September 22, 19 10] 



NATURE 



;6i 



is merely attempting to teacli chemical arithmetic with 

 no regard for the opportunities which arise of teaching 

 chemistry at the same time. The figures actually re- 

 sulting from the best experiments are so readily 

 accessible that a book which fails to make use of 

 them and substitutes obvious fictions is scarcely to 

 be recommended. 



(5) This book of tables is well compiled, and should 

 prove useful, but the printing and binding are not as 

 good as might be desired in view of the small size of 

 the book and the price at which it is issued. 



MINERAL SPRINGS AND WELLS OF ESSEX. 



A History of the Mineral Waters and Medicinal 

 Springs of the County of Essex. By Miller Christy 

 and Miss May Thresh, with a critical note by 

 W. H. Dalton. Essex Field Club Special Memoirs, 

 vol. iv. Pp. vi + 73. (Stratford, Essex: Essex Field 

 Club; London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Ltd., 

 19 10.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 



THIS work forms vol. iv. of the Essex Field Club 

 .Special Memoirs, and has been reprinted from the 

 Essex Naturalist, with additions. As in most other 

 Englisli counties, there are in Essex a number of 

 spring.s and wells that have attained notoriety as 

 mineral or medicinal waters, and the authors have 

 done well to prepare a full and precise account of 

 them. 



The earliest record is of a spring at Wanstead, 

 which was regarded as a spa in 1619, but has long 

 been lost to sight. Witham, Chigwell Row, and 

 Upminster had mineral waters that were formerly 

 reputed to be of medicinal value. No information is 

 available concerning the particular constituents of the 

 Witham Spa ; the water of Chigwell Row was purga- 

 tive, but of no importance ; while that of L'pminster 

 contained Epsom salts. Tilbury water, obtained from 

 a well, appears to have been most famous in Essex, 

 but, as the authors remark, the saline ingredients were 

 insufficient to justify its being considered a mineral 

 water. Dr. Richard Russel, however, remarked in 

 1769 that the water "makes excellent Punch, and is 

 extremely good for Tea." The only genuine mineral 

 waters acknowledged in the present work are those 

 of South Weald, L'pminster, and Hockley, which con- 

 tain as the more prominent ingredient magnesium 

 sulphate. As the authors admit, every so-called 

 mineral spring in Essex, with one exception, is now 

 neglected, and almost forgotten ; and as regards the 

 waters in general they consider " that ' faith ' was an 

 important, if not the chief, element in the ' cures ' 

 thev are credited with." Dovercourt Chalybeate Spa, 

 discovered about 1852. is the sole remaining spa, and 

 in a sample of the water sent in 1897 to Dr. J. C. 

 Thresh, he reported that it contained under one grain 

 of iron salts per gallon. 



The authors express their indebtedness to Dr. 

 Thresh for assistance in dealing with the Essex waters 

 from a chemical point of view, and to Mr. W. H. 

 Dalton for notes on the strata whence the waters are 

 derived. Reference should have been made to the 

 Bagshot Sands on p. 63, as the waters of Hocklev, as 

 well as those of South Weald, are derived from that 

 NO. 2134, VOL. 84] 



formation or the passage-beds above the mass of 

 London Clay. There are no deep-seated mineral waters 

 in Essex, but the subject, as shown by the authors, is 

 one of considerable interest, and by no means devoid 

 of scientific importance. H. B. W. • 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



(1) Edible and Poisonous Fungi. Board of Agriculture 

 and Fisheries. Pp. 28. With 25 coloured plates. 

 (London : His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1910.) 

 Price tt. 



(2) Guide to Mr. Worthington Smith's Drazvings of 

 Field and Cultivated Mushrooms and Poisonous or 

 Worthless Fungi often Mistaken for Mushrooms, 

 Exhibited in the Department of Botany, British 

 Museum {Natural History). Pp. 24. (London : 

 Printed by Order of the Trustees of the British 

 Museum, Natural History, 1910.) Price is. 



(i) The publication of this pamphlet by the Board of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries is intended doubtless to 

 broaden the "mushroom" diet of country dwellers. 

 Whether this object will be attained depends primarily 

 on the doubtful possibility of creating an interest in a 

 lethargic public, and further, in making quite clear 

 the somewhat abstruse differences between the clean 

 and the unclean. With regard to means of discrimina- 

 tion, reliance is placed on coloured plates and short 

 descriptions, to which are added a few hints on pre- 

 paration for table. What is distinctly lacking is an 

 attractive general account, with information regarding 

 the kinds exposed for sale in foreign market places, 

 where there is often a considerable variety. The list of 

 edible species does not include either the chantarelle 

 or the truffle, while another notable omission is a 

 warning that individuals vary greatly in their power 

 of digesting fungal ferments. 



(2) The pamphlet issuing from the British Museum 

 (Natural History) is valuable both as a scientific ex- 

 position by one of our most eminent fungologists and 

 also as an authoritative guide for the use of those 

 interested in mushroom cultivation. The descriptions 

 are semi-popular, and the coloured figures are artistic, 

 accurate and well rendered. The setting of the 

 text, as also the plain directions for detecting the 

 poisonous species, add to the practical utility of the 

 pamphlet, which fulfils one of the chief objects of 

 the Trustees, inasmuch as it provides accurate and 

 useful information for the benefit of the general 

 public. 

 Fractures and Separated Epiphyses. By A. J. Walton. 



Pp. vii + 288. (London: E. Arnold, 1910.) 

 In a short preface the author explains that this boon, 

 is intended for the use of students and those first 

 commencing hospital appointments, but there is every 

 reason to believe it will prove of great value to prac- 

 titioners in general. Mr. Walton does not confine 

 himself to advising any one method of treatment, but 

 concisely places before the reader the various treat- 

 ments advocated, with an open-minded criticism of 

 their several points. 



The chapters dealing with the etiology and general 

 methods of treatment are, considering the largeness 

 of the subject, both clearly and shortly dealt with, 

 yet nothing of importance has been omitted. In de- 

 scribing the fractures peculiar to each bone, with 

 their treatment, special attention is given to the dates 

 of union in the various epiphyses, and the injuries 

 which thev are liable to sustain. The accompanying 

 illustrations, reproduced from radiographs of fractures 

 seen at the London Hospital, are typical and excel- 

 lent. The book show great care in 'preparation, and 

 can be recommended to all who need a short, practical 

 work on this subiect. Fr.\nk Romer. 



