142 



NA TURE 



[July 29, 1922 



Perhaps the most valuable portion of the present 

 volume is that which is concerned with the chemical 

 analyses of the metal objects. A considerable number 

 of analyses of implements, w-eapons, and ornaments, 

 the basic material of which is copper, is now available, 

 and comparisons can be made of the percentages of 

 tin combined with copper to yield different qualities 

 of bronze. From the data supplied it will be seen 

 that in the New World bronze objects the proportion 

 of tin to copper varies exceedingly. In some instances 

 it is so small as to make it doubtful whether the alloy 

 can be intentional ; and, in such cases, it may, perhaps, 

 be legitimate to include the objects in the category 

 of " pure copper." In others an unusually high 

 percentage of tin is revealed (55-60 per cent, having 

 been recorded by Ambrosetti in one chisel), though 

 frequently it is the ornamental objects which contain 

 a high proportion of tin. As Dr. Nordenskiold points 

 out, from the results of experiment, copper with a 

 slight admixture of tin can be hardened effectually 

 by hammering. In fact, for the manufacture of 

 implements designed for hard usage (cutting tools, 

 etc.) a relatively low percentage of the alloy, combined 

 with the process of compacting the metal by hammer- 

 ing, seems to give the most satisfactory results. The 

 hardness of various objects of copper and bronze was 

 tested experimentally with a Brinell press, and the 

 tests were applied to different parts of the same 

 implement, the results showing that the edge was 

 hardened more than the rest, as might be expected. 



It is clear from the capriciously variable percentages 

 of tin that the alloying of copper with this metal 

 was not fully understood, and that the metallurgy of 

 bronze was still for the most part in an experimental 

 stage in South America. 



The author endeavours to prove that throughout 

 the territory of the Inca empire the Bronze-age was 

 preceded by an age of pure copper. He makes out 

 an interesting case, but this point can be settled 

 finally only by stratigraphical evidence. Much of 

 the argument is based upon typological classification 

 and geographical distribution of types, which, together 

 with analyses of the metals, form a powerful combina- 

 tion in suggesting sequences, though they cannot 

 prove actual chronological successions. 



An interesting typological sequence is afforded by 

 certain socket axe-blades of copper, in which the 

 decorative treatment preserves the memory of an 

 earlier method of hafting, by means of a collar of 

 stitched raw-hide or leather. The form of the leather 

 collar, which suggested the socket in this type of axe, 

 and also the thong-stitches, are realistically represented 

 on the later copper blades, although the latter were 

 entirely of metal and cast in one piece. 

 NO. 2752, VOL. I 10] 



The book has suffered somewhat at the hands of 

 both translator and printer. Several sentences are 

 very obscure in their meaning, and misprints and 

 other blemishes are unduly abundant. Such an 

 expression as " bronze (pure copper) " surely should 

 not occur in a treatise which aims at differentiating 

 between the alloyed and the pure metal. This ex- 

 pression occurs more than once and tends to obscure 

 the issue and weaken the argument. 



In spite, however, of the avoidable blemishes which 

 occur in this translated version, the book is of real 

 value and throws light upon a very interesting archaeo- 

 logical problem. The volume is profusely illustrated, 

 though the figures are of unequal merit, and contains 

 maps and tables which are very helpful. There is 

 also a bibliography. Henry Balfour. 



A Monument to a Master Chemist. 



Untersiichungen iiber Kohlenhydrate mid Fermente II, 

 (1908-1919). Von Emil Fischer. Herausgegeben 

 von M. Bergmann. Pp. ix + 534. (Berlin: J. 

 Springer, 1922.) Germany, 1S6 marks ; England, 

 22.9. 6d. 



IT is an accepted fact in art and literature that, 

 apart from the vagaries of fashion, only a future 

 generation can properly assess the ultimate fame of 

 artist or author. This is no doubt equally true in 

 science, yet we are already sure that time will only 

 serve to enhance the reputation of Emil Fischer. The 

 remarkable official account of his life and work, written 

 for the German Chemical Society by Kurt Hoesch, 

 and the biographical fragment " Aus meinem Leben " 

 left by Fischer himself, afford a unique store of material : 

 when properly digested in this country by those com- 

 petent to understand it. this should make it possible 

 to obtain a clear view of his personality and attain- 

 ments which will be free from the natural patriotic 

 bias of his own countrymen. 



During his lifetime Fischer, who was not without 

 a characteristic strain of personal vanity, issued in 

 book form reprints of his work on the sugars, proteins, 

 purins, and tannins, including in the first papers 

 published up to the end of 1908. Dr. M. Bergmann, a 

 very loyal fellow-worker, has now collected the later 

 sugar papers from 1908 onwards. To workers in this 

 field, the advantage of possessing these volumes is 

 very great, and science owes a debt of gratitude to 

 Dr. Bergmann for completing them. 



The sugars were Fischer's first love, though not 

 the subject of his earliest work ; to his work with 

 phenylhydrazine he owed the chronic illness which 

 had so great an effect on his daily life, causing him for 

 a time to abandon their study, first for that of the de- 



