July 21, 1904] 



NA TURE 



269 



The list of shrubs, flowers, and weeds cultivated is 

 disfigTired by an unusual number of printer's " weeds," 

 though it is scarcely fair to the " compositors " to 

 attribute to them errors for which the author ought 

 to be held responsible. If the bonk should, as is verj- 

 likely to be the case, appear in :: second edition, it is 

 to be hoped that this list will be revised by someone 

 familiar with the names of plants and with the way 

 in which they should be spelt. 



Guide to the Analysis of Potable Spirits. By S. Archi- 

 bald Vasev. Pp. ix-i-Sy. (London: Bailliere, 

 Tindall and Cox, 1904.) Price 35. 6d. net. 



The analysis of potable spirits has within recent time 

 ;icquired increased importance on account of the atten- 

 tion now given by medical men and others to the 

 characters of potable alcohol, and also on account of 

 the action of inspectors under the Sale of Food and 

 Drugs Acts in connection with the attempts which are 

 being made by various local authorities throughout the 

 country to put a stop to the misdescription of spirits. 

 The .\cts under which the E.xcise authorities work 

 unfortunately contain no adequate definition of such 

 articles as whisky and brandy, and this omission has 

 undoubtedly facilitated the manufacture of factitious 

 spirits. .At the present time there is practicallv no 

 official control over the sale of ardent spirits bevond 

 ensuring to the customer, soleh- in the interest o: the 

 Revenue, that their alcoholic strength shall not be 

 below a certain minimum. The Revenue authorities 

 r.r? not concerned to know whether what is called 

 whisky is a pot-still or a patent still spirit, whether 

 it is made from raw grain or malt, or whether it is 

 r!d or new. To them it is a matter of little moment 

 whether what is called brandy is genuine grape spirit, 

 •- whether it is a rectified spirit obtained from maize 

 r potatoes, flavoured with so-called essence of brandv 

 iind coloured with caramel. 



Those who trade in these things are, however, taking 

 steps to ensure that purchasers who. in the words of 

 the Act, are entitled to be supplied with articles " of 

 the nature, substance and quality- demanded." shall 

 be served with genuine grape-spirit when they ask 

 for "brandy." and the Sale of P'ood and Drugs .Acts 

 have been set in motion to secure this, and convictions 

 I'nder their provisions have alreadv been obtained. 

 Now that a decision of one of the higher courts has 

 b?en given, confirming those of the courts below, the 

 local authorities will doubtless continue to take action, 

 and public analysts will probablv be verv busv with 

 such cases. Mr. Vasey's book, therefore, appears at 

 an opportune time, and mav be recommended to the 

 notice of all who are interested in the subject of 

 differentiating spirits. 



Foreslrv in the United Kingdom. Bv Prof. \V. 

 .Schlich. F.R.S. Pp. 72. (London": Bradbur>-, 

 Agnew and Co., Ltd., n.d.) 



This book gives a ver^- able exposition of the pressing 

 need of extended and improved forestn" in the United 

 Kingdom. It deals with certain important points 

 already discussed, as the author informs us, in lectures 

 at various centres. Prof. Schlich sets forth a ven.- 

 . strong case in favour of the better management of 

 British woodlands. His arguments, supported by very 

 ' cnvincine statistics, are such as should meet with the 

 pproval and support of all interested in the subject, 

 i he problem of how to utilise to the best advantage 

 our enormous acreage of waste land is ably dealt with, 

 and in our opinion settled by the author in chapter iii. 

 This chapter contains a most interesting discussion 

 on the conflicting interests of forests and game pre- 



xo. i8i2. voi„ 70] 



serves; Prof. Schlich, however, shows how these may 

 be reconciled. The chapter also contains numerous 

 practical hints and yield tables showing the financial 

 return to be expected from properly managed woods. 

 We cannot close this notice without mentioning the 

 excellent secies of photographs illustrating the natural 

 regeneration of beech, the production of high-class 

 oak timber, and the proper densitv of spruce woods. 

 The photographs have been judiciously chosen by the 

 author, and included to show what result can be 

 achieved when forests are treated in a rational and 

 systematic manner. 



Ready Reference Tables. \'o\. i. Conversion Factors. 

 Compiled by Carl Hering. Pp. xviii+196. (New 

 York : John Wiley and Sons ; London : Chapman 

 and Hall, Ltd., 1904.) Price 10s. 6d. net. 

 This is the first of a series of reference tables which 

 Mr. Hering has in course o' preparation, and which 

 are intended to contain all the data most generally 

 required by engineers and physicists. The author has 

 aimed not only at making the tables handv for refer- 

 ence, but also at making them complete and accurate 

 to a degree not usually attained by pocket books. 

 Thus in the present volume the conversion factors are 

 given to six or more significant figtires. their re- 

 ciprocals are given, and also seven-figure logarithms. 

 This is a degree of accuracy which can be but rarely 

 required, and in deference, we suppose, to the practical 

 engineer, the author has added approximate fractional 

 values ; everyone, therefore, should be able to find what 

 he wants. .All the values have been most carefully 

 re-calculated and checked froin the various legal 

 definitions, thus making the data authoritative. The 

 value of the book as a standard for reference cannot 

 be questioned; the arrangement is more open to 

 criticism, and we cannot help thinking that the method 

 of tabulation adopted, which is to arrange all the 

 tables in order of the size of the quantities, results 

 in an unnecessary amount of repetition. For example, 

 the same factor is repeated five times (with a change 

 only in the position of the decimal point) for convert- 

 ing respectiveh- milligrams, centigrams, decigrams, 

 grams, and kilograms into grains. If this is really 

 desirable, it should be consistently followed out ; yet 

 one finds the grain expressed only in terms of the 

 milligram, centigram, and gram, the decigram only 

 in terms of the grain and gram, and not otherwise 

 mentioned in the table. The result is that one 

 hardly knows where to look for what one wants, which 

 considerablv detracts from the merits of a compilation 

 excellent in all other respects. M. S. 



.A Compendium of Chemistry (including General, In- 

 organic and Organic Chemistry). By Dr. Carl 

 .Arnold. Translated by John .A. Mandel, Sc.D. 

 Pp. xii + 627. (New York: Wiley and Sons; 

 London . Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1904.) Price 

 155. net. 

 This kind of book is perhaps more common and more 

 popular, therefore, in Germany than in this country.. 

 It is neither a text-book nor a book of reference, but 

 something between the two. Its aim seems to be 

 rather to refresh the memory, if the word refresh can 

 be used in this connection, than to train the mind. 

 It is, in fact, a multunt in parvo of information, which 

 a student who had worried out his principles and 

 theories beforehand, and merely required to marshal 

 his facts and ideas, might use with advantage. 



For example, the whole of chemical theory, in- 

 cluding physical chemistry, is ser\"ed up in the first 

 hundred pages in a series of small doses of concen- 



