486 



NA TURE 



[June 24, 1909 



most important alimentary substances used by man. 

 Th«' modt's of their orijj^in and transformation, first 

 within the organism wliich produces them, and then 

 within the orfjanism which assimilates and consumes 

 them, have been tlie subject of innumerable inquiries 

 ;uid of endless speculation. Comparatively simple in 

 composition, their true nature and constitution lontj 

 remained shrouded in app.irently impenetrable mvsterv, 

 and all the methods which chemists were in the habit 

 of employinfj in the attempt to unravel the internal 

 structure of bodies were in their case unavailing-. 

 This was no doubt due in larfjc measure to their 

 limited r.-mj^e of chemical activity, and the relatively 

 small number of combinations and derivatives which 

 could be obtained from them. Even when, by more or 

 less drastic treatment, they were forced to yield other 

 products, the few compounds so formed were products 

 of small molecular weight and of simple constitution, 

 evidently " dej:;radation " products far removed in 

 structure from the parent molecule, and incapable of 

 affording- any valid clues to its real nature. 



In the work before us it will be .seen how all this 

 has been changed. Incidentally Prof. Fischer has 

 gathered together all that has been accumulated re- 

 specting this large and im[X)rtant group, and, 

 proceeding to attack in detail its individual members, 

 he has succeeded, by a masterly series of researches 

 extending over nearly a quarter of a century, in 

 laying bare the internal structure of many of the 

 more important constituents of the group and in 

 exposing their genetic relations. The greater bulk 

 of the volume consists of reprints of papers, contri- 

 buted for the most part to the Bcrithle of the German 

 Chemic-il Society either by Prof. Fischer, by him 

 in collaboration with his pupils, or by certain of them 

 alone working under his inspiration and direction. 

 The memoirs on tlie sugars alone number ninety- 

 three. In addition there are seven papers on the 

 ferments. It is significant of Prof. Fischer's power 

 and of the inf^uence of the Berlin laboratory as an 

 engine of research that a considerable number of his 

 collaborators are English, Scotch, and .American. 

 This great wealth of experimental material admits, 

 luckily, of very simple classification, viz. (i) as 

 nitrogen-derivatives of the sugars; (2) the syntheses 

 and configuration of the monosaccharides ; (3) the 

 disaccharides; and lastly (4) the glucosides. To the 

 student and the investigator who may follow Prof. 

 Fischer into the territory he has thus opened out, the 

 compilation will be invalu;ible. He has provided us 

 with a vadc-wccum which will be indispensable to all 

 who purpose to occupy themselves with what, as the 

 direct result of his own assiduous cultivation, will 

 long remain a fruitful field of inquiry. 



Of more gener.il interest, however, are the five 

 introductory memoirs in which Prof. Fischer sum- 

 marises the outcome of this prolonged experimental 

 research. Two of them—" Syntheses in the Sugar- 

 group "—have already been published as lectures de- 

 livered to the German Chemical Society and have 

 appeared in th° Berichtc. and are everywhere re- 

 garded as among the cl.issics of contempor.ary organic 

 chemistry. The third paper has been put together 

 for the purposes of this work. It deals with the 

 NO. 2069, VOL. 80] 



material which has been accumulated since 1894, the 

 year of the preceding lecture. The fourth and fifth 

 papers are of special interest to the physiological 

 chemist and medical man. The former is a reprint 

 of a popul.ir lecture given on the occasion of the 

 celebration of the founding of the German Military 

 .Medical .Academy {1894), and the latter is a contribu- 

 tion to the y.citschrijt jiir physiologischc Chemie 

 (189S), and is of particular importance as summarising 

 the work ihi-n done on the action of enzymes, and 

 more particul.irly the enzymes of yeast, upon the 

 hvdrolvsis and fermentation of the polysaccharides. 



The work before us is characteristic of much that 

 we admire in Germany and of much that wc deplore 

 in our own country. With the possible exception of 

 .\merica, nowhere else in the world would such a 

 monumental work have been ixjssible. Prof. Emil 

 Fischer, in the Prussian capital, worthily carries on 

 the traditions founded by the Roses, by Mitscherlich, 

 and by Hofmann, aided by all the material appli- 

 ances which a wise liberality places at his disposal. 

 Economically and financially Germany is even in a 

 " tighter pl.-iie " than we find ourselves to-day, but 

 she is sutViciently wise to perceive that to starve her 

 educational agencies and to cramp and hinder the 

 development of her schools of research, and thereby 

 interfere with the development of her material re- 

 sources, is r.ot a sane method of combating her 

 difficulties. But every nation has a Government as 

 good as it deserves. What is possible in Germany is 

 possible only by the attitude of its people towards 

 science and research, and what that attitude is is 

 sufticiently indicated by the circumstance that a 

 German publisher is willing to take the risk of issuing 

 to the Germ;in public this memorable series of works, 

 so strikingly characteristic of German capacity, 

 energy, and thoroughness, and of which the volume 

 under review forms a fitting crown and consumma- 

 tion. T. 



THE " VALUIVIA " EXPEDITION. 

 Die Gniudt'rohe)! der " Dcutschcn Tiejscc-Expcdi- 

 tion." By Sir John Murray and Prof. E. Philippi. 

 Pp. 80-206; with 7 plates and 2 maps. (Jena: 

 Gustav Fischer, 1908.) 



THIS valuable monograph forms the fourth part 

 of the tenth volutiie of the scientific results of 

 the voyage of the German exploring ship Valdivia in 

 the .Atlantic and Indian Oceans, made during the 

 years 1S98-9. These admirable volumes are pub- 

 lished under the editorship of Prof. Chun, the 

 zoologist of Leipzig, who was leader of the expedi- 

 tion ; and Prof. V.. Philippi has secured the valuable 

 cooperation of Sir John Murray, whose wide experi- 

 ence in researches of this class has proved of the 

 greatest service. Prof. Philippi gratefully .-icknow- 

 ledges the assisl.uice he received at the Challenger 

 office in Edinburgh from the members of the stall, as 

 well as from Sir John Murray himself. 



The route taken by the Va'idivia was round the 

 north of the British Islands, and thence southward, 

 following, at some distance, the western coasts of 

 Europe and .Africa ; from the Cape of Good Hope a 



