QCTi (BER lO, 1918] 



NATURE 



in carbonisation is thi n and can Lnl 



the i ■ -i.il se of - I his is seen in pi acti 



Lhi results of steami n vertical ri torts. 



• I. .it the vvatei Hied doubtless 



ites hi the sensi shov as wi 11 as 



1 all) i" sw eeping oui thi \ apoui s befi 



positi an havi gone too Far. I In- lightness of the 



hydrogen molei ules and cons usi\ ii\ 



doubtless promote 1 1 1 i ^ physical effect, bu( the pre- 

 dominant influence is chemical. Whethei ii is bettei 

 to introduce the water-gas from the outside 1 



ate it in situ In steaming to be shown. 



In .in 1 .1-1 there is an advani [ained by the 



admixture of water-gas in thai the proportion "I the 

 heal of the coal in the gas is increased. When steam 

 is introduced into the retort, reactions which lead to 

 the formation of ammonia, as in the Mond gas prod 



tiled into operation. Ii is steam which promotes 

 the formation of ammonia, and nol hydrogen, on \. hi< h 

 undue stress has been I 11 ii"" ol rervet. 



Expi ■ nction « ith * '. V King 



show that steam alone among .1 numbei ol gases 

 tried had an) marked effect in the production of 

 ammonia fn 3oo C. Characteristic of the 



results oi steaming 1 hargi s in recei 



much fi ased ; and also ol tai , 



which contains less of the heav> complex condi nsation 



products than ordinary horizontal-retorl tarsi This is 



important in connection with the carbonisation of coal 



as a possible source of fuel-oil. In considering the 



.11 on hydrocarbon - ; evident a t< n- 



dency for m with the production of 



and 11101 . 1 omplex sis carbpi ng com- 



nds, with the elim natio hydi ogen, « hich 



ites in the revei si sense. I he stability ol the 

 six-atom ring structure seems characteristii ol carbon 

 most drastic ti 1 atment, anil it is 

 in ten sting to note thai the invi stigai ops of the Braggs 

 show thai tin' same orientation can still l" detected 

 in the diamond and graphite. 



FORTHCOMING BOOKS OF SCIENCE. 



Vgriculture AND 1 [1 11 

 Duckworth and Co. \ nev edition of Agricultural 

 Botany, Prof. Percival. /. B. Lippincoti Co. Pro- 

 ductive Pruning, Prof. A. Dickens, illustrated; Pro- 

 ductive Small Fruits, Prof. F. C. Scars, illustra 

 The Potato, W. Stuart, illustrated; Experimental and 

 cultural Botany, Prof. M. I Cook, illustrated; 

 Laboratory Manual of Farm Crops, O. W. D 

 Productive Sheep Husbandry, \V. 1 . Coffey, illus- 

 /. Wiley and Sons. In< . to York), and 



Chapman and Hall, Ltd.- Botani for Agricultural 

 Students, Prof. J. N. Martin. 



VnTHROF ' ', iND \! ■ 1 i ! ' (LOGY. 



and Co., Ltd. I ol :-lore in 



Religion, ! 

 and Law, Sir J. < i - ols. (part i., 'I he 1 



Ages ol the World ; nan ii., I 

 pari iii., The Times of thi Judges ind Kings; part iv., 

 The I aw). 



Biology. 



< 'ambi ■ ' sity /'" ;s. ' olution and the 



Doctrine of the Trinity, S. A. McDowall. Constable 

 and 1 Vnimal Life and Human Progress, 



d w ith an introduction b\ Pi \ 1 



taining Man'- Account with the I Animal-. Prof. 



\, I >ehdj ; Somi I at d Moral Aspi 



Zoolog; , Prof, G. C. Bourne ; 



1 rati Ri in . Man and ill. ■ . Prof. J. \. 



Thomson ; The < trigin of Man, P F Wood-J 

 2554, VOL. I02] 



some iniiaiiuani- ol tan ami tneir Migrations, Dr. 

 R. 1. Leiper ; Thi the Si iem e ..1 Bi 



ing, Prof. K. 1. Punnett; Ou Food from the Sea, 

 Prof. W. A. 1 lerdman , and < lolohisa- 



Prof. R. N'ewstead).; ! ous 1 1 ees, A. D. 



Webster, LIlu ; ; \coU Co. — The 



1 in omosome rheory of Here. 1 11. Mpi 



and Out-l>i .. .i ,1 1 and D. F. 



