Apeil 15, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



583 



course as a preliminary to a more advanced 

 one, the subjects can be treated in a more 

 general and advanced form without, how- 

 ever, smothering the general principles in 

 a multitude of details. One peculiar feature 

 of this book which would probably attract the 

 attention of a reader is the unusual method of 

 introducing various subjects by what might 

 be called a poetical reference to some action 

 in the world at large as a basis to explain 

 some chemical fact or hypothesis. While this 

 appears, to the chemist who has been trained 

 to reason on the basis of observed facts and to 

 keep away as far as possible from unprofitable 

 speculation, to be an unscientific method of 

 treating the subject and one usually more 

 suitable for primary grades, it may have its 

 value, just as a study of models enables one 

 to grasp more clearly the conception of stereo- 

 chemistry and the configuration of molecules. 

 On the whole, therefore, the reviewer consid- 

 ers that this book should be of value in intro- 

 ducing a class of girls to the part which 

 chemistry plays in the affairs of the world sur- 

 rounding them. J. L. G. 



Die Normalen Asymmetrien des Menschlichen 



Eorpers. By Professor Dr. E. Gaupp. Pp. 



i + 59, mit 8 Textfiguren. Jena, G. Fischer. 



1909. 



This little but useful volume forms a fourth 

 part of a " Collection of Anatomical and 

 Physiological Publications " written by Pro- 

 fessors Gaupp and W. Nagel. 



The present work is to a large extent a con- 

 tinuation of Professor Gaupp's former study 

 concerning the right-handedness of man (No. 

 I. of the same series of publications) . It sum- 

 marizes in a somewhat detailed manner the 

 various observations recorded in anatomical 

 and anthropological literature on such asym- 

 metries of the different parts of the human 

 body which are not due to disease, and at the 

 same time it presents a thorough critical con- 

 sideration of the many causes of these various 

 inequalities. 



A large part of the brochure is devoted to 

 the asymmetries of the spine and to those of 

 the limbs. The treatment of the inequalities 



in the different other parts of the osseous 

 system is less comprehensive, and there is a 

 lack of individual investigations by the au- 

 thor. Notwithstanding this the work will be 

 very useful for reference to the student of the 

 subject with which it deals, and will be 

 further valuable by its large bibliography. 



There could, perhaps, be found some fault 

 with the term " normalen " in the title, for 

 strictly speaking there are no normal asym- 

 metries; but the author employed this term 

 in want of something more expressive to de- 

 note that he is not dealing with the effects of 

 pathological conditions. A. Hedlicka 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 

 VII., No. .4, issued March 25, contains the 

 following: " The Purin Ferments of the Eat," 

 by Alice Eohde and Walter Jones. Investi- 

 gation of extracts of the tissues of rats failed 

 to demonstrate either adenase or xanthooxi- 

 dase. Eats' urine, however, contains uric 

 acid. The origin of this uric acid must be at- 

 tributed either to the action of purin fer- 

 ments in vivo which do not exhibit themselves 

 in organ extracts or to processes which do not 

 involve the known purin ferments. For the 

 latter explanation, much experimental proof 

 exists. " On the Salts of Cytosine, Thymine 

 and Uracil," by Victor 0. Myers. A descrip- 

 tion of the preparation and some of the 

 properties of the sodium, potassium, mercury 

 and lead salts of thymine and uracil. " The 

 Presence of Iodine in the Human Pituitary 

 Gland," by H. Gideon Wells. Analysis of 

 human pituitary glands taken from subjects 

 who had not received iodides while in the 

 hospital failed to show iodine in the gland: 

 similar analyses of glands from subjects who 

 had received iodides revealed iodine in the 

 pituitary gland. Hence the normal presence 

 of iodine in the gland is unproved. " A Note 

 on the Physiological Behavior of IminoaUan- 

 toin and Uroxanic Acid," by Tadasu Saiki. 

 Elimination of purins in the urine is unaf- 

 fected, excretion of oxalic acid is increased 

 by the administration of either of the above- 

 mentioned substances. " Nylander's Eeaction 



