NATURE 



[July i, 1922 



and we hope that the remainder will now follow 

 with all speed, for the real value of the work can he 

 fully appreciated only in its complete form. 



The second part follows closely the form and arrange- 

 ment of the first. After an explanatory introduction 

 there follows the bibliography, from which the 

 stupendous nature of the task which has occupied the 

 best thirty-one years of Mr. Sherborn's life can be 

 judged. One hundred and thirty-one pages of closely 

 printed matter in small type are required to give the 

 titles of the publications which the author has indexed. 

 Against this, less than two pages of similar type, 

 giving the publications to which the author has not 

 had access (some of these have been seen since the list 

 was set up in print) represent an almost negligible part 

 of zoological literature that has not passed through his 

 hands. 



When it is remembered that, but for some 5000 

 entries made for the author by friends, the whole of 

 the literature has been examined and every entry 

 in the index recorded from the original, arranged, 

 sorted, checked and passed for press by Mr. Sherborn 

 himself, we begin to realise something of the debt 

 which zoology, now and for all time, owes to the author. 

 The personal equation has been reduced to a minimum, 

 and Mr. Sherborn's accuracy, which has stood the 

 severe test of the first part of this index, is a guarantee 

 of the absolute reliance which can be placed on the 

 second part. The author has given valuable biblio- 

 graphical notes to the literature he has examined, and 

 has smoothed the path of systematic zoologists con- 

 siderably by indicating where that literature is to 

 be found in England and whether it contains new names 

 or any information likely to be of use. 



The " Index Animalium " should henceforth be 

 regarded as the bible of systematic zoology. It seems 

 to us that all the vexed questions of nomenclature 

 and priority could be settled by a reference to its pages, 

 and the time and labours of systematists freed for the 

 more complete examinations of the animals themselves. 

 Acknowledgments are due to the Committee of the 

 British Association and to the Trustees of the British 

 Museum for the financial assistance they have given 

 to this work, and to the latter body for assuming the 

 responsibilities of publication. It is only fitting and 

 proper that the most important centre of systematic 

 zoology in the world should undertake the issue of this 

 invaluable and indispensable work, and we are grate- 

 ful to the Trustees of the British Museum for having 

 done so. 



A word of praise is due, too, to the printers and 

 publishers for the admirable way in which this instal- 

 ment has been printed and for its freedom from errors. 

 We have detected no typographical mistakes in a fairly 

 NO. 274S, VOL. I 10] 



close scrutiny. Sir Sidney Ilarmer in his preface refers 

 to the index as a " labour of love," and we can but 

 inadequatelv express our thanks to Mr. Sherborn for his 

 magnificent and untiring work. We may, perhaps, 

 be allowed to express our pleasure in the fact that 

 publication is assured and that the results of Mr. 

 Sherborn's work will be preserved in permanent form 

 as a splendid monument to his labours in the cause of 

 science. 



Sugar Technology. 



(1) Cane Sugar : A Textbook on the Agriculture of the 

 Sugar Cane. The Manufacture of Cane Sugar, and 

 the Analysis of Sugar-house Products. By Noel Deerr. 

 Second (revised and enlarged) edition. Pp. viii + 

 644 + xxix plates. (London : Norman Rodger, 1921.) 

 42s. net. 



(2) The Manufacture of Cane Sugar. By Llewellyn 

 Jones and Fredric I. Scard. Second revised edition. 

 Pp. xix + 4Si + 27o plates. (London: Duckworth 

 and Co., 1921.) 25s. net. 



(3) Condensed Description of the Manufacture of Beet 

 Sugar. By Dr. F. Murke. Pp. v+175. (New 

 York : John Wiley and Sons. Inc. ; London : 

 Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1921.) 15.V. net. 



(1) T) EARING in mind the importance of the 

 ±_) sugar industry to the British Empire, 

 more especially in its relation to sugar cane, it is not 

 surprising, and distinctly comforting, to know that 

 we are so well supplied at the present time with up- 

 to-date literature on the subject. Mr. Deerr's treatise 

 ranks among the most important, occupyin" as it has 

 done for the last ten years — and if we include his first 

 smaller work we may say seventeen years, not to 

 mention his " Sugar House Contiol " published in 

 1900 — a unique position, the subject being treated 

 from both the theoretical and practical standpoints. 

 The long experience of the author as a technologist 

 and an experimentalist had qualified him eminently 

 for the task he undertook, while for the past ten 

 years he has added still further to his previous extensive 

 experience by being associated with the sugar industry 

 in Cuba and with a sugar refinery in New York. The 

 first edition of Mr. Deerr's treatise was published in 

 191 1. The present edition covers 52 additional pages, 

 each containing some n per cent, more words, in 

 addition to which it has been completely rewiitten. 

 The reputation of the author is so well known and 

 generally admitted that it is a guarantee at once that 

 his task has been carried out with thoroughness. It 

 is worthy of note, however, that his MS. has been 

 submitted to the following authorities, to whom he 

 acknowledges his thanks for help and criticism : Mr. 



