March i8j 1909] 



NATURE 



highest temperatures of explosion flames. There is no 

 evidence in these experiments of any real discontinuity 

 between the chemical phenomena of ordinary " inflamma- 

 tion " and those of "detonation." The higher tempera- 

 tures and more violent conditions in " detonation " are 

 responsible for the more complete breaking down of un- 

 saturated hydrocarbons and a greater " unburning " of 

 steam by carbon, but there is probably no difference as 

 regards the mode in which the hydrocarbon is attacked by 

 the oxygen in the two cases. 



Results of Explosion of an EquinwleciUar Mixture of 

 Ethane and Oxygen under High Pressures. 



I therefore believe that, so far as our present knowledge 

 goes, the views I have put forward afford a simple and 

 consistent interpretation of hydrocarbon combustion, 

 whether it be the slow llameless kind discovered by Davy 

 or the more complex phenomena of ordinary flames so 

 wonderfully expounded by him, or, finally, the extreme 

 conditions of temperature and pressure characteristic of the 

 e.splosion wave. 



SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF FORTHCOMING 



BOOKS OF SCIENCE. 

 T \ addition to the books referred to in Nature of last 

 week, the following works are announced : — 

 .Anthropology. 



G. Fischer (Jena). — Die palaolithischen Fundc von 

 Taubach in den Musecn zu Jena und Weimar, Dr. G. 

 Eichhorn, illustrated. Hodder and Stotighton. — New 

 Impressions of Primitive Man, E. Clodd ; The British Race, 

 J. Munro. Elliot Stock. — Folk Lore and Folk Stories of 

 Wales, M. Trevelyan, with introduction by E. S. Hartland ; 

 Indian Folk Tales, E. M. Gordon (cheap edition). 

 Biology. 



W. Engehnann (Leipzig). — Geschichte der biologischen 

 Theorien, Prof. E. RadI, 2 Teil ; Der Vegetation der Erde, 

 xi. Band, Die Vegctationsverhaltnisse der Balkanlander, 

 Prof. L. Adamovic, illustrated ; xii. Band, Botanical Survey 

 of the United States of North .America, Prof. J. W. 

 Harshberger, illustrated ; Prantls Lehrbuch der Botanik, 

 new edition, illustrated; Vortrage und .Aufsiitze iiber 

 Entwicklungsmechanik der Organismcn, edited by Prof. 

 W. Roux, vi. Heft, Cbcr chemische Beeinflussung der 

 Organismen durch einander. Prof. E. Kuster ; vii. Heft, 

 Der Restitutionsreiz, Dr. H. Driesch. G. Fischer (Jena). 

 — Recueil des Travaux botaniques N^erlandais, public par 

 la .Soci^t^ botanique Neerlandaise, vol. iv., illustrated ; 

 Histologische Beitrage, Prof. E. Strasburger, Heft vii., 

 illustrated; Zoologisches Wbrterbuch, edited by Prof. H. E. 

 Zicglcr, Lief. iii. Hodder and Sloughton. — Germ Life : 



NO. 2055, VOL. 80] 



Bacteria, H. W. Conn. T. Werner Laurie. — The Garden 

 Booklets :— The Rose Garden ; The Rock Garden ; The 

 Bulb Garden ; The Formal Garden ; The Water Garden ; 

 The Fern Garden. G. Philip and Son, Ltd. — School 

 Gardening, W. E. Watkins and A. Sowman. 



Geography and Travel. 

 Hodder and Stoughlon. — Camps and Cruises of an 

 Ornithologist, F. M. Chapman, illustrated; The Story of 

 Geographical Discovery, J. Jacob. Hutchinson and Co. — 

 The .American Egypt : a Record of a Sojourn in Yucatan 

 and other Parts of Mexico, C. .Arnold and F. J. Frost, 

 illustrated. G. Philip and Son, Ltd. — .A Guide to Geo- 

 graphical Books and -Appliances, J. F. Unstead and N. E. 

 Mac.Munn, edited by .A. J. Herbertson ; A Rational Geo- 

 graphy, E. Young, part ii. ; Our Own Islands, H. J. 

 -Mackindcr ; and a new edition of L'Estrange's Junior 

 Course of Comparative Geography, revised and entirely re- 

 arranged, with maps in black and white. 



Geology. 

 W. Engelmann (Leipzig). — Das Salz, dessen Vorkommen 

 und Verwertung in samtlichen Staaten der Erde, Dr. J. 

 Buschman, "2 vols. 



Mathematical and Physical Science. 

 W. Engehnann (Leipzig). — Tafeln fiir Maschincnrechnen, 

 Prof. O. Lohse. Harper Brothers. — The Ether of Space, 

 Sir Oliver J. Lodge, F.R.S. T. Werner Laurie. — Every- 

 day Electricity, F. Broadbent, illustrated ; Everyday 

 .Astronomy, H. P. HoUis, illustrated. T. Murby and 

 Co. — Hobbs's Electrical Measurements (new edition). 

 G. Philip and Son, Ltd. — Practical Elementary Science, T. 

 Samuel and H. Foxcroft, three parts ; A Handy Boole of 

 the Stars, Captain W. B. Whall (new edition). S. Rentell 

 and Co., Ltd. — New editions of the Telegraphist's Guide : 

 The Telegraphist's and Telephonist's Notebook; and 

 Questions and Solutions in Telegraphy, and Telephony : 

 being Solutions to the Questions set by the City and Guilds 

 of London Institute in the Ordinary Grades of Telegraphy 

 and Telephony for the Years 1904-8, H. P. Few. 



Medical Science. 

 IF. Engelmann (Leipzig). — Die aphasischen Symptome 

 und ihre corticale Lokalisation, Dr. N. von Mayendorf, 

 illustrated; Die basedowsche Krankheit, Prof. H. Sattler, 

 I Teil, Symptomatologie, illustrated ; Anleitung zur 

 Praparation und zum Studium der .Anatomic des Gehirns, 

 Dr. E. Villiger. G. Fischer (Jena). — Handbuch der 

 .Anatomic des Menschen, Erster Band, Skeletlehre, illus- 

 trated ; Liindliche Hvgiene, Dr. E. Roth, Zwanzigster 

 Band. 



IT' 

 Jherin 



Technology. 

 Engelmann (Leipzig). — Die Gasmaschinen, 



A. von 



Teilen, 2 Teil, Geschichtliche Entwicklung 

 und Beschreibung der Gasmaschinen, illustrated; Vorles- 

 ungen iiber Ingenieurwissenschaften, Prof. G. Mehrtens, 

 I Teil, Starik der Baukonstruktionen und Festigkeitslehre, 

 Erster Band, illustrated (new edition). 



Miscellaneous. 

 W. Engelmann (Leipzig). — Die mnemischen Empfind- 

 ungen in ihren Beziehungen zu den Originalempfindungen, 

 Prof. R. Senion (Mnemc, ii. Band). Hodder and Slough- 

 foii.— Thought and Feeling, F. Ky\and.— The St. Bride's 

 Press, Ltd. — Lectures on Sanitation, W. D. Scott- 

 Moncrieff ; The Polar Planimetcr : How it is Used and 

 How it Operates, F. J. Gray. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — ^.An exhibition of 50/. a year, tenable for 

 two years, is offered by the governing body of Emmanuel 

 College to an advanced student commencing residence at 

 Cambridge as a member of Emmanuel College in October. 

 The exhibition will be awarded jit the beginning of 

 October. 



London. — The governors of the Imperial College of 

 Science have decided to purchase a section of freehold 

 properlv in Cornwall giving free access to a mine for the' 



