Supplement to ''Nature," October lo, 1907 



the descriptions can be followed fairly well in any 

 case. At the same time, a very useful purpose would 

 be served by having a map in the book itself. If 

 only on the ground of convenience, it would be con- 

 sulted more frequently than an atlas, and the reader 

 would acquire a better knowledge of the geography 

 of the interesting and practically unspoilt towns that 

 Mr. Jackson has so ably brought before our notice. 

 This is the only fault, and that not a serious one, 

 that can be found with this charming and delightful 

 book. On the other hand, the vivid descriptions re- 

 call to our mind the bright colours of a southern 

 town, the shouts and gesticulations of the populace, 

 and last, but not least, the scent of burnt incense in 

 the churches and the unsavoury odours of narrow 

 Italian streets. 



G. H. Bryan. 



SCIENCE AND PRACTICAL BREEDING. 

 Farm Live Stock of Great Britain. By Robert 

 Wallace. Fourth edition. Pp. xxxi + 758. (Edin- 

 burgh : Oliver and Boyd, 1907.) Price i6s. net. 

 THIS edition of Prof. Wallace's handbook cannot 

 fail to be of value to owners and to students of 

 the history and management of stock. The illustra- 

 tions are a special feature of the book ; more than 400 of 

 them arc excellent reproductions of photographs, and 

 had the animals been taken in a position which would 

 admit of measurement, and a scale provided, the col- 

 lection would have been of unique value. 



After a chapter on wild cattle, in which the various 

 herds recorded are referred to, and, where possible, 

 described, there follow nine chapters on breeds of 

 cattle. The origin and history of these breeds, their 

 points, character, and management are well set forth ; 

 but what is of special interest is the attention devoted 

 to variation, to the development of special qualities 

 and of new types, to the influence of cfimate, and to 

 the results of crossing. Chapters on the breeding and 

 management of calves, on grazing cattle, and on the 

 house-feeding of cattle follow, and this section con- 

 cludes with two valuable chapters on dairying. 



Pigs are somewhat perfunctorily dismissed in two 

 short chapters. 



Six chapters are given to the horse. Extinct and 

 wild horses are briefly referred to, and a few incon- 

 clusive words said on the subject of the origin of our 

 domestic breeds. Clydesdales and shire horses are 

 more fully treated than are any of the other breeds, 

 as must be expected in a book of this kind, but the 

 space devoted to horses is meagre, and the treatment 

 accorded them not comparable to that given to cattle 

 and sheep. 



On sheep there are eight chapters, in which the 

 various breeds are separately and, as a rule, fully 

 treated, while four short chapters contain advice as to 

 the management of sheep, their feeding, the parasites 

 which infest them, and the diseases from which they 

 suffer. 



The author claims in writing this book to have 

 kept " in view not only the interests of one special 

 NO. 1980, VOL. 76] 



breed, but also its connection with other breeds and 

 the position it occupies in the great live stock economy 

 of the country." This is a high aim, and, if he has 

 not entirely succeeded, either to the satisfaction of 

 certain special breeders or to that of the advanced 

 student of live stock economy, his work is valuable, 

 and will be of real service to those who follow him in 

 their efforts to attain this end. 



To readers of N.\ture it is to the first chapter in this 

 book, on the principles of breeding, they will turn 

 with special interest, and it is disappointing to find 

 that the author has failed to give an account which 

 adequately represents the results attained by modern 

 scientific workers or the influence such work must 

 exert on the future development of the breeding in- 

 dustry. 



It is not from books, he says, that a student can 

 learn to master the peculiarities of different breeds 

 or the constitution of different animals; a long appren- 

 ticeship as a practical breeder is essential for such 

 knowledge and for the success of the stock-owner. 

 That is undoubtedly true, but one may surely have 

 expected the professor of agriculture in Edinburgh to 

 point out in his book that the scientific principles 

 which govern the right application of all practical 

 experience are of no less importance ; to emphasise the 

 fact that a scientific training which teaches the prac- 

 tical observer what to look for, how to sift his observ- 

 ations, how to apply his knowledge effectively, is 

 necessary for the student of the subject, and a sound 

 knowledge of the scientific principles of breeding essen- 

 tial for the highest success of the modern stock-owner. 

 This omission is greatly to be deplored. 



W. H. 



A NEW DICTIONARY OF SOLUBILITIES. 



Soluhilities of Inorganic and Organic Sithstances. By 

 -Atherton Seidell. Pp. x + 367. (London : Crosby 

 Lockwood and Son ; New York : D. Van Nostrand 

 Co.. 1907.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 



DURING the thirteen years which have elapsed 

 since the publication of Come}''s " Dictionary 

 of Chemical Solubilities," so great an activity has 

 been shown in the determination of solubilities as to 

 necessitate a new compilation of the data. As it is 

 impossible to tell whether the solutions used in most 

 of the earlier determinations w-ere saturated in con- 

 tact with a single definite solid phase, a considerable 

 degree of uncertainty characterises such values. At 

 the time when Prof. Comey's " Dictionary " was 

 written it appeared inadvisable in the majority 

 of cases to attempt to select from the dis- 

 cordant results of different observers the most 

 trustworthy values for any particular substance, 

 but the author of the present work points out 

 that such a discrimination can now be made with 

 advantage. In general, the values he gives were 

 chosen by calculating the available determinations to 

 a common basis, and plotting the data so given on 

 squared paper. A comparison of the curves obtained, 

 together with a consideration of the experimental 



