JuNE 26, 1902] 
these terms were originally applied. But ézmorphous 
and ¢rimorphous are objectionable, not only on account 
of the clumsy and hybrid character of the former, but 
because they may be taken to imply, by analogy with the 
use of the terminations ows and zc in chemistry, some 
relation with the phenomenon of dimorphism. The 
Latin equivalents é/formed and triformed proposed by 
Rhumbler ! are far preferable. 
The most valuable part of the book as a contribution 
to the literature of the Foraminifera is the chapter on 
their geological range. Twenty years ago, Schwager 
summarised the information which had been accumu- 
lated on this head in the article appended to Biitschli’s 
account of the Sarcodina in Bronn’s Thier-reich. Since 
that date our knowledge has greatly extended, and to no 
inconsiderable extent as the result of Mr. Chapman’s own 
investigations. The chapter ends with a tabular view of 
the range of the several families, in which it appears that 
all the main ones were represented in the Primary 
rocks, and that four of them (Textularide, Lagenide, 
Globigerinidze and Rotalide) have been found in Cam- 
brian strata. ; 
The descriptive part of the book ends with useful 
practical directions, but no mention is made of the 
microaquarium, which has yielded such excellent results 
in the hands of Schaudinn, who invented it.” 
The earlier chapters purport to give, as implied in the 
title, an introduction to the study of the Protozoa in 
general and of the Foraminifera in particular ; and it is 
undoubtedly most desirable that workers in this group 
should have their eyes open to the general biological 
bearing of the phenomena which lie before them. To 
attain this end they must, however, go elsewhere. In 
these chapters there is no grasp of the problems 
presented, or of the conclusions which have been 
arrived at. On p. 11 we are told that the division of 
the nucleus “takes place either by the simple process 
of binary division or by the more complex and beautiful 
process of karyokinesis.” The author thus ignores the 
process which has been observed in several of the higher 
forms (though it is, indeed, alluded to and figured further 
on), namely, the simultaneous breaking up of the nucleus 
or nuclei into fragments. Continuing the same sentence, 
the karyokinetic division of the nucleus is described as a 
process ‘‘in which the nuclear body is invested with 
strands of chromatin threads,” —whatever that may mean ; 
but on turning to Fig. 10, which is given in illustration, 
we find two figures from Schaudinn’s paper on the 
“Central-Korn” of the Heliozoa (Verh. deutsch. zool. 
Gesellschaft, Bonn, 1896), which represent stages, not of 
the karyokinetic division of the nucleus at all, but of the 
division of the central granule, a process preliminary to 
karyokinesis. 
In chapter iv., on the shell structure of the Foraminifera, 
the author is more at home, but it opens with the state- 
ment that the arrangement of the segments of the shell 
is partially determined by the form of the initial or 
1“ Entwurf eines naturlichen Systems der Thalamophoren.” (Wachrichten 
der K. Geselisch. d. Wissenschaften 2u Gottingen. Math.-phys. Klasse, 
1895, Heft 1, p. 63.) 
The reader 1s leftin doubt as to the precise term advocated by the author, 
for on p. 48 ‘‘dimorphous” is used, but on p. 164 the word has become 
““bimorphous.” 
ean Mikroaquarium." (Zects. f. wiss. Mikroskopie. 
NO. 1704, VOL. 66] 
Bd. xi., 1894, 
NATURE 
197 
primordial chambers. The primordial chambers, whether 
they be microspheric or megalospheric, are nearly always 
globular or ovoid, whatever the arrangement of the suc- 
ceeding chambers may be. How then can the arrange- 
ment be in any degree determined by their form ? 
We cannot pass over the omission (p. 53) of the name 
of Max Schultze, the author of the classical work 
“Ueber den Organismus der Polythalamien,” from the 
list of those who since Dujardin have been pioneer 
workers on the group. 
On the whole it must be confessed that the book is 
written in a slip-shod style, which in these earlier 
chapters is very marked ; and in closing it one cannot 
but feel that the author would have been better advised 
if he had confined himself to the special treatment of 
the subject, for which he is well qualified, leaving the 
larger biological problems to other hands. Vo Mo Jee 
UNORGANISED FERMENTS. 
Enzymes and their Applications. By J. Effront. Trans- 
lated by S. €. Prescott, S.B. Vol. i. Pp. xt -- 322: 
(New York: John Wiley and Sons ; London: Chapman 
and Hall, Ltd.) Price 12s. 6d. 
N_ his work on “Enzymes and their Applications,” 
Dr. Effront has presented us with book of great 
interest and value. The book, as he explains in his 
preface, is “a summary of the course at the Institute of 
Fermentation of the New University of Brussels.” If 
the lectures are delivered in the style in which the book 
is written, we should very much like to be among his 
students. 
Judging from his definition of an enzyme, Dr. Effront 
is in practical agreement, although he does not say so, 
with those who class the enzymes among catalytic agents. 
His definition is as follows :— ‘ 
“The enzymes, soluble ferments, zymases or diastases 
are active organic substances secreted by cells, and have 
the property, under certain conditions, of facilitating 
chemical reactions between certain bodies without enter- 
ing into the composition of the definite products which 
result.” 
But although it seems appropriate to class the enzymes 
with catalytic agents, yet there are certain substances 
which appear to have a catalytic action upon the enzymes. 
For example, on p. 118 it is stated that the addition of 
50 milligrams of asparagin to starch which has been 
treated with amylase increases the saccharification, in a 
given time, nearly seven-fold. 
In chapter iii., which treats of the “ Manner of Action 
of Diastases,” the different theories advanced to explain 
diastatic action are carefully reviewed. As an example 
we may cite the theory of Arthus, who, relying upon the 
discrepancies which exist between the accounts of many 
authors as to the properties of the various diastases, 
takes up the position that enzymes are not substances, 
but are properties of substances. Enzymes, indeed, bring 
about chemical changes, but so also do light, heat and 
electricity. Magnetism is a property of magnetised sub- 
stances such as steel, but it cannot be obtained apart 
from the substance. The same reasoning applies to 
enzymes, which are only the properties of the substances 
obtained by precipitation or other means, and therefore a 
pure enzyme is impossible. On p. 66 Dr. Effront shows 
