November 10, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



595 



Two volumes, vpith a portrait of the author. 



Pp. 840 + 890. 



The influence which an untiring worker 

 like Professor Nencki exerts on the develop- 

 ment of science is perpetuated in at least two 

 ways. The enthusiasm of the investigator is 

 transmitted to his pupils and thus continues 

 to live; and his definite contributions to 

 knowledge are recorded in books which do not 

 die with the author. With the methods of 

 publication adopted in scientific circles of the 

 present day, the researches of an individual 

 are usually scattered in many papers and 

 numerous journals. What this miay mean in 

 the course of thirty years of unceasing labor 

 in the advancement of learning is illustrated 

 in the case of Nencki's published work, em- 

 bodying his studies in organic and physiolog- 

 ical chemistry, in bacteriology, hygiene and 

 pharmacology, presented in many places and 

 in several languages. ISTencki's interest con- 

 tinued to center in the chemical aspects of 

 various allied branches of biological and med- 

 ical science, although his writings are not 

 strictly limited by such definition. No re- 

 sume or critical discussion of the literature 

 of urea formation and the behavior of aro- 

 matic compounds in the animal body, of the 

 chemistry of putrefaction, of the composition 

 of the blood pigments, of the chemistry of 

 various digestive secretions and processes and 

 the activity of enzymes, would be at all ade- 

 quate without reference to his published con- 

 tributions. Furthermore, this does not take 

 into account ISTencki's many valuable investi- 

 gations in organic chemistry and hygiene. 



In view of what has been stated, and espe- 

 cially the personal circumstances which led 

 to such diverse channels of publication, it is 

 timely and appropriate that the life-work of 

 this distinguished physiological chemist should 

 be collected and presented in a more readily 

 available form, thus supplying what an un- 

 timely death prevented on the part of the late 

 scientist; and it is, indeed, fortunate that two 

 pupils so well loiown and closely associated 

 with ISTencki as IST. Sieber and J. Zaleski have 

 undertaken the compilation of his collected 

 works. The two volumes which they have 

 edited embrace all of ISTencki's scientific 



papers, together with abstracts of such investi- 

 gations as were directly inspired by him and 

 conducted under his supervision. A detailed 

 reference to the papers would interest the 

 specialist alone ; but the array of contributions 

 appearing in uninterrupted succession from 

 1869 to 1901 is an imj)ressive monument to 

 industry. A brief biographical sketch of the 

 author is included in the volumes, which are 

 of quite unusual typographical excellence. 



Lafayette B. Mendel. 

 Sheffield Scientific School of 

 Yale University, 

 New Haven, Conn. 



Manual of Chemical Aivalysis as Applied to 

 the Assay of Fuels, Ores, Metals, Alloys, 

 Salts and other Mineral Products. By 

 Eugene Prost, D.Sc, of the University of 

 Liege. Translated by J. Cruickshank 

 Smith, B.Sc, P.C.S. Large 8vo. Pp. 300. 

 Price $4.50. New York, D. Van Nostrand 

 Company. 1905. 



The work comprises a short introduction on 

 the ' preparation of samples for analysis,' 

 nearly two hundred pages on the analysis of 

 fuels, waters and various native and artificial 

 chemical compounds, and one hundred pages 

 on the analysis of raetals and alloys. Accord- 

 ing to the author's preface, it is intended as 

 a manual for the industrial chemist. 



Viewing the book in the light of its in- 

 tended usefulness, our verdict upon it is that 

 it is as nearly superfluous a work as could be 

 written. The plan is fragmentary, many im- 

 portant analyses are omitted; the directions 

 are poorly expressed, in most cases insiifii- 

 eient and in many inaccurate; obsolete meth- 

 ods are mixed in with more modern ones 

 without criticism or discrimination; there is 

 scarcely to be found a single reference to any 

 other works on analysis or journals of any 

 kind, ta supplement the fragmentary informa- 

 tion given; the translator was evidently as 

 little fitted for his task as the author, as is 

 evident from poorly translated phrases which 

 betray an ignorance of English chemical ex- 

 pressions and especially of metallurgical 

 terms; the paper is wretchedly poor, the bind- 



