630 
NATURE 
[May 12, 1923 

The sense of taste is shown to include at least four 
distinct senses—sour, saline, bitter, and sweet. Some 
interesting experiments are given on p. 161, which 
show that the catfish, Amiurus, responds to meat juice 
by means of taste-buds situated on the sides of the 
animal. What is also significant is that the response 
is accompanied by “local sign,” just as touch is in 
ourselves. The fish is aware of the position of the 
stimulus, turns to it, and swallows the meat. The 
response is absent when the nerves to the taste-buds 
are cut. 
Prof. Parker holds that the sensations produced by 
various chemical irritants are to be distinguished from 
those of pain, although both are devoid of differenti- 
ated receptor organs and are mediated by free nerve 
endings. The chemical sense is said to be abolished 
by a smaller dose of cocaine than is the sense of pain. 
They have in common, however, a high threshold value, 
as would be expected from the nature of the structures 
stimulated. As the object of the sensibility is mainly 
to avoid injury, too great a delicacy would clearly be 
a disadvantage. The last chapter of the volume 
contains an interesting discussion on the relations 
between the common chemical sense and those of smell 
and taste. Of the three the olfactory sense is regarded 
as the most primitive, that of taste the most highly 
developed, with the common chemical sense as inter- 
mediate in evolution. 
The volume is a very useful summary of our know- 
ledge on the subject of the ‘ chemical” senses as a 
whole. W. M..B. 

Our Bookshelf. 
Geologie in Tabellen fiir Studierende der Geologie, 
Mineralogie, und des Bergfachs, der Geographie und 
der Landwirtschaft. Von Prof. Dr. K. Andrée. 
Erster Teil. Pp. xv+o96. Zweiter Teil. Pp. 97-134. 
Dritter Teil. Pp. 135-228. (Berlin: Gebriider Born- 
traeger, 1921-1922.) Three parts, 8s. 
THE most remarkable things about this representation 
in tables of matters with which the geologist has to 
deal are the ingenious industry of the “author and the 
very moderate price at which the book has been so 
excellently produced. Whether it will appeal to 
students depends much on the individual frame of 
mind. We incline to think that the “ Tabellen ’— 
we had almost written “ tabloids ’’—will be of most, 
and indeed of considerable, service in the private 
library, as reminding the w orker of what to look for 
in larger and descriptiv e treatises. It is to be regretted 
that there is no index to the mass of information of an 
expected or unexpected nature here assembled. 
The author, in view of the abundance of material, 
has wisely kept the classification of igneous rocks on 
very simple lines. The customary grading of the “ fine 
earth ” of soils is given in section B of Table 49. Prof. 
Andrée has directed attention to his use of graptolites 
NO. 2793, VOL. 111] 


and ammonites in the stratigraphical tables, and here 
the succession of strata in various regions is set forth 
under the several systems. The columns dealing with 
the later series naturally show far more detail than those 
relating to the Carboniferous and older systems. The 
full treatment of Cainozoic strata should go re = 
correct the notion of their relative unimportance 
still prevails among geologists in the British ie 
This is, we fancy, the portion of Prof. Andrée’s work 
that will be referred to most often. 
Prof. Andrée in his last ten pages generously provides 
a list of authoritative modern works on geology, which 
will guide the student into more arcadian fields. 
two exceptions in favour of the United States, and 
three of an international character, the books named 
are all in German, so that we miss Geikie’s “ Text 
Book,” Haug’s “ Traité, ” and De Margerie’s transla- 
tion, virtually a revised and extra-illustrated edition, 
of Suess’s “ Antlitz der Erde.” GAL aie 
Reinforced Concrete: A Practical Handbook for Use in 
Design and Construction. 
Hudson. Pp. xxiv+318. (London: 
Hall, Ltd., 1922.) 16s. net. ‘ 
Tuis volume is one of the very few treatises on reinforced 
concrete in which the properties of the materials em- 
ployed, and the methods of working these materials so 
as to produce the finished results, receive adequate 
treatment. The matter is of great importance from the 
Chapman and 
student’s point of view ; in too many instances, after — 
a course in reinforced concrete, the impressions left in 
his mind are somewhat hazy, and he is apt to think that 
the subject is one consisting only of complex calculations. 
The early chapters in the book before us will go far to 
remove this impression. Most of the space is taken 
up with questions of design, both in theory and practice; 
the plan generally followed has been to give a general 
discussion of the particular problem, and then to throw 
the results into the form of tables and graphs so as to 
simplify so far as possible the practical work of the 
designer. The reader will find the numerous worked- 
out examples very helpful in gaining a knowledge of 
the methods of practical design. The portions dealing 
with monolithic design are good, and include discussions 
on secondary stresses and on continuous beams mono- 
lithic with columns. In developing this part of the 
subject the author successfully employs the equation 
of three moments. The London County Council re- 
inforced concrete regulations are included in the volume, 
as also are extracts from the British standard specifica- 
tions relating to Portland cement, and structural steel. 
The author is to be congratulated. on his volume, which 
cannot fail to be of value both to engineering students 
and to those engaged on the practical side of structural 
engineering. 
The Topography of Stane Street: a Critical Review of 
“The Stane Street,’ by Hilaire Belloc. By Capt. 
W. A. Grant. Pp.g95. (London: John Long, Ltd., 
1922.)\ (ose, DeE: 
In his critical review of Mr. Belloc’s “ Stane Street,” 
Capt. Grant has produced a valuable study of this 
Roman way, which, although the author pretends to 
offer no opinion on historical or archzological points 
and confines himself to questions of topography, is of 
With. 
By R. J. Harrington 

ss 