Jones ; Lot ..liNaii.ni ol M01 phogi 1 ces in thi 



Egg, Prof. E. 1 .. < onklin ; ti: . . R. 1 1. 



Harrison; Permeability and Electrics ivity of 



Living I issue, Prof. W. J. V. I Isti quili- 



brium between Acids and Bases in I and 



Environment, L. J. Henderson ; < 'hi mil ; of 



Growth, Prof. T. I>- Robertson; Primit 

 System, Prof. G. II. Parker; Co-ordination 

 motion, A. R. Moon. Macmillan on, I ( ... 

 The Pi. lain of the Living Plant, Prof. F. O. B. 



illustrated ; A Ti st-l Is ..1 Embryology, illustt 



vol. ii., Vertebrata I Vmphioxus 1 hi. 1. 1, Prof. J. 



111-ls. it. /. Wiley and Sons, Inc. (New York)., 

 and Chapman and Hall, Ltd.— Fresh-watei Biol 

 I 1 B. \\ .m.I and G. ('. Whipple, illustrated. 



Chemistry. 



yard Arnold. Petrol and Petroleum Spirits, 

 Capt. W. E. Guttentag, with a preface b; Sir John 

 ('adman. Bailliere, Tindall, and ( ox. — Industrial 

 Chemistry, edited by Dr. Samuel Rideal (< oal-tai 

 E. di li.irn Barnett; Animal Proteids, II. G 

 Bennett; The Carbohydrates, Dr. S. Rideal; Fats, 

 Waxes, and Essential Oils, W. IP Simmon-; The 

 Industrial Gases, i~>v. II. C. Greenwood; Silica and 

 the Silicates, I A. Audley ; The Rare Earths and 

 M.tal-. E. K. Rideal; The Iron Industry, A. E. Pratl ; 

 The Steel Industry, A. E. Pratt; Gas-works Prod 

 H. II. 1.1,1. ; Organic Medicinal Chemicals, M. Bar- 

 rowcliff and F. IP Parr; Tin- Petroleum Indu 

 D. A. Sutherland; Wood and Cellulose^ R W. Sindall 

 and W: Bacon; Rubber, Resins, Paints, and Var- 

 nishes, Dr. S Kid.. di. Cambridge University Press. — 

 Recent Discoveries in Inorganic Chemistry, J. Hat 

 Smith. /. and .1. Churchill . — Catalytic Hydrogena- 

 tion and Reduction, Dr. E. B. Maxted. illustt 

 and a new edition of A Handbook of Colloid Chemis- 

 try, Dr. W. Ostwald, translated by Prof. M. H. 

 Fischer, illustrated. Constable and Co.. Ltd. The 

 Life and Letters of Joseph Black, M.D., Sir \V. 

 Ramsay, with an introduction dealing with thi 

 and work of Sir William Ramsay, Prof. F. G. 

 Donnan. illustrated; The Profession of Chemistry; 

 R. B. Pilcher; The Production and Treatment of Vege- 

 table Oils, T. W. Chalmers, illustrated; Trinitro- 

 toluenes, G. Carlton Smith. Longmans and Co.— 

 Monographs on Industrial Chemistry, edited by Sir 

 , ,1 Thorpe (S ' 'louring Matters : Vat 



Colours, Prof. l.'F. Thorpe; Naphthalene, Prof. 

 W. P. Wynne; S .louring Matters: Azo- 



Dves, Dr. F. W. Ka; : Utilisation of Atmospheric 

 Xitrogi .1 Si on of Ammonia and 



, \.i.l, Prof. \. W. ( ,.,ssl,\ ; Cement, B. Blount; 



The Principles' . d Practice of Gas-purification, E. A'. 

 Evans; Refrai >ries, Dr. J. W. Mellor; Ozom 

 Hvdro : their Properties, Technical Pro- 



d u . lion, ind \ .Hi ations, Dr. H. V. A. Bi is 



Colouring Mattel-, Prof. V. G. 

 Perkin and Dr. A. E. Everest: Industrial Ap 

 Mi i.ils. W. I .. Wagner and V' 

 Pownev; Liquid Fuel for Internal-Coin' 

 .,;,,,.- Sii B. erton Ri d\i ood, Bai 1 , and 



1 . Ilulose-Silk, C. F. Cross : TI 

 Arc in Chemical Industrv, Or. I. \. P ii . B -product 



Pi iciic, E. Bun ; 1 ' ic Re- 



action heii Vpplicatibn to CI lustrr, Prof: 



