264 \ 
others, of this neglect is the scattered nature of his pub- 
lications, to commence republishing his researches in a 
“consolidated” form with the addition of new work. 
Whether this will in future prevent the neglect under 
which the author feels he has laboured remains to be 
seen ; that he himself so far is satisfied with the results 
following the appearance of the first volume is evident 
from the preface to the second. 
The only original matter in these volumes other than 
that of the author consists of one short note by the 
authors son, so that there has apparently been no 
response to the invitation to contribute to these “Annals” 
which was issued with the first volume. 
The larger part of each volume is made up of a series 
of summaries of work which has been done in various 
branches of Physiological Chemistry; these contain a 
good deal of information of a fragmentary kind, but can 
scarcely be regarded as adequately presenting to the reader 
the present state of opinion on the subjects of which they 
treat. This is especially the case in the summaries con- 
tained in the second volume. “ Visual-purple” receives 
very rough treatment in Article III. ; the account of re- 
searches on the source of urea in the body is anything 
but complete, and the same may be said of Article 
XVIIL., on fibrin and its precursors. It is, however, only 
fair to say that many of the summaries are much less open 
to objection. 
The preface to the first volume contains a charge of 
malevolent and ignorant opposition to the author’s work, 
which reaches its full development in his concluding 
remarks to Article XIX., on the existence of Protagon ; 
in these he accuses those whose work is opposed to his 
own, not only of incompetence, but of what is best known 
as “cooking” ; he speaks of them as obtaining “‘ extracts 
of uniform composition ’’ ‘‘ by the aid of processes nearly 
akin to trimming.’’ The reference isobvious. Similarly 
in the second volume, Article XVI., ‘‘ Modern Text-Books 
as Impediments to the Progress of Animal Chemistry,” 
consists of a review of Prof. Gamgee’s ‘‘ Text-Book of 
Physiological Chemistry,” in which this work is charac- 
terised as ‘‘humiliating to scientific literature.” Com- 
ment on this article may safely be left to the individual 
judgment of those who take the trouble to read it. It 
may, however, not be out of place to suggest here that a 
continuance of this tone in future volumes towards those 
whose work is at variance with the author’s, will un- 
doubtedly do much to alienate from him any sympathy 
with the “ Annals” which physiologists might otherwise 
have been inclined to extend to them. 
OUR BOOK SHELF 
Kufra. Retse von Tripolis nach der Oase Kufra. By 
Gerhard Rohlfs. With Eleven Drawings and Three 
Maps. (Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, 1881.) 
THIS new volume of travels by Dr. Gerhard Rohlfs is a 
valuable contribution to a knowledge of the southern 
parts of the Vilayet of Tripolis and of the Lybian Desert. 
In December 1878, Herr Rohlfs, accompanied by Dr. 
Stecker, started from Tripoli, and soon reached the 
interesting oasis of Djofra, or Sokna, already known from 
the travels of many Europeans. Thence he proceeded 
east-south-east to Aujila, crossing the formerly quite un- 
known tracts of the sandy and stony deserts situated at 
NATURE 
[ Fan. 1g, 1882 
the north-eastern foot of the Black Mountains. He 
reached the green and pretty oasis of Sella, which is one 
of the richest of the Eastern Sahara, and has no less 
than 100,000 palm-trees, and large flocks of camels. 
Going further east to Abu-Naim, Herr Rohlfs did not 
follow the usual route, but, avoiding encounters with 
robbers, he made a great bend towards the south, having 
thus the opportunity of visiting the hilly tracts of the 
spurs of the Harauj-assod Mountains, watered during the 
rainy season by numerous Wadi. On March 24, 1879, 
he reached the small but wealthy Abu-Naim, whose 
numerous fossils, as well as foraminifera scattered in its 
sands, will probably attract the attention of future ex- 
plorers, Herr Rohlfs’ collection having been plundered 
by robbers. A few days later he was in Aujila, which he 
already had visited in 1869. But his further advance 
being checked by the fanaticism of the inhabitants, he 
was compelled to send Dr. Stecker, and one month later 
to go himself to Bengasi, on the Mediterranean coast, to 
obtain there some protection for his journey to Kufra. 
It was only in July that he was enabled to return to 
Aujila, and to start for Kufra, 350 kilometres distant 
due south of Aujila. The oasis, situated between 26° and 
24° N. lat., and 21° to 24° E. long., is elevated 250 to 400 
metres above the sea-level, and is far larger than it was 
expected, as it covers 17,818 square kilometres. It must 
have been once a great salt lake, and even now it is 
covered with brackish marshes, and has a small lake; 
but sweet water is found everywhere in this oasis ata 
small depth, and throughout its length and breadth it is 
covered with vegetation. From Kufra Herr Rohlfs re- 
turned to Bengasi, after his caravan had been plundered 
by the inhabitants. 
The work contains interesting observations on the 
sinking of the North African coast, and gives a good 
description of the physico-geographical conditions of 
the Eastern Sahara. There are illustrations and a map 
of the region visited, and more detailed maps of Djofra 
and Kufra. In the second part of the book we finda 
list of new routes in Tripolitania; a list of tempera- 
tures of wells, observed by Dr. Stecker; a paper on 
altitudes and on meteorological observations by Dr. 
Hann; papers on the Amphibia and Arthropoda col- 
lected by the Expedition, by Dr. Karsch; and an 
elaborate paper, by Dr. Ascherson, on the plants col- 
lected during the last seventy years in Central Africa— 
the catalogue of Dr. Ascherson mentions 437 plants from 
Tripolitania, 200 from Fezzan, 48 from the Aujila oases, 
and 493 from Cyrenaica. 
Tables of Qualitative Analysis. By H. G. Madan. 
(Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1881.) 
Ir is surely high time that students of chemistry were 
taught qualitative analysis by some other method than by 
following a very complicated table of analysis. That very 
important stage of chemical learning, qualitative analysis, 
would be much more thoroughly mastered if the student 
were well exercised in the reactions of the elementary 
substances, and then led to construct methods of separa- 
tion himself. He would by this means become indepen- 
dent of tables and books in the laboratory. Students 
who are accustomed to work with, or follow,a table, often 
lose much time in finding where they are working on the 
table, and get on the “ left side” of the group when they 
should be on the other. The tables before us would 
doubtless be useful to an advanced student, but appear 
certainly very complicated to be put into the hands of a 
beginner. No notice is taken of the so-called rare ele- 
ments, but a good table of solubilities is supplied—a part 
of an analysis book that students might benefit by con- 
sulting a little oftener than is usually the case, Although 
produced in the usual good style of the Clarendon Press, 
a somewhat smaller form would perhaps be more con- 
venient for use on the laboratory benches. 
