NATURE 



[October 3, 1912 



various aspects, such as the direction of the exact 

 route followed, and the explanation of the various 

 events which preceded and accompanied the jour- 

 ney, and bear on their face in the original narrative 

 an appearance of the supernatural ; for some of 

 these natural explanations are afforded, as in the 

 case of the passage over the Red Sea, without 

 imposing any strain upon the received text. The 

 short volume carries the journey as far as Elim, 

 and the discussion is illustrated with two maps, 

 which are noteworthy as indicating the author's 

 view of the further northward extension of the 

 Arabian Gulf at the time of the Exodus. 



(2) Mr. Hamilton Jackson has produced a beauti- 

 ful volume on a fascinating region. He deals 

 with the Pyrenean lands from a general descriptive 

 point of view, but his main interest, which is that 

 of architecture, obtains the greatest share of atten- 

 tion, not only in his text, but more especially in 

 the fine illustrations which come both from his 

 own pen and from photographs by Mr. J. C. 

 Ashton, which are excellent, and excellently repro- 

 duced. The French Pyrenean country is one of 

 which travellers from this country know less than 

 it deserves. Some of its monuments of antiquity, 

 such as the city of Carcasonne and the church of 

 St. Bertrand de Comminges, are unsurpassed in 

 interest elsewhere in Europe, and of these and 

 many others the author supplies full descriptions. 



(3) It was a happy idea to bring together a 

 collection, by various authors, of articles which 

 have appeared from time to time in The Oxford 

 Magazine and elsewhere, on the country neigh- 

 bouring to Oxford, its geology, natural history, 

 archaeology, and the like. The territory, within 

 a radius (let us say) of twenty miles of Oxford, 

 is one which includes a remarkable variety of 

 types of English rural scenery, such as the fresh 

 charm of the Thames above Oxford and its more 

 mature beauties below, the bolder scenery of the 

 hills south of White Horse \'ale, or the curious 

 fen-like expanse of Otmoor. This country suc- 

 ceeds in exerting its charm over a good proportion 

 of the sons of Oxford, among whom many well- 

 known names appear as authors in this volume. 

 Among writers who discuss scientific studies of 

 one sort or another may be mentioned Prof. 

 Poulton, Prof. Warde Fowler, Dr. Aplin, and Mr. 

 Claridge Druce ; while no less notable are the 

 names of those who deal with other aspects of 

 the country. The volume has been excellently 

 arranged by Mr. R. T. Giinther, who contributes 

 a chapter on the Rollright Stones. 



(4) Dr. Newbigin has already in her "Modern 

 Geography " shown herself to be a student of that 

 subject along the lines indicated chiefly by the 

 name of "human geography," an important 



NO. 2240, VOL. 90] 



department which is receiving continually grow- 

 ing attention as an educational topic. In the 

 present volume she deals mainly with the economic 

 aspect in this department, showing how certain 

 regions are suited, whether well or ill, by their 

 climatic and physical conditions, for the cultiva- 

 tion of plants of economic value ; how the distribu- 

 tion of minerals affects human settlement, and 

 also how the products of the sea have done so. 

 She deals skilfully with the inter-relation of these 

 considerations in their effect upon the density of 

 settlement and upon conditions of life. The book 

 is suited for teachers and more advanced students ; 

 it has none of the less attractive characteristics 

 of the school-book. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



Ueber die Einwirkung von IVasser und Natron- 

 lauge auf BaiinnvoUeceUulose. By Dr. Ing. 

 Michael Robinoff. Pp. ii + 94. (Berlin: 

 Gebriider Borntraeger, 1912.) Price 3.60 marks. 

 This is an account of investigations of cotton, 

 cellulose in regard chiefly to constitutional modi- 

 rications determined by treatment with water, and 

 with alkaline solutions (NaOH) under widely 

 varied conditions of action. The author's work 

 further confirms the diagnostic value of the reac- 

 tions of cellulose with cupric oxide (alkaline 

 solution), viz., ((j) the reaction of combination, 

 or fixation of CuO ; (h) reduction. 



These have been brought into prominence by 

 Prof. C. G. .Schwalbe, and are adopted, together 

 with a special terminology, by a number of 

 workers in Germany. The quantitative results are 

 expressed as coefficients in terms of Cu per cent, 

 cellulose, but under descriptive terms, such as 

 " Cellidosezahl," " Korrigierte Cellulosezahl," 

 which are not happily selected. 



The results recorded are of considerable em- 

 pirical value, and the author keeps with evident 

 intention to a strictly empirical interpretation, 

 particularly pointing out the bearings of the con- 

 stitutional modifications resulting from the action 

 of water at temperatures 100° to 150° C., dilute 

 solutions of sodium hydrate (1-5 per cent. NaOH) 

 at similar temperatures, more concentrated solu- 

 tions in the cold (mercerisation reactions), upon 

 the various treatments of cellulose textiles inci- 

 dental to " bleaching " and lustre-finishing. 



By means of the careful systematic application 

 of the reactions in question, he is enabled to 

 establish constitutional modifications of cotton 

 cellulose resulting from treatments of such feeble 

 chemical intensity as (i) contact with highly 

 dilute acids in the cold, and (2) the papermakers" 

 beating processes, in the convincing form of self- 

 consistent numbers. He is thus able to confirm 

 the general statements in the leading text-books, 

 that cellulose responds to all and any chemical 

 treatment, howe\er feeble, by constitutional 

 changes, and, as a particular case, that the beat- 

 ing preparation of the fibrous celluloses is in 

 effect a hydration process. 



