NATURE 
[APRIL 14, 1904 
OUR BOOK SHELF. 
An Attempt towards a Chemical Conception of the 
Ether. By Prof. D. Mendeléeff. Translated by 
George Kamensky. Pp. 51. (London: Longmans 
and Co., 1904.) Price 2s. net. 
Tuis tract, by the famous chemical philosopher whose 
seventieth birthday has recently been welcomed by the 
congratulations of the whole scientific world, contains 
the views of the author of the periodic law with regard 
to the classification under that law of the recently dis- 
covered inert gases. Prof. Mendeléeff places hydrogen 
at the head of his group i., containing the metals of 
the alkalis, and makes a special group zero for the 
inert gases. He gives his reasons for thinking that 
in this group there are two elements lighter than 
helium. One of them, of density about 0.2 compared 
with hydrogen, he identifies with coronium, the source 
of the characteristic spectrum of the solar corona. 
Such a gas could not, in accordance with the views 
first promulgated by Stoney, be retained in the earth’s 
atmosphere, but might be prominent in the higher 
regions of that of the sun. The other, which he feels 
justified in taking of extremely low density, he pro- 
poses to identify with the ether, which cannot be held 
by any heavenly body, but is spread through all space. 
No mention is made of Maxwell’s classical objection 
that the ether cannot be molecular, for if it were, all 
the energy of the universe would have been transferred 
into it. He notes incidentally, in connection with the 
uniform scale and composition of the universe, that 
most stars the masses of which are known are of the 
same order of magnitude as the sun. He thinks the 
condensation of ether towards the massive stars is con- 
nected with their intense radiation. He also thinks 
that the activity of the molecules of radium must be 
connected with a special condensation of ether around 
them; for his opinion, stated with reserve and with- 
out the certainty which he felt with regard to his views 
on the periodic law, is entirely against any breaking 
up of molecules or degradation of elements into other 
forms, and he therefore rejects the idea of electrons. 
The obvious criticism on this is that he thus puts 
aside all the modern ideas as to the nature of radiation 
and electric action, and as to physics in general. He 
thinks, in fact, that the transmission of light will 
prove a more complex affair than the simple ideas of 
undulatory propagation on which it is now founded. 
He thinks that there is only one type of substance, and 
that a “ working hypothesis ’’ type of ether, by which 
he means a scheme of relations defining a substance 
with properties different from those of ordinary matter, 
must be ruled out. He now gives to the world these 
ideas which he has entertained, because he thinks 
that there may be little time left to him, and in the 
hands of others they may come to development. 
Though much at variance with the modes of thought 
of students of modern physics, one admires in reading 
about them the same originality and allusive sugges- 
tion that make his ‘ Principles of Chemistry ’’ such 
an attractive book. lo LE. 
. Monographieen aus der Geschichte der Chemie. 
Herausgegeben von Dr. Georg W. A. Kahlbaum. 
vii. Heft. (1) Jakob Berzelius. Von H. G. Sdéder- 
baum. Nach der wortlichen Ubersetzung von 
Emilie Wohler bearbeitet von G. W. A. Kahlbaum. 
(2) Amedeo Avogadro und die molekular Theorie. 
Von Icilio Guareschi. Deutsch von Dr. Otto 
Merckens. (Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 
1903.) 
Dr. KaHLBaum continues to put all chemists under an 
obligation to him by the successive issue of his valuable 
monographs on the history of chemistry. The volume 
before us is of special interest from the fact that the 
NO. 1798, VOL. 69] 
| first part of it is a carefully edited translation of an 
autobiography of Berzelius. The statutes of the Royal 
| Swedish Academy of Sciences require that each newly 
| elected member shall deposit an account of his life and 
work at the time of his election, and that he shall add 
to it at stated periods so long as his membership con- 
tinues. The autobiography before us is the result of 
that regulation. 
It was translated into German, in the first instance, 
by Miss Emilie Wohler, the daughter of the eminent 
chemist, himself a pupil and life-long friend of the 
great Swedish chemist, with the cooperation of Dr. 
Kahlbaum, and has been carefully edited and annotated 
by Prof. Séderbaum. No contribution to the personal 
history of chemistry that has appeared within recent 
years surpasses in interest’ this account by Berzelius of 
his own life. It is necessarily condensed from the 
very circumstances in which it was prepared, but 
all essential features of the career of its author down 
to 1840, a few years, therefore, before his death, are 
indicated. 
The second monograph, on ‘‘ Amedeo Avogadro und 
die Molekular Theorie,’’ is by Prof. Icilio Guareschi, 
and has been translated into German by Dr. Otto 
Merckens. 
It is a concise account of the rise of molecular 
theories in chemical and physical science, and of 
Avogadro’s connection with the subject. Incidentally 
the author deals with the attempts made by Dr. Debus 
to transfer the credit hitherto associated with the name 
of the Italian physicist of being the first to indicate 
the generalisation that equal volumes of gases under 
comparable conditions of temperature and pressure 
contain the same number of molecules to John Dalton. 
The discussion will be of interest, especially to 
English chemists. At the same time, it can hardly be 
said to be convincing or to advance the matter much 
beyond what is generally recognised as its true 
position. 
De Vi Physicad et Imbecillitate Darwiniand disputavit 
Franciscus Gulielmus Bain, Artium Magister. Pp. 
103. (Oxford and London: James Parker and 
Co., 1903.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 
We gather from this work that its author was present 
as a boy at Darwin’s funeral in Westminster Abbey, 
and had his toe trodden on by the King himself, then 
Prince of Wales; that the impression produced on him 
was such that he determined to devote himself in future 
years to finding out who Darwin was; and that having 
now succeeded in this laudable endeavour, he cannot 
visit the British Museum of Natural History and look 
up at the statue on the staircase facing the entrance 
without being seized by inextinguishable laughter. 
“Tt is this curious incarnation of philosophical poverty 
and unscientific perversity,’? he exclaims, ‘‘ who is 
elevated into a scientific deity. A theory-blinded and 
arbitrary denier of Nature’s organic and creative power 
is worshipped as a god in her own temple, every object 
in which gives the lie to his creed.’’ ‘* The theory of 
Darwin,’’ he says in another place, ‘‘is the ne plus 
ultra of human stupidity. It never could have 
occurred, except to one incapable of understanding the 
corollaries of organisation : but once having occurred, 
it never could have been retained and defended, except 
by one who was capable of systematically ignoring 
whole classes of animal organisation, and attending 
only to instances that prove nothing at all.” But 
Darwin is not the only victim of the author’s indigna- 
tion. Of another name, scarcely less famous than 
Darwin’s, we read that “‘ the ravings of an old woman 
in a lunatic asylum would be wisdom in comparison 
| with the latest views of this eminent philosopher.”’ 
What, we may ask, is the cause of this lamentable 
