142 

sheep, cows, pigs as used on the best farms have been 
distributed from this country, which still fortunately 
retains its best studs. British readers will turn with 
much interest to the account of the bison, which, it is 
suggested, has agricultural possibilities. It is not in 
itself a particularly tractable animal; the young 
calves are ready to fight within a few minutes of 
birth ; but it crosses with the domesticated cow to 
produce a hybrid known as the “ cattalo,” which is 
said to offer possibilities. 
Altogether the volumes will be found of much value 
to the student of agriculture, and they reflect great 
credit alike on the editor, the contributors, and the 
publishers. E. J. Russet. 

History of Electrical Science. 
Bibliographical History of Electricity and Magnetism, 
Chronologically Arranged. Compiled by Dr. P. F. 
Mottelay. Pp. xx+673. (London: C. Griffin and 
Co., Ltd., 1922.) 42s. net. 
HE title of this book and its subtitle, “‘ Researches 
into the Domain of the Early Sciences, especially 
from the Period of the Revival of Scholasticism, with 
Biographical and other Accounts of the most Dis- 
tinguished Natural Philosophers throughout the Middle 
Ages,” well describe the contents. Every scientific man 
is interested in the early days of science, and most 
of them know a few traditions about its history. It 
will be a boon to them to find out how far these tradi- 
tions are justified by the facts, and this book of Dr. 
Mottelay’s, whose death we had recently to deplore, 
will be of the greatest assistance to them. The volume 
gives very complete references to all the discoverers of 
the laws of electricity and magnetism and the writers 
on these subjects. The author starts from the dawn of 
authentic Chinese history (2637 B.c.) and ends with 
Christmas day 1821, when Faraday converted electrical 
into mechanical energy by causing a wire carrying a 
current to rotate in a magnetic field. 
Many photographic reproductions are given of pages 
from ancient books and manuscripts. In particular 
the reproductions of pages from the “ Epistola .. . 
de magnete ” of Petrus Peregrinus (1269) taken from 
the Bodleian MS. and from an almost illegible MS. in 
the Bibhothéque Nationale at Paris are extremely 
interesting. 
Roger Bacon, a contemporary of Peregrinus, describes 
him as a “thoroughly accomplished, perfect mathe- 
matician.” He wrote the earliest-known treatise on 
experimental science and gave the first description of 
a pivoted compass. A full description is given of Dr. 
Gilbert’s (1600) ““ De magnete . . .,”’ in which reasons 
are given for supposing that the earth is a magnet. 
NO. 2779, VOL. 111] 
NATURE 

[ FEBRUARY 3, 1923 




































Sir Isaac Newton in a private letter (1716) seems to 
have partially anticipated Franklin’s discovery that 
a lightning flash was electrical in origin. He writes: 
“T have been much amused by ye singular evopeva 
resulting from bringing a needle into contact with a 
piece of amber or resin fricated on silke clothe. Ye 
flame putteth me in mind of sheet lightning on a small— 
how very small—scale.” It is not generally known 
that the great French physicist and mathematician 
Poisson described the method of obtaining the hori- 
zontal value of the earth’s magnetic field in absolute 
measure (1828). Sturgeon mentions that Snow Harris, — 
who used strips of copper for his lightning conductors, 
carried the lightning conductor of a small man-of-war 
through the powder-magazine ! 
This volume deserves a place in every scientific 
library. To electrical engineers of all nationalities it 
makes a special appeal. Aw Re 

Organic Chemistry. 
(1) Grundlegende Operationen der Farbenchemie. Von 
Prof. Dr. H. E. Fierz-David. Zweite verbesserte 
Auflage. Pp. xiv+266. (Berlin: J. Springer, 
1922.) 300 marks; I2s. 
(2) Organic Chemistry. By Prof. W. H. Perkin and 
Prof. F.S. Kipping. Entirely new edition. Part 1. 
Pp. xi+681+xx. (London and Edinburgh : W. and 
R. Chambers, Ltd. ; Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott 
Co., 1922.) 8s. 6d. net. 
(3) Trattato di chimica generale ed applicata all’ In- 
dustria. By Prof. E. Molinari. Vol. 2: Chimica 
organica. Parte seconda. Terza edizione riveduta 
ed amplicata. Pp. xv+625-1406. (Milano: Ulrico 
Hoepli, 1922.) 48 lire. 
(1) HE first edition of Dr. H. E. Fierz-David’s 
volume on the chemistry of dyeing has 
been. translated into English, and is by now well 
known to English chemists connected with the manu- 
facture of synthetic dyestuffs and to students of 
chemistry preparing for that branch of industry. It 
is a book which has supplied a distinct and ever- 
increasing demand. 
The preface to the new German edition is interesting 
in so far as the author, who thought fit to suppress 
certain processes in the interest of the home industry, 
now finds that these methods with little modification 
are common to all countries manufacturing “ inter- 
mediates,” and that there is nothing which he has 
described which will affect the Swiss colour-makers. 
(2) The text-book of organic chemistry by Perkin 
and Kipping is too well known in our universities and 
colleges to need more than a brief reference to the ne 
edition. It contains some important additions, notably 
= 
