484 



NATURE 



[March 23, 1899 



Many other recipes for various shades of colour are 

 given, and there must have been in early days a vast 

 number of these plant-colours in use, if we may judge 

 from the amount of delicate and lovely tints which are to 

 be seen in the wonderful " Book of Kells," supposed to 

 date from the eighth century, and now in the library of 

 Trinity College, Dublin. A collection of recipes for these 

 and other stains would be very interesting in explanation 

 of the illumination-tints of the Anglo-Saxon period. 



The remainder of MS. (.A.), as well as the whole of the 

 three others— Harl. MS. (B), 2378 ; Sloane, 2584 (C) ; 

 and Sloane, 521 (D), consist mainly of medical recipes 

 similar in character to the " Leechdoms." 



These have comparatively little interest in modern 

 medicine except as literary curiosities, for it is remark- 

 able how very few English plants remain as " survivals 

 of the fittest " in the Pharmacopceia. Amongst this small 

 number may be named Hyoscyuinus niger, Conium 

 maculalum^ Papaver soinniferum, Spartiuin scoparium, 

 MScA for staunching blood, and not for the same purpose 

 as in the present day ; mugwort or wormwood, Artemisia, 

 of which three species are given in the " Leechdoms," 

 as well as in Prof Earle's book. Besides these there 

 are but few others in Mr. Henslow's list which have much 

 value at the present time. It is not a little strange to 

 find how almost completely English plants have been 

 superseded in modern medicine by newly-invented com- 

 pounds or by drugs imported from other countries, and 

 it is to be regretted that more careful observation and 

 trial of British plants are not made, as doubtless others 

 might be discovered of marked value, as has been the 

 case with Convallaria and Taxus. 



Following the MSS. is a list of the medical and other 

 plants of the fourteenth century, which is a model of its 

 kind, containing all plant-names alphabetically arranged, 

 the scientific names with which they have been identified, 

 and the Old English sources from which they have been 

 derived, reference being made to the page and line in 

 each instance. If a book could be written on the same 

 plan, including all the early English works, such as the 

 "Leechdoms" and other similar writings, it would be of 

 great value both to Anglo-Saxon scholars and to 

 botanists, and would be an immense saving of trouble to 

 the reading public, who would be under great obligations 

 if so able an authority as Prof Henslow would under- 

 take the task. 



There are singularly few exceptions which can be 

 made to the present list; but it might be well under 

 Cyclamen, which Earle gives as Orbicularis or " Slite," 

 to note that the English word is omitted in it. 



Caytre, without much apparent reason (except the 

 mention of Cornel in Chaucer, who, though he also 

 speaks of " Gaitrc-berries," does not sufficiently identify 

 them), referred to Cornus sanguinca. Might it not 

 perhaps as fairly be assigned to the Cueldre rose. 

 Viburnum opulus, a more harmless and edible fruit, of 

 the Sambucus family ? 



It docs not appear that Cockel, Lolium lemulentum, is 

 correctly referred to {\) 21'*. 



One cannot part with this book without a word or two 

 on the excellent style in which it is sent out. The binding 

 and type, especially that of the specimen page of the 

 MS., are attractive. 



NO. 1534, VOL. 59] 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 The Chemistry of Coke. By O. Simtnersbach ; translate' I 

 &c. by W. C. Anderson. Pp. viii -t- 159. (Glasgou 

 and Edinburgh : William Hodge and Co., 1899.) 

 This excellent little work is a translation by Mr. W 

 Carrick Anderson of Simmersbach's " Grundlagen di 1 

 Kokscheniie," containing several important addition-, 

 notably a chapter on the methods employed for the 

 examination and analysis of coal and coke. The work is 

 rendered more valuable than most technical books of 

 this character by the references, which make it a fairly 

 complete bibliography of the subject. In a future edition 

 it. would be well to devote a special chapter to gas coke, 

 which now only receives an occasional and inadequate 

 mention, whilst a summary of the processes for the 

 recovery of the bye-products of coke ovens would be 

 a welcome addition to readers who do not possess 

 Lunge's standard work on the subject. 



The work is well and carefully done, whilst the state- 

 ments made are mostly fully supported by the evidence 

 adduced. On p. 76, however, the loss of carbon during 

 quenching is represented by the equation 



Co + 2H.O = CH4 -f CO..,, 



this statement being apparently made on the authority 

 of an analysis by Frankland, who found in the gases 

 evolved from Derbyshire coke and steam 569 per cent, 

 of combustible gas, which he returns as a mixture of 

 hydrogen and methane ; but if Mr. .Anderson analyses 

 the gas produced under these conditions, he will find 

 that the methane is a mere trace, and manifestly not 

 produced in the way indicated by his equation. 



The book can be heartily recommended to all 

 interested in the manufacture and application of coke. 



Class Book of Physical Geography. By VVm. Hughes, 

 F.R.G.S. New edition, revised by R. A. Gregory, 

 F.R.A.S. Pp. 328 -I- viii. (London : George I'hilip 

 and Son, 1899.) 

 So much alteration in arrangement and text has been 

 made in this new and enlarged edition of Prof Hughes' 

 well-known class book that it is practically a new work. 

 In all directions wc note additional matter which seems 

 well adapted to meet modern requirements, and many 

 new illustrations of exceptional merit have been intro- 

 duced. A clear and comprehensive account is now 

 given of the earth as a member of the solar system, and 

 of the methods of ascertaining its form and size, as well 

 as the positions of points upon its surface. The treat- 

 ment of the various physical features of the earth is both 

 clear and ( omplete, and moreover is bright enough to 

 make the subject attractive even to the general reader. 

 Among the subjects which merit special mention are 

 eclipses, winds, and climate, the first-named being 

 illustrated by some excellent diagrams. The book has 

 greatly gained in value in the hands of the present 

 editor, and we confidently recommend it to the notice of 

 pupil teachers and others interested in the subject. 



English- French Dictionary of Medical Terms. By H. 



De Mdric. Pp. vi -I- 394. (London : Bailliire, Tindall, 



and Cox, 1899.) 

 This dictionary, in which the French equivalent is given 

 for words and terms used in English medical science 

 will be particularly valuable to French practitioners and 

 students of medicine. The dictionary has been prepared 

 upon a coinjjrehensive plan, and includes, in addition to 

 purely mcdual words, other words used in pathology, 

 surgery, anatomy, and physiology, and also biological, 

 botanical and zoological words met with in medical 

 literature generally. The seconil pan of the work 

 (French-English), completing the dictionary, will appear 

 shortly. 



