52 



NA TURE 



[November 21, 1907 



in Shark's Bay, Champion Bay, Geographe Bay, and 

 King George's Sound; they collected on land, especi- 

 ally around Perth, Geraldton, and Albany, and 

 travelled inland as far eastward as Kalgoorlie. They 

 describe the south-western part of Australia as zoolo- 

 gically "a forgotten corner," for as Westralia is 

 younger and larger and has a smaller population than 

 the Eastern States, it has not been able to organise 

 such extensive studies of its fauna and flora. 



The authors regard their expedition as very suc- 

 cessful, and their scientific results are to be issued in 

 a series of volumes, of which the part now published is 

 only the general introduction. It describes the authors' 

 journey, and gives a list, with a map of their col- 

 lecting stations. It consists of two reports, one by 

 Prof. Michaelsen, describing his general observations 

 on the geography of Westralia, including its scenery, 

 physiography, flora and fauna, and the aborigines. 

 Dr. Hartmeyer contributes an account of the sheep- 

 farming, the mining industry at Kalgoorlie, and of 

 the dredging expeditions. Both essays give a pleasant 

 account of the country in spite of sufferings 

 from the ubiquitous Worcester sauce. They grate- 

 fully acknowledge the ready help of the officials and 

 people. They remark the " extravagant " width of the 

 Kalgoorlie streets, and the difficulties of railway ad- 

 ministration on lines where, as Prof. Michaelsen 

 e.xpresses it, there is no fear of collisions. Their 

 Shark's Bay boatman seems to be a typical Austra- 

 lian ; " he speaks not much, but he understands his 

 business, and what he does he does with hand and 

 foot." The report contains interesting comparisons 

 with other faunas. Thus Prof. Michaelsen, who had 

 previously studied the zoology of Lake Baikal, con- 

 trasts the fauna of that very ancient, perhaps pre- 

 13evonian, deep lake, with the life of the recent, 

 shallow pools of Western Australia. 



The most generally interesting zoological result 

 given is probably Prof. Michaelsen 's conclusion as to 

 the relations of eastern and western Australia as indi- 

 cated by the earthworms (pp. 49-50). He holds that 

 since the appearance of the ancient genus Plutellus, 

 south-western Australia has been united by land only 

 to the eastern States. There are no affinities to other 

 lands, which are not also common to eastern Aus- 

 tralia. Comparatively few foreign earthworms 

 entered eastern Australia, and they arrived at different 

 dates, and crossed subsequently into south-western 

 Australia. There they developed into distinct though 

 closely allied species, probably at a time when the 

 land extended farther south-westward in separate 

 I)eninsulas or had been temporarily divided into 

 inlands, which gave the worms on them complete 

 though temporary isolation. 



As the authors' journey was naturally confined to 

 Ihe best known areas in Westralia, there was not much 

 opportunity for obtaining new geographical inform- 

 ation, and the value of the work of the expedition will 

 depend on the technical and biological memoirs which 

 are to follow. This preliminary account gives evidence 

 of such thorough and careful work, that important 

 results may be expected from the work of two such 

 ikilled zoological experts. J. W. G. 



NO. 1986, VOL. yy] 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Experimental and Theoretical Applications of Thermo- 

 dynamics to Chemistry. By Dr. Walther Nernst. 

 Pp. X+123. (London: A. Constable and Co., 

 Ltd., 1907.) Price 5s. net. 

 Technische Anwcndungen der physikalischeti Chemie. 

 By Dr. Kurt Arndt. Pp. vii + 304. (Berlin : Mayer 

 and Miiller, 1907.) Price 7 marks. 

 The first of the above volumes contains a series of 

 ten lectures delivered by Prof. Nernst at the Yale 

 University in 1906 under the Silliman Foundation. 

 After two introductory chapters, a resume is given of 

 the experimental investigations which have been 

 carried out by the author and his students on chemical 

 equilibria at high temperatures. In a theoretical dis- 

 cussion of the results, the author develops the view- 

 that relationships exist between chemical energy and 

 heat other than those expressed by the first and second 

 laws of thermodynamics. From a consideration of 

 the conditions under which the principle of Berthelot 

 comes nearest to expressing the true relation between 

 heat and chemical energy, the conclusion is drawn 

 that the total and free energies are not only exactly 

 equal at -absolute zero, but that their values coincide 

 completely in the vicinity of this temperature. In the 

 last three chapters the practical application of the 

 integrated equation of the reaction isochore is illus- 

 trated by calculation of the equilibrium in various dis- 

 sociating systems at high temperatures, such as 

 water vapour, nitric oxide, hydrogen chloride, carbon 

 dioxide, and metal ammonia compounds. 



Whether the reader is interested in the fundamental 

 theoretical speculations or the practical application of 

 the derived formute, Prof. Nernst's series of lectures 

 cannot be too warmly recommended. 



In his " Technische .Vnwendungen " Dr. Arndt pre- 

 sents an account of certain chapters of physical 

 chemistry and of recent investigations which have an 

 important bearing upon technical processes. The 

 volume does not make any pretence to be a complete 

 treatise on the subject, but carefully chosen examples 

 of the application of physico-chemical principles to 

 industrial processes are discussed in considerable 

 detail. In the first three chapters the formation of 

 nitric oxide from air, the equilibrium in the manufac- 

 ture of generator and water gas, the manufacture of 

 sulphuric acid by the contact process, the formation 

 of ammonia and of ozone are dealt with, the remain- 

 ing ten chapters being devoted to a less detailed 

 consideration of catalysts, changes of state, solutions, 

 alloys, dissociation pressures, and the measurement of 

 high temperatures. 



The book is distinctly worthy of attention, has many 

 good features, and contains a lot of useful references, 

 although the author — if one may judge from the very 

 small number of references to English chemical liter- 

 ature — does not appear to be verv familiar with work 

 carried out in this country. This is an unfortunate 

 circumstance, and detracts not a little from the value 

 of the book. H. M. D. 



Die Ausgrjichungsrechnung nach der Methode der 

 kleinsten Quadrate. By F. R. Helmert. Second 

 edition. Pp. xviii + 5-8. (Leipzig and Berlin : 

 B. G. Teubner, 1907.) Price 16 marks. 

 The principal changes in this new edition consist in 

 the more detailed discussion of errors of observation, 

 instrumental corrections, interpolation problems, and 

 the reduction of triangulations. The last chapter deals 

 with the choice of favourable conditions in various sur- 

 veving problems. In its present form the work ap- 

 pears to be admirably suited for those who have to 

 make practical use of the theory of errors, especially 



