isS 



NATURE 



[October io, 19 12 



the monsoons and the influence of the heat equator 

 from these pages. 



(5) " The Marlboroug'h Coimtry " should be as 

 interestinij to a tourist with a bent for geolog-y, or 

 archaology, or nature study, as it is useful to 

 a teacher who wants to deduce from an ordnance 

 map the immense amount of information which 

 lies hidden beneath its signs and symbols. The 

 •Marlborough district map (sheet 266 of the 

 one-inch ordnance survey map) is in this little 

 book made to yield up as subject-matter for 

 observation the reading of relief maps in general, 

 the physical divisions of ' the " Marlborough 

 Country," its geology, climate, farm life, com- 

 munications, distribution of population, history 

 and archaeology, let alone such specialities as the 

 Downs, the Vale of Pewsey, Savernake Forest, 

 and a host of miscellanous local topics. The book 

 is a novelty, and has more than a local interest. 

 It is a pioneer, an exemplar, in the science of home 

 geography. 



Summarising s:;enerally, all five books are suit- 

 able for the middle and higher forms of a secondary 

 school. No. I is well got up, of taking appear- 

 ance, but rather sketchy, and inferior, in our 

 opinion, to its "Oxford" rivals. No 2 must fill 

 a great void in South Africa, but is naturally not 

 so well adapted for British schools. Nos. 3 and 

 ^ are on similar lines', and Ijelong to the excellent 

 type of book of which Simmons and Richardson's 

 " Introduction to Practical Geography " was the 

 first exponent. No. 5 has for its staple just the 

 kind of information that a guide-book relegates 

 to its introductory pages, and as for its interjectory 

 questions — well, the ordinary man may ignore 

 them, while the teacher will find them extremely 

 useful. 



LABORATORY CHEMISTRY. 



(i) Outlines of Inorganic Chemistry. By Dr. E. B. 

 Ludlan. Pp. xv + 365. (London: Edward 

 Arnold, 191 1.) Price 45. 6d. 



(2) A Handbook of Organic Analysis, Qualitative 

 and Quantitative. By Hans Thacher Clarke, 

 with an introduction by Prof. Norman Collie, 

 I'".R.S. Pp. viii + 264. (London: Edward 

 .Vrnold, 191 1.) Price 5^. net. 



THE methods of teaching cliemistry, particu- 

 larly inorganic chemistry, are so diverse 

 and depend so much upon the individuality of the 

 teacher tliat it is no wonder there are a large 

 nunilx'r of Ijooks on elementary chemistry, and 

 llial their number is still increasing. 



(i) Mr. Ludlan's I)i)ok is very readable, and is 

 illustrated with portraits of L.avoisier, Priestley, 

 Scheele, Faraday, Dalton, and Humphry Davy. 

 NO. 2241, VOL. 90] 



We like the introduction of such portraits in a 

 book on science because it helps the student to 

 remember historical facts, and impresses upon his 

 memory the importance of the work of the persons 

 whose portraits appear. 



The author commences with a brief discussion 

 on early notions which for many reasons, mainly 

 for the want of the balance, were incorrect. The 

 moral impressed is : " Be sure of your facts before 

 trying to explain them." Some of the questions 

 at the end of the chapters are unusual ; for ex- 

 ample, " How would you attempt to establish the 

 truth or inaccuracy of the fpllowing statements : 

 ' Sunshine puts the fire ouj: ' ; ' Sunshine makes 

 colours fade ' ; ' A watched kettle never boils ' ? " 

 These questions may be suitable in a class, but 

 are somewhat puerile in a book, more particularly 

 as the chapter in question does not deal with them 

 — it happens to be "On the Rusting of Iron." But 

 anyone who works carefully through the book 

 will obtain a good foundation of elementary 

 chemistry. 



(2) The second book is of a very different char- 

 acter, being on organic analysis. It is only fairly 

 recently that books on organic analysis have been 

 published in which any attempt has been made at 

 classification. Of course, the difficulties of classi- 

 fying substances of such diverse nature and pro- 

 perties as occur in organic chemistry are very 

 great, and when all is said and done organic 

 analysis is not in general so exact as inorganic 

 analysis. 



Prof. Collie, who writes an introduction to the 

 book, remarks that " The examination of inor- 

 ganic ions too often tends to degenerate into a 

 series of arbitrary tests, memorised and applied 

 without much consideration of their theoretical 

 bearing." Some years ago, when everything was 

 worked by the "chart," this was to some extent 

 true, but the more modern books almost always 

 insist most strongly on a mastery of the theoreti- 

 cal as well as the practical aspect. It is a strange 

 fact that an organic chemist is apt to think lightly 

 of inorganic chemistry and vice versa, and yet each 

 branch has its own difficulties and importance. 



The first chapter of the book before us deals 

 with the preliminary investigation of the substance 

 or substances to be analysed. Tests for purity, 

 such as melting point, boiling point, and frac- 

 tionation, arc enumerated — we say enumerated 

 instead of gi\en, because the description is rather 

 inadequate ; for example, Distillation under re- 

 duced pressure : this is followed by tests for 

 carlxin and hydrogen and further preliminary 

 tests with the object of sorting into groups such 

 as phenolic, acidic, neutral, &c. The next chapter 

 deals with the examination for radicles ; it is well 



