220 
distribution was planned! Also it is rather a matter of 
surprise that the author should not have made use of the 
opportunity of pointing out how the sponges and 
organisms of the Cretaceous seas had been endowed with 
the power of accumulating silica so that when man was 
evolved he might find flints ready to hand for the purpose 
of making his weapons. This suggestion is offered for a 
future edition. 
Speaking frankly, and with all respect for Captain 
Hutton’s beliefs and his perfectly honest and _ straight- 
forward attempt to square them with the teachings of the 
modern doctrine of evolution, we cannot admit that the 
new teleology as thus presented is in any way preferable 
to the old teleology of the Bridgwater Treatise school, 
It leads us by a very circuitous track into precisely the 
same cul de sac into which the authors of those famous 
volumes led us. The argument in favour of design, for 
example, as drawn from the distribution of the metals, is 
very suggestive of the well-known story of the providential 
location of towns so as always to be on the banks of 
rivers ! 
In order to avoid misapprehension, let it be stated here 
that the author’s position may de perfectly sound. There 
is nothing in the doctrine of evolution in the abstract 
which antecedently excludes the possibility of the whole 
process being the result of design. In calling attention 
to this point the present work may be regarded as useful. 
But there is much more of faith than of reasoning in the 
pages before us, and where belief is substituted for scientific 
argument—as is the case, for example, in the treatment of 
the immortality of the “spiritual” part of man (p. 45)— 
we are afraid that Captain Hutton’s address will fall flat 
upon the world of science. The work which shall bring 
the doctrine of evolution into absolute harmony with the 
theory of design in nature has yet to be written. 
R. MELDOLA. 
A NEW TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSICAL 
CHEMISTRY. 
The Elements. of Physical Chemistry. By Harry C. 
Jones. Pp. xi+ 565. (New York: The. Macmillan 
Company ; London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1902.) 
Price 17s. net. 
HIS very readable book differs in many respects 
from recent text-books treating of physical 
chemistry ; it resembles more closely a modern version 
of Lothar Meyer’s treatise, but contains, at the same 
time, the more recent views, the introduction of which 
dates from van ’t Hoff’s memorable paper in 1887. It is 
non-mathematical ; indeed, the treatment of the subject 
might have often been more methodical and clear if 
symbols had been more freely employed. 
Beginning with Dalton’s laws, Avogadro’s hypothesis, 
and Dulong and Petit’s law, methods of determining 
atomic and molecular weights are briefly described ; too 
briefly, indeed, unless the student studies the original 
memoirs, to which copious reference is made in the foot- 
notes. A general sketch of the periodic arrangement of 
the elements follows, and some pages are devoted to 
J. J. Thomson’s, to Lord Kelvin’s and to Clerk Max- 
well’s deductions regarding the magnitude and structure 
NO. 1705, VOL. 66| 
NATURE 
[Jury 3, 1902 
of molecules. The normal gas-laws are next treated of, 
with the deviations, explicable on the theory of dissocia- 
tion. After some pages on the kinetic theory of gases, 
their specific heats are dealt with. Passing on to the 
spectra of gases, a sketch of Balmer’s law is given, and, 
as usual, reference to some of the most recent literature 
is appended in the foot-notes. 
The liquefaction of gases forms the next section, but 
here some of the facts stated are incorrect ; they will doubt- 
less be rectified ina second edition. This gives a natural 
transition to van der Waals’s theory, and the well-known 
form of the Andrews diagram suggested by the late Prof. 
James Thomson is reproduced. It is a pity that this 
diagram, which shows curves greatly differing in form 
from those calculable by van der Waals’s equation, or from 
those representing deductions from direct measurement, 
should have ingrained itself in all text-books. 
Kopp’s classical researches on the boiling points of 
liquids are next considered ; but Walker’s later re- 
searches, in which the boiling points of the members of 
certain homologous series are connected by a simple 
expression, find no mention. Again, while Rowland’s 
results bearing on the specific heat of water at different 
temperatures are alluded to, those of Griffiths are 
omitted. 
The next section is devoted to the refractive indices 
of liquids and their rotatory powers. But here the 
matter is too condensed ; in many cases the important 
points are merely touched, and a beginner would find it 
difficult, without much fuller explanation, to form correct 
views regarding the subjects treated. 
The same fault must be found with Prof. Jones’s 
synopsis of Kopp’s work on molecular volumes ; it is 
really impossible in a single page to give any idea of the 
nature of the problem to be attacked, the method of 
attacking it, and the results obtained. On the other 
hand, methods of determining molecular weights of 
liquids by their capillary rise receive five pages, although 
‘here, too, the arrangement of matter might have been 
improved. 
In all, 165 pages are devoted to what may be termed 
the older aspects of physical chemistry, and the rest of © 
the book, comprising 383 pages, deals with the more 
modern developments of the subject, solutions, thermo- 
chemistry, electrochemistry, photochemistry, and finally 
chemical dynamics and equilibrium. 
There are a good many inaccuracies in the work ; it 
would have been considerably improved by careful 
revision. For example, on p. 223, where a proof is given 
of the relation between osmotic pressure and lowering of 
freezing point, the symbol M stands for both molecular 
weight of solvent and of dissolved substance, and # has 
two meanings—percentage composition and _ pressure. 
Such oversights are very apt to confuse the mind of a 
beginner. 
The writer’s style is, on the whole, clear ; but through- 
out the work there are careless expressions. For example, 
“heat is either evolved or consumed.” Such lapsus 
calami will doubtless, however, be corrected in sub- 
sequent editions. 
The reviewer’s verdict is that the author has, on the 
whole, given a fairly comprehensive and reasonably exact 
sketch of the modern aspects of physical chemistry in a 
