122 
NATURE 
[Dec. 15, 1870 

Chemistry surpass in numbers, they also outdo in indivi- 
dual productiveness, the workers in Physics. But since 
the institution of physical laboratories is nevertheless 
spreading, the very novelty of their existence makes the 
publication of books like that of Prof. Kohlrausch, pro- 
ceeding from older establishments, a real boon to those 
called upon to superintend or take a share in the direction 
of the practical work of new ones; and it is only to be 
hoped that from other places of renown also, both in 
England and abroad, similar publications may also soon 
proceed. C. K. AKIN 


GALLOWAY’S QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS 
Manual of Qualitative Analysis. By Robert Galloway, 
F.C.S. Fifth edition, xxi. and 415 pp. (London: 
John Churchill and Sons.) 
Ea the various manuals of Qualitative Analysis now in 
use, none is more deservedly popular than the work 
of Professor Galloway. Much of this success is doubtless 
due to the painstaking care with which tke author has 
sought in successive editions to reduce the operations of 
Qualitative Analysis to a more methodical and systematic 
process. The present edition is in great part rewritten, 
and much new and original matter has been incorporated. 
More systematic methods for separating the alkaloids are 
given, together with many additional reactions for their 
individual discrimination. The processes for detecting 
the poisonous metals in presence of organic matters are 
also much improved. A description of Bunsen’s neat and 
expeditious flame reactions is likewise a new feature in 
the book. The delicacy and certainty of these reactions 
ought undoubtedly to lead to their more general adoption 
in our laboratories ; even if their application is found to be 
limited, the lesson in neatness and dexterity in working 
to be acquired in their performance would prove in- 
valuable to the student. 
One of the characteristics of this book is its thorough- 
ness, and the very example of this quality will not be lost 
upon the beginner. As an illustration of what we mean, 
we give the following extract from the introductory re- 
marks on the province and scope of qualitative analysis : 
The analyst, by means of re-agents, interrogates the substance 
to be analysed as to what are its component parts ; the reactions 
are the language in which the answer is returned. The student 
has therefore to learn the mode of questioning the substance, 
and the language in which the answer will be conveyed ; in other 
words, he has to learn, not only what general and special re-agents 
are to be employed, but the order in which they are to be applied, 
and also the reactions they produce with the bases and acid- 
radicals, before he can attempt to search for these bodies in sub- 
stances. No amount of reading or lecture-hearing will furnish 
the student with this knowledge ; he can only obtain it by making 
the experiments himself of the different bases and acid-radicals 
with the re-agents, and ‘‘he must always reflect, before the addition 
of the re-agent, for what purpose he applies it, and what are the 
phenomena he intends to produce.” And the conditions indis- 
pensable for the production of correct and decisive reactions 
must be carefully observed, for a half-knowledge in all depart- 
ments of science is of little worth, but in chemical analysis it is 
worse than useless. 
There must always be diversity of opinion respecting 
the best method of teaching Qualitative Analysis, or 
indeed of teaching any branch of practical science ; since 
so much depends upon the qualifications and conscien- 
tiousness of the teacher. In the Preface to the present 
edition of his book, Professor Galloway makes some 

very pertinent observations respecting the advantages 
which the method he adopts possesses over that employed 
by Fresenius and in the Giessen Outlines. It is quite 
possible that by faithfully following the plan laid down by 
the German professor, the student may succeed in cor- 
rectly determining a larger proportion of the mixtures 
given to him for analysis, and yet the amount of actual 
benefit which may accrue to him may be far less than 
if he were more frequently unsuccessful by working under 
a system which left more to his individual judgment and 
intelligence. We believe that the method of Fresenius, 
as an educational agent, is radically bad ; its tendency is 
to make the learner degenerate into a mere analytical 
machine. Such a system (to employ the phraseology of 
Mr. Galloway), of simply ¢ed/ing this and showing that, 
may be most pernicious in its consequences. The chief 
object in teaching chemistry is thus too frequently 
missed ; science so studied renders the student utterly 
incapable of correctly reasoning upon the knowledge he 
acquires, for merely to create a number of proficient 
analysts is not the primary end of the introduction of 
qualitative analysis into the curricudune of our schools 
and colleges. A perfect system, then, is that which, 
whilst employing the most satisfactory and expeditious 
analytical methods, yet allows sufficient latitude for the 
student to exercise and strengthen the powers of his 
originality, reason, and intelligence. Such a system 
Professor Galloway has attempted to frame, and we have 
no hesitation in asserting that in the hands of a con- 
scientious student his book will lead to the result which 
he desires to obtain. T. E. THORPE 
WORKS IN NATURAL HISTORY 
Works in Natural History, &c. By the Rev. F, O. 
Morris, B.A. 
HIS is, in several respects, a very remarkable pamph- 
let. It shows us, to our great gratification, that 
the study of Natural History is, thanks to the labours 
of Mr. Morris, gradually finding its way into Royal 
Palaces and Baronial Halls, for we learn that Her Most 
Gracious Majesty the Queen has accepted the dedication 
of his “ History of British Birds ;” that his Excellency 
the Right Honourable the Earl of Carlisle, K.G, &c. &c., 
influenced probably by Her Majesty’s example, has ex- 
tended his patronage in a similar manner to the “ Natural 
History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds ;” that 
his “ British Butterflies ” and “ British Moths ” are under 
the genial and aristocratic guardianship of the Honour- 
able Mrs. Musgrave and the Right Hon. Lady Mun- 
caster; that his “Anecdotes in Natural History,” and 
“Records of Animal Sagacity and Character,” are de- 
dicated by permission to the Most Hon. the Marquis of 
Westminster, K.G. and the Hon. Anne Emma Caven 
dish ; while His Grace the Archbishop of York stands 
sponsor to “The Difficulties of Darwinism.” Surely 
even in the so-called Golden Age of English literature, 
no author could have had the good fortune to secure so 
many noble patrons. 
Appended to the title of each of Mr. Morris’s works 
are “Notices of the Press,’ and in this department the 
compiler of the pamphlet would, we think, have acted 
mere wicely and more in accordance with the dignity of 

