horizon. It ought not to be difficult to devise a light and 

 inexpensive globe having both meridian and horizon, and 

 doubtless such a globe could be produced if geographical 

 publishers cared to give attention to it. The great value 

 of a globe of this kind in connection with problems of 

 geodesy, navigation and physical geography can only be 



NO. 1659, VOL. 64] 



appreciated by those who have learnt or taught"the use 

 of the globes. 



Die Krystallisation von Eiweissstoffen und ihre Bedeu- 



tung ftir die Ei'iveisschemie. By Dr. Fr. N. Schulz. 



Pp. 43. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1901.) Price M. 1.20. 

 The investigation of the chemical and physical nature of 

 albumins ' has always been hampered by the absence of 

 criteria for the determination of the purity of the specific 

 preparation. In chemical research we possess in crystal- 

 lisation our most valuable method for purifying a sub- 

 stance, but the application of this method to albumins 

 presents a complex problem. 



For albumin crystals — crystalloids as they are termed 

 — possess remarkable properties which distinguish them 

 from other crystals : when treated with various reagents 

 they absorb liquid and swell up ; they do not separate 

 from pure solvents, but the crystallisation is effected by 

 salting out, or by the addition of mineral acids ; as soon 

 as the crystallisation is started, the separation is spon- 

 taneous and independent of the concentration, rendering 

 it impossible to grow large crystals. 



In other respects, however, these crystalloids resemble 

 true crystals, in so far as they belong to well-defined 

 systems, possess similar optical properties, and their 

 inclination towards crystallisation depends on their state 

 of purity. 



Dr. Schulz in this pamphlet gives a complete account 

 of all albumins which occur or have been obtained 

 artificially crystalline, and of the methods used to obtain 

 the latter results, and indicates that in many cases the 

 elementary analyses of crystalline albumins, by different 

 experimenters, show a welcome agreement. 



Though Dr. Schulz in no wise dogmatises on the two 

 theories of the crystallisation of albumin, he inclines to 

 the view put forward by Hofmeister, who considers the 

 phenomenon simply a case of gradual purification, in 

 preference to Gabriel's assumption of the depolymerisa- 

 tion of the molecules of amorphous albumin. 



The object of the author, we think, is in the first place 

 to demonstrate the comparative uselessness of scientific 

 research on substances of the purity of which w^e have no 

 guarantee ; he does not believe the amorphous character 

 of certain albumins to be an inherent property, but 

 attributes it to our ignorance of experimental conditions, 

 intensified by the sensibility and labile nature of the 

 albumin molecule. We can warmly recommend Dr. 

 Schulz's pamphlet to the physiological chemist. 



W. T. L. 



Floiaers and Ferns in their Haunts. By M. O. Wright. 



Pp. xix + 35S. (New York : The Macmillan Co. ; 



London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1901.) Price 



\os. bd net. 

 The authoress, in the " invitation '' which prefaces this 

 book, asks her readers to " spare an idle hour to look 

 with the eye of the mind and the camera at a few of the 

 flowers and ferns in their haunts." From this it will be 

 evident that the work is not in any sense a scientific one 

 and must not be criticised as if it were. It is a pleasantly 

 written account of the more familiar flowering plants and 

 ferns met with in a district in North America as they present 

 themselves in the landscape. It is very fully illustrated 

 with plates and drawings, the former being reproduced 

 from photographs, the latter based on them. The plates, 

 which represent the plants as they grow, are very good. 

 The book will interest those who are familiar with the 

 plants of which it treats, while others who know the wild 

 plants of England will obtain from it a general idea of 

 the common wild flowers of another country. A useful 

 feature is a list of the scientific names of plants, which 

 are mentioned in the text by their local popular names. 



W. H. L. 



1 English current literature writes albutntrn and albumin indifferently— in 

 America the term " egg-white " is frequently used, but rarely album^-n. 



