April 23, 190SJ 



NA TURE 



579 



finds it on pottery, in north Europe on bronze sword- 

 handles. In each case the motif is decorative, and so 

 is found on the most highly prized objects. In mid- 

 Europe pottery, so he argues, was the most valued 

 rirticle, bronze not yet being known when the motif 

 arrived. By the time the motif reached the north, the 

 Bronze age had begun. 



These arguments are more ingenious than weighty ; 

 they derive their importance from the fact that they 

 all — or nearly all — support the contention that the 

 culture of Europe came from the south. 



Dr. MiiUer sees no evidence of any hiatus in man's 

 occupation of Europe. He places the end of the 

 Paleeolithic period at a date 10,000 years ago. He 

 accepts Piette's mesolithic phase and Pigorini's con- 

 clusion that in Italy the Moustier period passed 

 without interruption into the Neolithic. 



He discusses at considerable length the various late 

 prehistoric periods, the Mycenaean, Dipylon, Villanova, 

 Halstatt and la Tene. The book possesses 161 illus- 

 trations and three coloured plates ; it is well printed 

 and well planned. Its chief defect is that it is not 

 in some respects quite up-to-date. 



WiLLi.'iM Wright. 



CHEMICAL RESEARCH. 

 Uiitersucliungeyi in der Piiringnippe (1SS2-1906.') Bv 

 . Emil Fischer. Pp. viii-l-6o8. (Berlin: Julius 

 Springer, 1907.) Price 15 marks. 



ORG.'\NIC chemistry during the last twenty years 

 has progressed with such marvellous rapidity 

 that it is quite impossible for the modern chemist to 

 keep in touch with every phase of the present-dav 

 movement. The old subdivision of the investigator into 

 the classes inorganic and organic is no longer suffi- 

 cient to indicate clearly the course followed by any 

 individual worker. Every branch of chemistry is split 

 up into innumerable microscopic divisions, each of 

 which claims its own adherents. Further than this, 

 the botanist, the biologist, and others are encroaching 

 on the domain of pure chemistry, and demand a know- 

 ledge of the compounds related to their own particular 

 science. Bearing these facts in mind, it follows as a 

 natural consequence that such books as the present 

 one find so welcome a position in the standard 

 literature of chemistry. 



The present volume contains the entire experiments 

 of E. Fischer and his students for the last twentj-four 

 years, and deals entirely with the purine group, in- 

 cluding the brilliant syntheses of uric acid, xanthine, 

 caffein, and allied compounds. The introduction, com- 

 prising the first eighty pages, appeared in the German 

 literature in iSgg under the title of " .Synthesen in der 

 Puringruppe," and is well known to all students of 

 chemistry. At this time the systematic study of the 

 purine group had reached a definite issue, and since 

 then no new principle has been evolved. The later 

 work has been devoted to details, with perhaps the 

 exception of one paper, which treats of the isomerism 

 of methyl uric acids. The contents of this first chapter 

 is almost complete, and gives a full survey of the sub- 

 ject as it is known to-day. Following this is the 

 NO. 200S, VOL. 77I 



second part of the book, which contains the forty- 

 seven publications of the author and his students. 

 The first forty contain the work previous to 1899, 

 while the remaining seven have been published sub- 

 sequent to the compilation of the introduction. These 

 papers contain the complete experimental data of the 

 originals, and are given in the order of publication. 

 It is quite impossible to read this book without mar- 

 velling at the wonderful fertility of the brain of this 

 modern genius. No problem seems to be too great 

 for his inventive faculty. Even the incomplete work 

 of Baeyer receives new life in his hands. It is not 

 with the purine derivatives only that one associates the 

 name of E. Fischer, but many other groups hav'e been 

 added to the list. 



It will be remembered that the author published his 

 book on the amido-acids and proteins about a year 

 ago. The success of this volume is the direct cause 

 of the present one, which was written with the same 

 object as the former. The literature on the subject is 

 contained in various journals, and these are not alwa3's 

 accessible to students of science. The demands of 

 modern science, on the other hand are such that it is 

 of vital importance to be able to acquire a detailed 

 knowledge of many highly specialised subjects with- 

 out any great inconvenience. The literature of the 

 biologist, for example,. is already voluminous enough 

 to require his whole attention without having to keep 

 in touch with chemical developments. For such 

 students this book was originally intended, and these 

 will undoubtedly feel grateful to the author. These, 

 however, are not the only men of science who owe grati- 

 tude to E. Fischer. Every modern chemist should read 

 this book, not only for the individual results, but to 

 gain a better knowledge of the wonderful methods of 

 manipulation employed. These are of general import- 

 ance. Throughout, the well-worn track of modern 

 methods is employed, but, as a rule, small alterations 

 — vital to success — are made. It is here that the 

 special genius of the author is seen at its best, for 

 which the whole of the scientific world must express 

 its thanks. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Iron and Steel. By J. H. Stansbie. Pp. xlii + 375. 



(London : .Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd., 1907.) 



Price 6s. net. 

 During the last few years so many elementary books 

 on iron and steel have been published that it would 

 almost appear that an addition to the long list was 

 unnecessary. Mr. Stansbie 's book is, however, an 

 excellent one. Written from the notes of his lectures 

 to students of the Birmingham Municipal Technical 

 School, it gives as comprehensive a view as its 

 limits permit of the modern aspects of iron and steel 

 manufacture, together with historical details suflicient 

 to enable the student to follow the march of progress. 

 It is printed in clear type, and the eighty-six illustra- 

 tions, although they would have been improved by an 

 indication of the scale, are well chosen and well 

 adapted to indicate to students the construction of the 

 furnaces described. 



In arrangement of the subject-matter, the work 

 differs but slightly from many of its predecessors. An 

 introductory chapter on chemical principles is fol- 



