July 8, 1922] 



NA TURE 



33 



account of the subject of mustard gas poisoning extant. 

 Let us hope that it will be long before such a book is 

 needed again ; should there be another big war in our 

 time, this work will provide a complete account of 

 the properties of a substance which, had it been used 

 earlier in the recent war, would almost certainly have 

 proved a deciding factor. 



C. Lovatt Evans. 



Tinctorial Chemistry and Histology. 



Untersuchungen iiber Echtfarbung der Zellkerne mit 

 kiinsilichen Beizenfarbstoffen nnd die Theorie des 

 histologischen Fdrbeprozesses mit gelbsten Lacken. 

 Von Prof. Dr. Siegfried Becher. Pp. xx + 318. 

 (Berlin : Gebriider Borntraeger, 1921.) 105. 6d. 



THERE have been several attempts to evolve a 

 scientific basis of the staining processes which 

 are used in histology, but nothing as comprehensive 

 as the book under review has so far been produced. It 

 is the outcome of more than twenty years of research on 

 the application of tinctorial chemistry to histology. 

 The book contains a remarkable amount of sound 

 chemistry, and one cannot but wonder how a professor 

 of zoology and comparative anatomy could have found 

 the time to acquire such profound knowledge of a 

 subject so removed from his special lines of thought 

 and study. Dr. Becher has been very successful in the 

 manner in which he has combined histology with 

 chemistry, and even the few peculiarities in his chemical 

 terminology and chemical formulae, such as, for example, 

 his eccentric formula : 



for phthalic anhydride, only add to the peculiar charm 

 of the book. They vouch, at least, for the fact that 

 the author has not blindly copied his chemical matter, 

 which is too often the case when biologists develop 

 chemical tendencies. 



That the rituals of histology will have to give place 

 to chemical common sense is evident from Becher's 

 researches, which show conclusively that successful 

 staining depends on one factor only, namely a well 

 selected " triple-alliance " (a bon mot presumably 

 chosen by Dr. Becher before the War) of tissue, 

 mordant, and stain. Careful considerations of the 

 individual and combined chemical properties of these 

 three factors lead to success, ^ their neglect spells 

 NO. 2749, VOL. I 10] 



failure. This is the leit-motif of the whole research, 

 which is abundantly supported by more than 2000 

 experiments. Becher's researches lead him also to 

 the following generalisations, namely (1) the solubility 

 of the " lakes " (metallic compounds of organic 

 colouring matters) is of great importance, for good 

 staining depends not on the solubility of the dye, but 

 on that of the " lake," and (2) that all " lakes " of the 

 hydroxy-anthraquinones are of general use for nuclear 

 staining. The hydroxy-anthraquinones have been 

 specially studied by Becher and the attention of 

 histologists may be directed to pp. 271-275, which 

 give a practical summary of these results. 



However, not only histologists, but also chemists 

 will find much in this book that will be of interest to 

 them. There is too much belief in the infallibility of 

 Griebler's stains in histological circles and the British 

 dye industry would, perhaps, be well advised to pay 

 some attention to this particular aspect of tinctorial 

 chemistry. That not only Germany but also other 

 countries manufacture dyes which give good histological 

 results is again also evident from the work under review, 

 since Dr. Becher has successfully used French, Swiss, 

 Dutch, Belgian, and British dyes. 



Reference might, perhaps, be made to a few 

 minor errors, such as the statement on p. 121 that 

 ellagic acid was synthesised by Georgievic in 1913, 

 whereas it was actually synthesised by Perkin and 

 Nierenstein in 1905. Such slight defects, however, 

 detract little or nothing from the value of the book, 

 which is certainly the best of its kind so far published. 

 M. Nierenstein. 



Mineral Resources of Yugoslavia. 



The Geology and Mineral Resources of the Serb-Croat- 

 Slovene State : Being the Report of the Geologist 

 attached to the British Economic Mission to Serbia. 

 By D. A. Wray. (Department of Overseas Trade. 

 Ref. No. F.E. 383). Pp. in. (London : H.M. 

 Stationery Office, 1921). 35. 6d. net. 



THE Department of Overseas Trade has rendered 

 a distinct service to economic geologists in 

 publishing an account of the mineral resources of 

 Yugoslavia, because our knowledge of this subject has 

 hitherto been decidedly fragmentary. A few of the 

 mineral deposits have long been well known, such as 

 the mercury mines of Idrija, the copper mines of 

 Majdanpek and the iron mines of Vares, but systematic 

 information was lacking, and this has now been supplied 

 by the painstaking work of llr. D. A. Wray. 



After a brief introduction dealing with the more 

 important general and economic features of the new 



B I 



