Aprils, 1 886] 



NA TURE 



531 



neither note nor comment in order to be fully appreciated 

 by our scientific readers. On p. i we are informed that 

 baryta white (barium sulphate) " consists of 137 equiva- 

 lents (!) of barium, 32 equivalents of sulphur, and 64 equi- 

 valents of oxygen." On p. 3 we are furnished with an 

 elegant test for the detection of free sulphuric acid in 

 baryta white ; we are directed to " add a few fragments 

 of loaf-sugar to a largely diluted solution of the pigment, 

 and evaporate to dryness. A black charred residue indi- 

 cates free sulphuric acid." We are told (p. 7) that calcium 

 imparts a green coloration to the blow-pipe flame. In 

 testing verdigris for sulphate of copper we are informed 

 (p. 21) that "sulphuretted hydrogen will throw down the 

 sulphur present in it." Coeruleum (oxides of tin and 

 cobalt) is stated to be made (p. 26) of " carbonate of soda 

 15 parts, powdered flint 20, and copper 3." Thdnard's 

 cobalt blue is " a salt of calcium calcined with alumina or 

 oxide of tin " (p. 27). Indian yellow (p. 39) is " urioplios- 

 phate of lime" identical with "a magnesium salt of a 

 curious acid called cuxanthic." In order to sec whether 

 cadmium red (p. 47) contains any lead, " mix with white 

 lead (!), boil in water, and add SH.^ to the solution." Red 

 lead is said (p. 55) to undergo a "rapid oxidation " when 

 mixed with sulphuretted hydrogen. Vermilion " must 

 not be used with iodine" (p. 5S). When chromate of 

 lead is mixed with sulphide of cadmium, sulphide of lead 

 is formed, and chromium, oxygen, and metallic cadmium 

 are set free (p. 74). The iron in yellow ochre will if 

 mixed with Naples yellow (antimoniate of lead) abstract 

 oxygen from the latter and become deeper in tone (p. 76). 

 Enough of Mr. Standage's chemistry : one line as to the 

 value of his statements as to the theory of chromatics. 

 On p. 81 he is good enough to inform us that from his 

 own knowledge of colour-science he remains " steadfast 

 to the old original theory of red, yellow, and blue being 

 the three primaries." 



We should not have devoted so much space to this 

 curious little book if the present issue had been a first 

 edition. But the majority of the extraordinary statements 

 cited above were published by Mr. Standage in a work 

 called the " Artists' Table of Pigments," of which the 

 "Artists' Manual of Pigments" is to be regarded as a 

 revision and enlargement. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Americanyournal of Mathematics, vol. viii. Nos. i and 2. 

 (Baltimore, 1885, 1886.) 



This volume opens with a memoir by Capt. MacMahon, 

 R.A., on scminvariants, in which the author continues the 

 discussion of the asyzygetic scminvariants commenced by 

 nim in vol. vi.. No. 2 (see also vol. vii. No. i). Mr. J. 

 Hammond contributes " Syzygy Tables for the Binary 

 Ouintic." One table replaces in part the enumeration 

 given by Prof. Cayley in his tenth memoir on Ouantics 

 \Phil. Trans., part 2, 1878) and that given by Prof Syl- 

 vester {Afiier. Jourii , vol. iv. p. 58). The same writer 

 has two papers in No. 2 — one " On Perpetuants, with 

 Applications to the Theory of Finite Ouantics," this is a 

 subject familiar to the readers of the Journal through 

 Prof. Sylvester's brilliant papers, and is handled in the 

 author's usual accurate and clear manner ; the second 

 paper is on " The Cubi-quadric System," and is like- 

 wise a following out of previous papers in the Journal 

 the size of whose paper is admirably suited for such 

 lengthy and wide tables. P. Scelhoff has two papers 



on the theory of numbers, " Priifung grosserer Zahlen auf 

 ihre Eigenschaft als Primzahlen" and " Nova methodus 

 numeros composites a primis dignoscendi illorumquc 

 factorcs dignoscendi." The first is a continuation of 

 a paper in vol. iii. No. 3, and puts in the fore- 

 front a remark of Mr. Glaisher's : " The process of 

 determining without a table the factors of a number is 

 excessively laborious. Thus to determine, for example, 

 whether the number 8559091 is oris not a prime, would 

 require a long day's work." Upon this the writer remarks 

 " Sehen wir zu ! " There are ten pages of tables. 

 The memoir by Dr. Kmory McClintock entitled 

 " Analysis of Quintic Equations," is a very interesting 

 and apparently thorough discussion of the subject, with 

 full historic references. Dr. T. Craig contributes a 

 paper " On Linear Differential Equations whose Funda- 

 mental Integrals are the successive derivatives of the same 

 function." This paper runs on into No. 2. The same 

 writer closes the number with a memoir " On a Linear 

 Differential Equation of the Second Order." Messrs. E. 

 H. Moore and C. N. Little, in their " Note on Space 

 Divisions," follow on the lines of Pilgrim's " Ueber die 

 Anzahl der Theile, in welche ein Gebiet /!.''<='^ Stufe durch 

 n Gebiete (/t- lY" Stufe getheilt vverden Kann," and dis- 

 cuss the division of flat space of k dimensions by Hat 

 spaces of k—\ dimensions. In a "Note on a Rou- 

 lette'' Dr. A. V. Lane discusses that generated by the 

 rolling of an ellipse on a right line, one extremity of the 

 major axis being the generating point. Mr. H. B. Fine 

 contributes a paper " On the Singularities of Curves of 

 Double Curvature," and Mr. J. C. Fields has a notelet, 

 " Proof of the Theorem— the equation /(-) = o has a 

 root where/(ir) is any holomorphic function of z." 



Burma, as it was, as it is, and as it will be. By James 

 George Scott (" Shway Yoe "). (London : George Red- 

 way, 1886.) 

 Mr. Scott's position as a competent and instructive 

 writer on Burma wa^ assured by his volume on " The 

 Burman ; his Life and Notions," published a few years 

 ago. In this work he showed an intimate knowledge of 

 the habits and modes of thought of the Burmese which 

 could only have been acquired by a mastery of the 

 language and a familiarity with the inner life of the 

 people such as few Europeans can obtain of any Oriental 

 nation. The present work is, no doubt, published in view 

 of recent political events which have naturally attracted 

 public attention especially to Upper Burma. In it the 

 reader will find the whole subject treated in a general 

 way, the first section being devoted to history, the second 

 to geography, the third to " the people," under which 

 head we find information respecting the method of 

 administration, the religion, superstitions, and social 

 habits of the Burmese. It is inevitable that the book 

 should have a somewhat encyclopaedic air, but Mr. Scott's 

 entertaining style should gild the pill for the "general 

 reader." Moreover, there are no really popular books in 

 which tlie comprehensive information here given can be 

 obtained in English. The average reader can hardly be 

 expected to master the large works of Fytche, Yule, Crau- 

 ford, and others, merely in order to get some accurate 

 information about one small portion of the British Empire. 

 In this respect the book is of a kind more familiar to 

 French than to English readers ; but it is much more 

 than a mere catchpenny publication to meet a superficial 

 and temporary demand. Readers of this journal, for 

 example, may find much in it of special interest to them. 

 The sketch of Burmese cosmogony and mythology is 

 very interesting. The story of the forbidden fruit is 

 familiar in Burma, the place of the apple being taken by 

 the seeds of a species of creeper, and the fall being 

 gradual instead of immediate. 



Another point of much importance at the present 

 moment is dealt with at comparative length. We refer 



