604 



NATURE 



[AUGUST 14, 19 1 s 



tion of obscure rules and processes ; but, on the 

 whole, the impression produced is that the greatest 

 of modern tongues is branching off into a new and 

 picturesque variety, destined to flower in due 

 course as it passes from science to poetry. 



G. B. M. 



TECHNOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. 

 A Dictionary of Applied Chemistry. By Sir 

 Edward Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S. Assisted by 

 Eminent Contributors. Revised and enlarged 

 edition. Vol. iv. Pp. viii + 727. (London: 

 Longmans, Green -and Co., 1913.) Price 455. 

 net. 



THE fourth volume of Sir Edward Thorpe's 

 well-known "Dictionary of Applied Chem- 

 istry " covers subjects ranging from oilstone to 

 soda nitre. Among the longer articles are those 

 dealing with some important oils, paints, opium, 

 oxygen and ozone, paper, paraffin, petroleum, 

 photography, platinum, polarimetry, potassium, 

 pottery, quinones, radio-activity, rubber, saponi- 

 fication, sewage, silicon, silk, silver, smoke, 

 soap, &c. 



The first edition of this work has won for itself 

 a well-deserved place in the library of the consult- 

 ing chemist. A book of this description cannot 

 be reviewed adequately by one writer, even after 

 making due allowance for the omniscience of 

 reviewers generally. Each important subject 

 appears to have been written by a specialist, and 

 accordingly none but a specialist in a particular 

 subject is competent to express an opinion on the 

 merits or demerits of each of the articles. I must 

 say, however, that after reading those subjects in 

 which I myself am more particularly inter- 

 ested, I have formed the opinion that the new 

 edition of the dictionary will supplant the old 

 one, not merely because it brings the subject- 

 matter up-to-date, but also because it is a higher- 

 class production. There seem to be very few 

 misprints, and, without taking up the role of a 

 schoolmaster correcting exercises, I must con- 

 fess that I did not like the phrase "monoatomic 

 chemical reaction " in the article on radio-activity 

 (P- 535) — ^ ' s m y opinion that "monomolecular," 

 or better, " unimolecular," should have been 

 written. 



This dictionary — as perforce all dictionaries — 

 is not likely to be consulted by a specialist in his 

 own particular subject, since the articles are too 

 brief for that; but it will prove exceedingly use- 

 ful when it is necessary to look up outside subjects, 

 because the main facts and principles are not here 

 befogged with detail, as would be the case if refer- 

 ence were to be made to a comprehensive mono- 

 NO. 2285, VOL. 91] 



graph. The book will also prove very useful for the 

 university or college student of general techno- 

 logical chemistry. It is not easy to name a text- 

 book which covers this ground adequately. Such a 

 text-book could certainly not be properly written by 

 any one man, or indeed, by any half-dozen men. 

 A writer of a general treatise is almost certain to 

 err when he attempts to describe unfamiliar pro- 

 cesses by paraphrasing the writings of those who 

 know. Pottery as described in treatises on 

 general chemistry might be cited in illustration. 

 One excellent text-book on chemistry has some 

 eight lines on the subject, and in those eight lines 

 there are five mistakes of fact ! A student of 

 technological chemistry working through the 

 special articles in this dictionary has some assur- 

 ance that the articles are written by men who have 

 first-hand knowledge, and his confidence is accord- 

 ingly well founded. J. W. Mellor. 



CLIMATOLOGY. 



(1) Das Klima. By Dr. Eugen Alt. Bucher der 

 Naturwissenschaft herausgegeben 'von Prof. 

 Siegmund Gunther. 12 Band. Pp. 136. 

 (Leipzig: Philipp Reclam, jun.) Price 1.50 

 marks. 



(2) Aus dem Lujtmeer. Meteorologische Betrach- 

 tungen fur mittlere und reife Schiiler. Von 

 Max Sassenfeld. Pp. iv+183. (Leipzig vnd 

 Berlin : B. G. Teubner, 1912.) Price 3 marks. 



(3) Contribution a l'Etude des Relations existant 

 entre les Circulations Atmospheriques, l'Electri- 

 cite Atmospherique et le Magnetisme Terrestre. 

 By Alfred ViaJay. Pp. viii + 203. (Paris: H. 

 Dunod et G. Pinat, 191 1.) 



(4) Meteorology : A Text-book on the Weather, 

 the Causes of its Changes, and Weather Fore- 

 casting. For the Student and the General 

 Reader. By Prof. W. I. Milham. Pp. xvi + 

 549+50 charts. (New York: The Macmillan 

 Company; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 

 1912.) Price 195. net. 



(1) T N this little book Dr. Alt seeks to give 

 _L an account of the fundamental principles 

 and facts of climate, and its importance in the 

 development of civilisation. The first four 

 sections deal with the methods of climatological 

 research, and with the climatic elements, tempera- 

 ture, wind, rainfall, and humidity in their rela- 

 tions with each other, and their distribution in time 

 and space. In the next two sections the author 

 considers climatic zones, viz., polar, cool temperate, 

 warm temperate, tropical with small rainfall, and 

 tropical with one wet season or two wet seasons. 

 The seventh section is devoted to types of climate, 

 land and sea climate, mountain climate, and after 



