AuGusT 7, 1902] 
bast. Both are used for spinning and weaving, and their 
prices fluctuate in accordance with the quality and 
quantity of the annual crops. The plumose fibres are 
composed of cellulose.” 
Plumose and bast should not be coupled with the same 
term “fibre” unless the author intends “‘ultimate fibre.” 
We take it that the spinning unit is intended, and in the 
case of the bast fibres the unit is a more or less coniplex 
Jilament, Fibres are not used for spinning a7zd@ weaving ; 
the fibres or filaments are spun into yarns and the yarns 
woven. It is fairly obvious that prices vary with supply 
and quality, but there is something to be said for 
demand. Why, however, interject this superficial 
reference to the important question of value under 
the heading of “ Physical and Chemical Properties ” ? 
Lastly, to describe the plumose fibres as “ composed of 
cellulose” is misleading. In the cotton substance the 
non-cellulose, it is true, is small in proportion, but the 
composition of the evzodendyon floss, as of other seed 
hairs, is widely divergent. 
Later in the section we find the bast fibres described as 
made up of cells of which the “walls are composed of 
more or less thickened lignin or woody material.” This 
is quite inaccurate in regard to the most important of 
them, viz. flax, hemp and rhea. 
Again, the “good commercial qualities” of the fibro- 
vascular bundles of monocotyledons “depends upon 
their moderate length, strength, flexibility, and the 
number of fibre cells in each bundle.” Without refer- 
ence to the grammatical slip, we will fix the looseness of 
the phraseology by transposing the terms to another case. 
“The good commercial qualities of gold depend upon 
its moderately yellow colour, specific gravity, ductility, 
and the number of silver coins of equivalent value” ! 
We have dealt with this section on “Physical and 
Chemical Properties ” at disproportionate length, for the 
author exhausts it in a single page of matter. The 
failure to lay a solid critical foundation by an adequate 
treatment of the section, of obviously fundamental 
import, measures the failure of the work to contribute to 
the systematic development of the subject. 
We are bound, further, to particularise some strange 
inaccuracies in the information conveyed to the perhaps 
unsuspecting reader. Jute is described under the 
heading “Jute, Common,” and the description contains 
many curious statements. Thus :— 
“The fibres are several feet in length, have a satiny 
lustre on account of which they are sometimes used in 
the manufacture of the cheaper silks.” 
There is a popular confusion, we presume, between 
jute and “jute”; there is also a slang word “ water ” 
well known “‘in the city,” but we suggest that only in the 
official mind of a judge of the High Court would there be 
any possible confusion of the material with the im- 
material “water.” So we venture to think that the 
author has served up a popular error in relation to 
“jute” as an industrial fact in relation to jute. 
In particularising the applications of jute yarns we 
find, 
“the backing of hearthrugs, the lining of ladies’ slippers, 
the collars of gentlemen’s coats and burlaps for bales of 
jute or hemp coverings.” 
NO. 1710, VOL. 66] 
NATURE 
339 
We refer the author to Dundee for information. 
Lastly, “the jute fibre readily dissolves in alkalies and 
mineral acids at a low temperature.” The reader may 
correct this statement by reference to any of the standard 
works on cellulose chemistry. 
The chemistry of the fibre substances is dealt with 
generally in a superficial way. The author should have 
been careful to avoid such statements as the following 
in reference to cotton (p. 91) :— 
“Acids have so destructive an effect upon cotton 
that their use in the cotton industry ought generally to 
be dispensed with, since alkalies such as soap... can 
be employed for scouring and cleaning cotton fibres 
without materially injuring them.” 
And again (p. 97), 
“Cotton fibres have some affinity for vegetable dye 
stuffs such as indigo . . . but little or none for coal-tar 
dyes.” 
The section on “Cotton” otherwise contains useful 
information of a conventional commercial order, and as 
it comprises some forty-five pages is clearly the most 
important of the book. In the categorical description of 
the various cottons, the dimensions are given in inches 
and fractions of an inch. This ina scientific text-book 
is a gratuitous concession to the rigid conservatism of 
our industrial system. We should like to ask if the 
expression 1/1180 inch conveys any definite mental im- 
pression to the reader ? 
We briefly notice the section “Paper Fibre Plants.” 
We all know that paper can be made from an endless 
variety of fibrous materials, and the author is evidently 
more impressed with the fact than with the advantage of 
using the qualifying term “ commercial” as a winnow for 
separating the grain from the chaff. The paper-maker 
will find the section of little practical importance. The 
subsection “ Woodpulp” opens with the curious sen- 
tence, ‘This is rather confused and mixed up with. 
paper-making.” The remainder of the section may be 
similarly described. 
A subsection on “ Woodpulp Silk” is rather out of 
place at the conclusion of the section on “Silk.” The 
treatment of this highly important industry indicates that 
it lies outside the author’s range of experience and does 
not invite serious criticism. 
The author is entitled to the credit of having produced 
an interesting book on a universally attractive subject. 
That it does not take the place of a standard text-book 
of critical importance is due to the fact that he has not 
sufficiently grasped the trend of the progressive scientific 
movement which underlies the many-sided ‘‘ commercial” 
developments of the fibre industries. 
THE FISHES OF THE CONGO BASIN. 
Les Poissons du Bassin du Congo. Par G. A. Boulenger. 
Pp. Ixii +532. (Bruxelles: Publication del’Etat Indé- 
pendant du Congo, 1901.) 
|i: is a striking proof of the high estimation in which. 
science is held by the authorities of the Congo Free 
State that they have devoted so much expense to the 
publication of the beautiful volume now before us, and it 
is also fortunate for science that the material was placed 
in the hands of so highly competent an ichthyologist as. 
