452 



NATURE 



[Oct. 3, 1872 



and publicly expressed views on this matter, to bear in 

 mind that he cannot be considered an unprejudiced 

 witness. I have frequently referred to his relations to the 

 herbarium attached to the Royal Ciardens at Kew. He 

 has thus stated the reasons by which he was influenced 

 in presenting his herbarium and library to the public in 

 igjj : — "I "thoujht that at that time there was no 

 herbarium and library in London sufficiently open for the 

 use of botanists, and I presented them on condition that 

 they sliould form the nucleus of a national herbarium and 

 botanical library, to be kept at the expense of Govern- 

 ment, and open to the free use of botanists." I can assert 

 in opposition to Mr. Bentham's belief — and a similar 

 opinion has been, I understand, recently expressed — that 

 at that time the National Herbarium and the national 

 library, as far as it is an adjunct to the herbarium, were 

 fully and freely accessible to botanists, and were largely 

 used by botanists ; and this 1 am able to maintain from 

 the contemppraiy records of this department, as well as 

 from the testimony of botanists who were then in the 

 habit of consulting; the collections. !■ nder the influence 

 of this erroneous supposition, Mr. Bentham made his own 

 herbarium a national institution, and a rival to the 

 Banksian herbarium, and under the influence of this 

 same spirit of rivalry, he now believes that there exists 

 "a state of continual competition" between the two 

 herbaria. I am sure that Dr. Hooker and the authorities 

 at Kew will as strongly repudiate this statement as I do 

 now, if it is meant to imply a competition in any way to 

 the injury of science or the ])ublic. It is only in keeping 

 with the motives which actuated him at the first that Mr. 

 Bentham now agitates for the incorporation of the Bank- 

 sian herbarium with that of which his own forms the 

 nucleus. Willi.^.m Carruthers 



FRESENIUS'S QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS 

 OuaUtativc Chemical Analysis. By Dr. C. Remigius 

 Fresenius. Eighth edition. Translated from the 1 3th 

 German edition, by A. Vacher. (London : J. and A. 

 Churchill ) 



THE present edition of Fresenius is one which will 

 be looked at by chemists with interest. In the 

 last so-called edition of Fresenius's Chemical Analysis, 

 published in 1869, the text had been so altered and cur- 

 tailed that the volume could scarcely be recognised as 

 Fresenius of old, it having been reduced to about one 

 half of its original size. It appears, however, that this 

 condensation did not coincide with the authors views, and 

 in this edition we have simply a translation of the original 

 text. The editor in his preface confesses that he then, in 

 the last edition, took too broad a view of his duty. It 

 certainly seemed strange that a work which had passed 

 through twelve German editions with a gradual and steady 

 enlargement, could be condensed to about one-half with- 

 out losing a considerable amount of its clearness and use- 

 fulness. We confess that we heard with pleasure of the 

 appearance of the eighth English edition of this work, 

 but, unfortunately, our pleasant anticipation has been to 

 some extent marred. 



' In criticising this book, it will be necessary to consider 

 it from two points [of view ; in the first place, to consider 

 the work of the translator ; and in the second, the author's 

 responsibilities, and the book itself. To commence with 

 the translator's work : it appears, on the whole, to be 

 very well executed, although by far the greater part of the 

 book is identical with the sixth edition, published in 1S64 

 and edited by J. Lloyd Bullock ; in fact, at first sight, 



there does not appear to be very much difference between 

 the two editions ; but on a closer acquaintance with the 

 present edition, there is found a considerable amount of 

 new matter, and some little alteration in the old. As is 

 almost certain in a book of the size, we have found some 

 sentences which would have been better for a little more 

 attention ; to quote one instance, p. 51, " Solution of am- 

 monia, although formed by conducting ammoniacal gas 

 (N H,) into water, and letting that gas escape on exposure 

 to the air, and much quicker when heated, may also be 

 regarded as a solution of oxide of ammonium (N H^ O) in 

 water, the first acceding equivalent of water (H O) being 

 assumed to form N H^O with N H ,." This sentence can- 

 not certainly claim precision and clearness as its chief 

 characteristics, and wo have much doubt whether a young 

 student would understand its meaning. Taking the 

 translation, however, as a whole, it is clear and well ex- 

 pressed. 



It will be seen from the above quotation that there are 

 some points about this edition which will not recommend 

 themselves to the generality of English teachers ; we refer 

 of course to the nomenclature and notation, which have 

 not been altered since the edition of 1S64. Of course 

 Mr. Vacher is not responsible for this ; if Dr. Fresenius 

 said the work was to be literally translated, there was no 

 help for it, the old notation must be used, but still we must 

 consider that it is a great mistake. Generally speaking, 

 at the present day for a book to be published in the old 

 notation is sufficient to limit its use to a very small 

 number of students. It certainly seems a great pity that 

 this, which until lately has been looked up to as the best 

 and most reliable text-book on qualitative analysis, should 

 not have progressed side by side with modern chemistry ; 

 for English chemists, almost without exception, have 

 adopted the new system of atomic weights, and the new and 

 more systematic nomenclature now in use. The adoption 

 of the old notation in the present volume will add a con- 

 siderable amount of trouble to the teacher's work, 

 and in many cases may probably lead to the adoption of 

 another text-book. Looking at the very general, in fact 

 almost universal, use of the new notation both in England 

 and on the Continent, it certainly appears that this book 

 is about five years behind the times. On the other hand, 

 the present edition will, perhaps, on this account prove 

 more useful to our manufacturing chemists, who seem 

 very loth to adopt the new notation. 



Although we do not feel satisfied, and, in fact, are 

 disappointed, with the book in this respect, we cannot 

 help feeling pleased with the substance matter itself. 

 As might be expected from the numerous editions of 

 his manual which the author has already published, 

 lie continues to keep the information contained in the 

 work quite up to the progress of the science. Many 

 parts of the work show alterations, though the very fact 

 of the accuracy of the author's work precludes any very 

 great change. It is in the parts on the rare metals, 

 and on the alkaloids, that there appears to be the greatest 

 amount of new matter. Thus the sections on berylla, 

 thoria, zirconia, tellurium, vanadium, iridium, and di- 

 dymium, show a considerable increase in our knowledge 

 of these substances ; whilst indium, which is not to be 

 found in the edition of 1S64, has here received a very 

 good notice. Again, in the edition of 1864, only one 



