668 



NATURE 



[February 20, 19 13 



factorial effects thus illustrated is one that, we are 

 sure, awaits us in many comparable instances. 

 Obviously, such interference might operate either 

 by reducing- the number of the seeds or by reducing 

 their size ; and in some plants, doubtless, the one 

 effect will be found, and in other cases the other. 

 The discussion of this and various other examples 

 of complex results is unconventional and ahvn\s 

 fruitful. 



The book is one which well illustrates the mental 

 attitude of the investigator to whom problems 

 appeal chiefly by virtue of their difficulty. Had 

 Mr. Balls stuck to any one of the lines he has 

 begun, no doubt he could have gone much further 

 along it; but so soon as anything like a solution is 

 in sight he would rather start another chase. This 

 is not unfriendly criticism : for many who can 

 follow there are few who can begin, and others will 

 some day make something of the various begin- 

 nings here left unfinished. The real objection to 

 this book is that it is in outward form at least 

 a hook. The only thread of coherence running 

 through it is that the miscellaneous embryo 

 treatises it contains were begotten in Mr. Balls's 

 mind by the cotton plant. So, in the same way, 

 the common fowl has been the point of departure 

 for lucubrations on the origin of the mesoblast, 

 on poultry-breeding for the table, on coccidiosis, 

 on the food-value of cereals, &c., but though it 

 may be good lor a man to keep all these topics 

 dancing through his own head, no real purpose 

 is served by amalgamating them into one volume. 

 It was to meet such cases that publication in 

 journals was invented. ^^ • B. 



THE ENERGY SIDE OF NUTRITION. 

 Nutritional Physiology. By Prof. P. G. Stiles. 

 Pp. 271. (Philadelphia and London: W. B. 

 Saunders Co., 1912.) Price 6s. net. 



ALTHOUGH Prof. Stiles's little book is entitled 

 "Nutritional Physiology," it is really an ele- 

 mentary treatise on the whole realm of physiology, 

 though special attention is directed to digestion, 

 absorption, and metabolism. Its keynote is the 

 word "energy," and the living body is regarded 

 from the point of view of an energy-transformer. 

 The work is dedicated to Prof. Graham Lusk, of 

 New York, and his influence can be easily traced 

 in the chapters which deal with metabolism. 



It is not possible to regard the book as a mere 

 addition to the already numerous primers of 

 physiology; it is something beyond this, although 

 it makes no pretensions to being anything pro- 

 found. It c?n be read with profit by the junior 

 student, and still more by the senior student, and 

 even the professed physiologist. Old truths are 

 often put in new ways, and so fresh light is shed 

 NO. 2260, VOL. QOl 



upon familiar problems. The language is often 

 quaint and original, and the numerous analogies 

 selected for explaining physiological truths are 

 apt and well selected. Take the following as an 

 example : 



"The regulating action of the liver and the 

 muscles upon the carbohydrate distribution may 

 be paralleled, in part at least, by an analogy. Let 

 us compare the active tissues to a mill turned by 

 the waters of a stream. The water supply to the 

 mill is to be compared with the sugar supply to 

 the cells, which derive their energy from it. A 

 meal is to the body as a storm is to the mill- 

 stream — it adds to the volume of the power- 

 producing element. The dam by the mill is like 

 the kidney in its relation to the accumulated 

 store," and so the parable runs on; it is unneces- 

 sary to quote more of it here. 



The book contains the inevitable chapter on 

 alcohol ; this is written in a moderate strain, and 

 may, perhaps, be viewed with disfavour by the 

 extreme teetotaller because it is not intemperate. 

 .'Vs one reads it, one almost feels that its author 

 was writing it because he had to, but was pro- 

 testing all the time inwardly against the American 

 law which excludes all physiological books from 

 scholastic institutions which do not obey the 

 t\Tannical behests of the partv in power. 



W. D. H. 



CHEMISTRY: PURE AND APPLIED. 

 (i) Fatty Foods, their Practical Examination. 

 A Handbook for the Use of Analytical and 

 Technical Chemists. By E. R. Bolton and 

 C. Revis. Pp. xii + 371. (London: J. and A. 

 Churchill, 1913.) Price los. 6d. net. 



(2) Der Kautschuk. Eine kolloidchemische Mono- 

 graphic. By Dr. R. Ditmar. Pp. viii-l-140. 

 (Berlin: Julius Springer, 1912.) Price 6 marks. 



(3) Modern Inorganic Cheinistry. By Dr. J. W. 

 Mellor. Pp. XX + 871. (London: Longmans, 

 Green and Co., 1912.) Price 7.S. 6d. 



(4) .4 First Class-Book of Chemistry. By E. 

 Barrett and Dr. T. P. Nunn. Pp. iv4-i24. 

 (London : A. and C. Black, 1912.) Price is. 6d. 



(5) Elementary .Applied Chemistry. By L. B. 

 Allyn. Pp. xi4-i27. (Boston and London: 

 Ginn and Co., n.d.) Price 35. 



(6) Trattato di Chimico-Fisica. Traduzione 

 Ilaliana con note del Dott. M. Giua. By Prof. 

 H. C. Jones. Pp xx-t-6ii. (Milano : Ulrico 

 Hoepli, 1913.) Price 12 lire. 



(i)'Tr^HE analytical examination of edible fats 

 X ;uid oils is increasing in importance and 

 in difficulty day by day. At least sixteen natural 

 oils must be taken into consideration, and, when 

 mixtures of these are presented for examination. 



