356 
only medicine made any real progress, and a four-page 
chapter is sufficient to record the work of the Romans. 
The last chapter, a long one, is devoted to Greek 
scientific literature of the Byzantine empire, it being 
stated that the founders of modern science, such as 
Galileo, Copernicus, and Newton, learnt from the Greeks 
not only particular results but also the very meaning 
of science. 
Naturally Prof. Heiberg’s little book makes no 
pretence of being a complete history of science in 
classical antiquity. It puts the achievements of the 
different schools of thought into a true perspective, and 
the language throughout is free from technicalities. 
The book would be improved by the insertion of more 
dates, even when these are only known approximately. 
(A companion volume deals more fully with the medical 
and biological sides of the subject.) W. E.*H. B. 
Tested Methods of Metallurgical Analysis (Non-Ferrous). 
By S. Pile and R. Johnston. Pp. 128. (London: 
H. F, and G, Witherby, 1922.) 7s. 6d. net. 
IN referring to the literature of metallurgical analysis 
the student, and even the worker of experience, fre- 
quently finds himself at a loss to select, from the mass 
of alternative detail offered, a method suited to his 
immediate requirements. The authors of the present 
work, while disclaiming any novelty in the methods 
given, have collected together a series of well-tried 
methods of which they have had personal experience. 
The book deals mainly with commercial metals and 
their more important alloys. It opens with a few 
introductory remarks on general analytical procedure, 
and on sampling. In the latter no mention is made of 
the frequent necessity for rejecting the first few drillings 
of a bar to avoid the introduction of skin impurities, 
as distinct, of course, from segregated elements. The 
Suggestion of dissolving up a large quantity of metal, 
and working on an aliquot portion of the solution, is 
a good one, and worthy of more general adoption. The 
metals are dealt with in alphabetical order, several good 
methods being given for each metal, and special atten- 
tion is paid to details of manipulation. The inclusion 
of “‘ moisture ” among the determinations is rendered 
possible by the somewhat “‘ scrappy ” reference to fuels 
and oils. A similar extension in the case of sulphur is 
treated at greater length. No mention is made of gold 
or its alloys. 
With some exceptions, perhaps of secondary im- 
portance, the book is a sound and careful compilation, 
and should meet all the requirements of those needing, 
at the working bench, a trustworthy guide to assays 
coming within the scope of the book, familiar or 
otherwise. 
Faune de France. 4: Sipunculiens, Echiuriens, 
Priapuliens. Par Prof. L. Cuénot. Pp. 31. (Paris: 
P. Lechevalier, 1922.) 3 francs. 
To this excellent series, promoted by a federation of 
the French natural history societies, Prof. Cuénot, of 
Nancy, contributes an account of the curious marine 
animals that used to be classed together as Gephyrea. 
Nowadays it is supposed that the resemblances between 
the three groups mentioned in the title are due to 
convergence, and that each group was derived inde- 
pendently from some primitive ancestor of the annelids. 
NO. 2785, VOL. 111] 

NATURE 


[Marcu 17, 1923 
Prof. Cuénot, whose writings of twenty years ago on 
some of these creatures are well known to zoologists, 
has here given a clear, interesting, and well-illustrated 
summary of the species living round the coasts of 
France. British zoologists, though they have the 
works of Shipley and the more recent paper by Southern, 
may none the less welcome this convenient aid to the 
study of a remarkable assemblage. F, Avge 
Manuel de filature. Par F. Rubigny. (Bibliothéque 
Professionnelle.) Pp. 366. (Paris: J. B. Bailliére’ 
et fils, 1922.) ro francs. 
Tue volume under notice is one of a series of techno- 
logical works, written primarily for the use of workers 
in the several industries, and deals with the spinning 
of all kinds of fibres, including asbestos and artificial 
silk, and also with the spinning of paper yarn. The 
treatment follows similar lines to those adopted by 
other writers on spinning, but with rather more atten- 
tion to function and less description of machinery 
details than is the case with English works on the 
subject. Though this book cannot, any more than 
similar works on spinning technique, be taken as a 
trustworthy guide with respect to the raw materials, 
yet considering the wide field covered in less than 400 
octavo pages, the treatment is otherwise remarkably 
adequate ; and the book should be found a useful 
supplement to the usual works on spinning. 
Cours de physique mathématique de la Faculté des 
Sciences. Par Prof. J. Boussinesq. Compléments 
au tome 3: Conciliation du véritable déterminisme 
mécanique avec l’existence de la vie et de la liberté 
morale. Pp. xlviii+217. (Paris : Gauthier-Villars 
et Cie, 1922.) 30 francs. 
Tuts book is in the nature of a supplement to a complete 
course of mathematical physics by the University of 
Paris professor. It contains an extraordinary variety of 
matter, not very well arranged, but its main purpose is 
to round off a natural philosophy course by including, or 
rather by reconciling, the mechanism of physical nature 
with the indeterminism of life and consciousness. To 
a certain extent this has been the intellectual problem 
since Leibniz. Prof. Boussinesq can scarcely be said 
to claim to bring forward anything distinctively new, 
but he discusses the problem with full scientific know- 
ledge and keen philosophical interest. 
Smith’s Intermediate Chemistry. Revised and rewritten 
by Prof. J. Kendall and E. E. Slosson. Pp. xv + 566. 
(New York: The Century Co.; London: G. Bell 
and Sons, Ltd., 1922.) 8s. 6d. net. 
THERE can be no doubt that this book, the first edition 
of which was reviewed in Nature of October 14, 1920, 
p. 208, has been greatly improved by revision. It is 
now more balanced in treatment, is very well printed 
and bound, and is probably the best elementary treatise 
on chemistry of the day. The inaccurate historical 
note on oxygen (p. 28), which was mentioned in the 
former review, has been toned down, but is still some- 
what incorrect. Apart from the very clear and modern 
account of the chemistry of the common elements, the 
book contains a large number of brief notes on im- 
portant matters (vitamins, enzymes, atomic structure, 
isotopes) not often met with in elementary manuals. 
