October 24, [918 



NATURE 



143 



and attrai live outlini ol the pr< sent state of 

 chemical knowledge ol a standard suitable foi the 

 highest forms ol schools or for university students 

 who are beginning the stud) ol chemistry, ["here 

 i-, however, one passage in an introductorj dis- 

 cussion of the transformations ol energy which 

 cannot be allowed to pass unnoticed. It is stated 

 (p. 32): "So, with a conductor like tin- filament 

 in the lamp, unit-- it offers resistance to the cur- 

 rent and destroys n sufficient amount of electricity 

 (the italics are ours) "it gives out neither light 

 nor heat." It is to be hoped that this will be 

 amended in a later edition. 



(2) " Experimental Inorganic Chemistry" is a 

 laboratory companion to the text-book discussed 

 above. Ii contains directions for carrying out 



! large number of experiments of various 

 types, including illustrations of chemical laws, 

 the preparation of substances and examination 

 of ilu-ir properties, some qualitative analyses, 

 and simple experiments in physical chemistry. 



I he i list ructions are very clear and precise 

 and seem well designed to lead students to 

 work' thoughtfully. In a few cases, however, 

 the methods given for carrying out the experiments 

 appear a little crude for the class of students that 

 would be capable of using the companion text- 

 book intelligently. 



(3) " Laboratory Outline of College Chemistry" 

 is almost identical, word for word, with the last- 

 mentioned work (2). There are, however, 

 differences of arrangement, and in the order 

 in which .subjects are treated, which render 

 it more suitable for use with the author's 



neral Chemistry for Colleges." It con- 

 tains a short chapter, which is not included 

 in "Experimental Inorganic Chemistry," on 

 Bunsen's film and match tests. This is a welcome 

 feature, for it is to be wished that these tests, on 



lint of their elegance and of the training in 

 manipulation which they afford, were taught more 

 frequently than is at present the case. 



W. W. M. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 

 Homeland: I Year of Country Days. By Percj 



VV. I). Izzard. With illustrations by 11 1 1 



L. Izzard and W. Gordon Mem. Pp. 383. 

 (London: John Richmond, n.d.) Price ?s. 6d. 



'I ins 1 ]. consists of a series of sketches mostl) 



impressionist of the march of the seasons in the 

 Eastern Counties of England. There is one for 

 each daj in the year, and the auth u shows his 

 good sense b\ beginning with March .'t and end- 

 ing with March jo. "So we set out in the thrill 

 ol the year's morning songs and climb with the 

 sun to the high noon of summer; then go down 

 the hill of autumn and traverse the vail, 

 winter, and so arrive again before the portals ol 

 spring. Thus hope is with us first and last." 

 And delight as well, we may say, for Mr. Izzard's 

 WO. 2556. VOL. I02] 



pictures — many of them just vignettes have a 



delicate touch, awakening old joys. On reading 

 them we fee] that the author is one who would 



sincerely say with Stevenson : 



To make this earth oui 



A cheerful and a changeful page, 

 1 .ml'- l>i ight and inn ii 

 Of days and seasons doth suffice. 

 Let us mention a lew lilies: "Laggard Spring," 

 "Snow and Kingfishers," "The Elms in Bloom," 

 "Wine of Spring," "Bluebells," "The Top of 

 the Morning," "The Honey Way," "Bees in the 

 Broom," "A Yellow Wagtail," "A Summer 

 Shower, " " Scented Night," " Grass of the Dunes," 

 "Ageing Leaves," "Spider-Craft," "Rain on the 

 Wheat," "Autumn Colour," "A Pimpernel 

 Morning," "Wintei Sleeps." These are not in- 

 formative cssav s, be it understood, but dainty bits 

 of impressionism, pleasant to read for a few- 

 minutes in the morning-, and rejoicing the heart. 

 The book has some beautiful black-and-white 

 illustrations "by Florence L. Izzard and W. Gordon 

 Mein, and it is very pleasantly printed with a page 

 for each day. We recommend it heartily to those 

 win. have "a love of the country." 



The Portal of Evolution: Being a Glance through 

 the Open Portal of Evolution nt Some of the 

 Mysteries of Nature. By a Fellow of the Geo- 

 logical and Zoological Societies. Pp. 295-11. 

 (London: Heath, Cranton, Ltd., 1918.) Price 

 1 6s. net. 

 The author of this book begins chap. i. with the 

 words : "My aim in writing this treatise has been 

 to avoid making" it in any way a scientific work." 

 We are bound to say that he has succeeded. For 

 what we opened with the eager hope of getting 

 some fresh light on the factual problems of evolu- 

 tion turns out to be a sheer eccentricity. It is a 

 serious but futile elaboration of extravagant hypo- 

 theses about the intermarrying of the diverse attri- 

 butes of the Trinity. It is a preposterous attempt 

 to illumine facts by fictions and to talk two lan- 

 guages at once. Of the author's scientific incom- 

 petence a glimpse is given in a statement in the 

 liist chapter : "Embryology has established beyond 

 dispute that in the earl) stages of our conception 

 within our mother's womb we again assume the 

 types of worms, fishes, animals, and in some cases 

 ol plants that did theii pari in evolving our present 

 existence." Hat a glimpse of something worse is 

 n in the fundamental statement: "The inter- 

 marrying of the attributes of God's personalities 

 has indeed placed in my hands a key that would, 

 in lime, with thought and study, enable mankind 

 to unlock the door and enter the portal of Evolu- 

 tion, and ultimately to be able to understand 

 divine revelations. ..." We do not wish to be 

 loo hard upon a treatise so obviously serious and 

 well-intentioned, especiall) as we are assured that 

 "it is only during the last one hundred years that 

 the property of understanding has dawned upon 

 man." but we cannot help feeling that there has 

 been a sad waste of paper here. 



