394 



NATURE 



[June 19, 1913 



In our opinion, much more research and many 

 practical experiments on a large scale are needed 

 before a book on the practical advantages to be 

 derived from Mendelian methods can, with advan- 

 tage, be presented to breeders, since premature 

 assertion of the utility of a theory tends to alienate 

 the practical man, and to destroy his confidence 

 in the value of science. 



THE INDEXING OF CHEMICAL 

 LITERATURE. 

 General Index to the Chemical News. Vols, i to c. 

 Pp. 712. (London: Chemical News Office, 

 1913.) Price 2L 



IN compiling an index of chemical literature on 

 anything like a large scale numberless diffi- 

 cult problems are encountered at the outset. The 

 question as to whether authors and subjects 

 should be divided or not is usually answered in 

 the affirmative and with good reason. The in- 

 quirer generally knows whether he wishes to refer 

 to an author's name or to some subject, and it is 

 undoubtedly a help to be able to turn with cer- 

 tainty to one section or the other. 



The mere alphabetical arrangement of authors' 

 names would appear to be simple, but the greatest 

 difficulty is often experienced if any effort is to 

 be made to secure that individual authors are to be 

 properly identified with their work. 



An index of subjects offers even more problems 

 to be considered. Over an extended period of 

 years, changes of nomenclature are bound to 

 occur, and the same compound is often described 

 under two or even three synonyms. Is the indexer 

 to record the names as they stand, or is he to 

 use the modern name only, and index all older 

 varieties or synonyms under that? In view of the 

 fact that authors rarely know even the rudiments 

 of nomenclature, and seldom consider whether it 

 is correct to write, e.g., caustic soda, sodium 

 hydrate, or sodium hydroxide, it would appear 

 that the only possible thing to do in such a case 

 is to decide on "sodium hydroxide," and index all 

 references to "caustic soda " or "sodium hydrate " 

 under it. With organic compounds the case is 

 much more difficult, but the point has, perhaps, 

 been sufficiently illustrated. 



The index under review is one that will be 

 necessary to every reader of the Chemical News, 

 and, indeed, will be useful to all chemists, giving, 

 as it does, references to so many subjects, such 

 as university intelligence, &c, which are found in 

 perhaps no other chemical journal. 



The advisability of putting authors and sub- 

 jects together is a matter of opinion, but the 

 searcher after names will turn over with some im- 

 no. 2277, VOL. Ql] 



patience the 35 pages which separate " Bonz " and 

 "Booth." 



The identification of certain authors — for 

 example, "Mr. Brown" and "Dr. Schmidt" — 

 must be difficult, as there are twenty-nine 

 "Browns" and twenty "Schmidts." This, of 

 course, illustrates a common failing of authors of 

 not putting their full names to their papers. 



The German " ii " is taken as " u " throughout. 

 This, we believe, is the custom of the British 

 Museum, but to mix up " Mullers " and 

 "Mullers" is, in our opinion, obviously incorrect. 



As regards the subjects the list of books re- 

 viewed, which occupies the thirty-five pages just 

 mentioned, is very valuable, and so are the col- 

 lected references to many other matters of general 

 chemical interest, but it is really regrettable that 

 some effort has not been made to avoid duplicate 

 headings ; this is the chief fault we have to find 

 with the book. Under "acids" we have "chlor- 

 hydric " and "hydrochloric," "cyanhydric " and 

 "hydrocyanic," "naphtholsulphonic " and "nap- 

 tholic sulpho," " bioxy benzoic," "dioxybenzoic," 

 and " dihydroxybenzoic," with no cross-references 

 from one to the other. Entries are also to be 

 found, again without cross-references, under 

 acid, carbolic, and phenol, aldehyde, anisic, and 

 anis-aldehyde, alizarin, nitro-, and nitralizarin, 

 carbamide and urea, benzalacetophenone and 

 benzylidene acetophenone, benzene, benzine, and 

 benzol, carbon bisulphide, disulphide, and sulphide, 

 and many others. 



Cross-references there are indeed, but many are 

 unnecessary; particularly " Amyl-diethacetate, 

 cinn-. See Cinnamyldiethacetate." 



In a work of this kind misprints are almost in- 

 evitable, but a little more care in the proof-reading 

 might have avoided such mistakes as " alikali earth 

 metals," "alsohols," "eperiments," "methyl- 

 salysilic," &c. J. C. C. 



PETROLOGY AND BUILDING STONES. 



(1) The Petrology of the Sedimentary Rocks. By 

 Dr. F. H. Hatch and R. H. Rastall. With an 

 Appendix on the Systematic Examination of 

 Loose Detrital Sediments by T. Crook. Pp. 

 xiii + 425. (London: George Allen and Co., 

 Ltd., 191 3.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 



(2) Building Stones and Clay-Products : A Hand- 

 book for Architects. By Prof. Heinrich Ries. 

 Pp. xv + 415+lix plates. (New York: John 

 Wiley and Sons ; London : Chapman and Hall, 

 Ltd., 1912.) Price 125. 6d. net. 



(1) O INCE the days of Sorby much useful work 

 vj has been done on the less-altered sedi- 

 mentary rocks — by Hill, Jukes-Browne, and Hume, 



