NAT ORE 



[March 4, 1969 



Allhough the book is written from the point of 

 view of American practice, and consequently certain 

 sccfions, sucli as the chapter on estimates and costs, 

 will not be found so useful to English workers, the 

 gejieral information on constructional work, which 

 is mainly descriptive, should be found helpful by 

 jludent.s and those engaged in English practice. 



(3) The authors have performed the unenviable task 

 of condensing the whole problem of sewerage and 

 sewage disposal within fifty-six small pages, in such 

 a manner as to give the lay mind a good and, on 

 Ihe whole, fairly accurate elementary idea of the 

 subject. It necessarily follows that the information 

 afforded will not be found so useful to those actually 

 engaged in sewage work. 



In view of the adverse opinion expressed in 

 Dunbar's " Principles of Sewage Treatment," it is 

 interesting to note that the authors strongly advocate 

 the preliminary treatment of sewage in aerobic slate 

 fi'tsrs. Edward Ardern. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Explication michanique dcs Proprietes de la Mati'ere, 



Cohesion, Affinity, Gravitation. <>■(:. By a' 



Despaux. Pp. 352. (Paris: Felix Alcan, "inoS.) 

 Price 6 francs. 



This is an attempt to explain everything in terms of 

 a mechanical hypothesis. The universality of appli- 

 cation of his hypothesis is scarcely conveyed by the 

 author in the title he has given to his book. 

 Not only cohesion, affinity, gravitation, but also 

 biological and psychological problems are brought 

 within its range. What differences of opinion, there- 

 fore, may we not expect from those who read its 

 pages! Such far-reaching generalisations must be 

 backed up by exceptionally strong evidence before 

 their acceptance can be reasonably entertained. 



The author seems to anticipate that it will not be 

 easy to secure adhesion to his views. He has little 

 respect for what we may call the grand reserve of 

 science. Official science, he says, is essentially con- 

 servative. When a discovery is made, it is said at 

 first that it is not true; and then that it is not new. 

 'lo some extent he is able to justify his belief in 

 the "resistance" of science. Said ' Lavoisier, "I 

 do not expect that my ideas will be adopted all at 

 UUCP." While he explained combustion by a simple 

 ciinibination, the partisans of phlogiston burned his 

 eHigy in Berlin. Avogadro received'no attention from 

 the French Academy, to which he presented his 

 memoir, and it was only twenty years afterwards 

 ihat he obtained recognition. Sadi Carnot's memoii 

 remained unknown until, after twent\--four years. 

 Lord Kelvin rescued it from oblivion. 



Our author, therefore, does not expect impartiality 

 from his contemporaries; it scarcely seems worth 

 while to state our opinion upon his views. We will 

 be content with indicating that he attempts to show- 

 that everything can be explained bv supposing the 

 molecule to consist of a sort of corkscrew which, 

 spinning, sets up whirls and streams in the sther 

 which he likens to those produced by a ventilating 

 fan. If the molecule is "free," then by its own 

 rotation it propels itself in space " like ' a fish in 

 water or a bird in the air." It is then part of a gas 

 When It is part of a solid it is fixed in position, 

 but by Its rotation propels aether in front and sucks 

 NO. 2053, VOL. 80] 



it in behind. This flow of aether through the mole- 

 cule constitutes the electric charge ; and so on ; 

 but for the remainder of this explanation of the 

 universe we must refer the unbiassed reader to the 

 volume itself. 



Lemons dc Physique gdnerale. By J. Chappuis and 

 A. Bergct. Tome I. Second edition; completely 

 revised. Pp. xii + 669;. illustrations. (Paris: 

 Gauthier-Villars, 1907.) Price 10 francs. 



In a publishers' note it is claimed that the intention 

 of this work is to fill up the gap between elementary 

 treatises and those in which the exposition of physics 

 is carried to its highest developments. With regard 

 to any such works, of which numerous examples 

 might be cited outside France, we mav say there 

 must necessarily be considerable resemblance one 

 with another. It is in the higher developments that 

 originality can come chiefly into evidence ; so that 

 it is not in any derogatory spirit that we assert that 

 there is much in this book which can be obtained 

 elsewhere, and which in such other places is as well 

 presented as we find it here. But it would give quite 

 an erroneous notion as to the contents of the volurne 

 if we were to be content with such an appraisement 

 as this. For in many parts the treatment is so 

 lucid, considering the difficulty of the matter, that 

 we doubt whether it is possible to find a better book 

 than this of the standard which it aims at attaining. 

 It is specially rich in illustrations of classical 

 apparatus employed in determinations for- physical 

 data. 



The chapters dealing with thermodynamics are also 

 exceedingly clear, and will be greatly appreciated 

 by those who have mastered the mathematics neces- 

 sary — which, it must be pointed out, is never very 

 severe. The logic is beyond criticism, and the 

 physical conceptions are accurate. We will only add 

 that the present volume deals with measuring instru- 

 ments, weight, elasticity, statics of liquids and gases, 

 and heat. The second edition of the volume on 

 electricity and magnetism has already appeared. 



Biochemie. Ein Lchrhuch jiir Mediziner, Zoologen 

 mid Botaniker. By Dr. F. Rohmann. Pp. xvi + 

 768. (Berlin : Julius Springer, iqoS.) Price 20 

 marks. 



Prof. Rohmann is a well-known physiological 

 chemist, and has produced a work on that subject 

 which will prove useful to teachers and students of 

 that branch of science. The book is written from 

 the standpoint of chemistry, and really is a text- 

 book of organic chemistry which deals particularly 

 with the substances found in animal and vegetable 

 organisms. The biological and metabolic aspects of 

 the subject are treated incidentally and, as a rule, 

 with brevity. There is, for instance, no chapter that 

 deals with the blood as a whole, but the pigment is 

 dealt with in one place, the proteins in another, and 

 so forth. The same is true for milk, urine, and 

 the other secretions ; there is no general survey of 

 ferment action, of coagulation, of oxidation, and of 

 other processes important from the point of view of 

 the physiologist. 



There are, however, many handbooks of bio- 

 chemistry available to-day which deal adequately with 

 its biological side. Prof. Rohmann 's book is there- 

 fore useful as supplementary to these from the purely 

 chemical side. To those engaged in research his 

 book will be a great help; it contains a mine of 

 bibliographical references, and chemical methods of 

 analysis are described in detail. The pages bristle 

 with chemical formula' which make the book some- 

 what formidable to medical readers, to wliom the book 



J 



