104 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 629 



Beet-Sugar Manufacture. By H. Claassen, 



Ph.D. Authorized translation from the 



second German edition by William T. 



Hall, S.B., and George Willl^m Eolfe, 



A.M. New York, John Wiley and Sons. 



1906. Pp. xiv + 280. 



Claassen's ' Die Zuckerfabrikation ' was first 

 published in 1901. Its sterling merits soon 

 won for it such general recognition that the 

 second edition in German followed within a 

 few years, and now we have an authorized 

 English translation of the work. 



The scope and plan of the book embraces 

 the entire process of beet-sugar manufacture 

 from the time of the receiving of the beets to 

 the finished product. 



Individual chapters are devoted to the de- 

 livery of beets, their transportation and wash- 

 ing, weighing and slicing, utilization and 

 disposal of exhausted chips, the process of 

 defecation and of carbonatation, evaporation, 

 the boiling of sugar, the preparation of raw 

 sugar and the preparation of sugar crystals, 

 the treatment of after-products and the utili- 

 zation of molasses. 



In addition to these themes the book dis- 

 cusses the boiler-house, the questions of econ- 

 omy of fuel, high-pressure and low-pressure 

 boilers, heat losses, the construction and opera- 

 tion of lime-kilns, the factory control and 

 determination of sugar losses, the setting up 

 and running of a beet-sugar factory and the 

 utilization of waste products incidentally pro- 

 duced in the process. 



This mere enumeration of the contents of 

 the work well indicates that the author has 

 intended to prepare a monograph of beet- 

 sugar manufacture which should not lack a 

 single essential detail — and Claassen has suc- 

 ceeded in doing all which he has set out to do. 



His thorough practical knowledge of beet- 

 sugar manufacture — for many years he has 

 been the director of one of the leading beet- 

 sugar houses of Germany — ^joined to an excep- 

 tional ability to express his thoughts in a 

 clear and concise manner, has resulted in the 

 production of a book which ranks with the 

 very best in the sugar literature of the day. 



Turning from the work of the author to 

 that of the translators, it is a pleasure to state 



that their work, too, is everything that could 

 be desired. 



In their preface they state that they have 

 introduced into the English text data of fac- 

 tory practise in units which are employed in 

 American houses. In many beet-sugar houses 

 in this country the metric system is well un- 

 derstood and the centigrade thermometer is 

 used; it is to be hoped that the introduction 

 by the translators of the American equivalent 

 weights and measures will tend to a greater 

 familiarity with, and ultimately to the sole 

 use of, the metric system in this important 

 and growing industry. 



Several of the tables appearing in the Ger- 

 man edition have been omitted in the English 

 text; also Appendix II., which treats of the 

 construction of an evaporating-plant and the 

 steam consumption for working 100 kg. beets 

 per minute, and Appendix III., which deals 

 with sugar statistics. These omissions seem 

 well warranted, as the matter thus left out is 

 presumably of very little importance to the 

 general reader. 



A few typographical errors and slips have 

 crept in, but these will unquestionably be 

 noted and corrected in a future edition, which, 

 no doubt, will soon be warranted. 



The American sugar industry is certainly 

 to be congratulated on having so valuable and 

 practical a book placed at its disposal. 



F. G. WiECHMANN 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The American Naturalist for December 

 contains the second, and concluding instal- 

 ment of ' The Causes of Extinction of 

 Mammalia,' by Henry F. Osborn. This dis- 

 cusses such matters as infectious diseases and 

 insects, competing and hostile mammalia, in- 

 ternal causes of extinction, and the inadapta- 

 tion of extreme size or specialization, with 

 many references to literature on the subject 

 and citation of examples. And yet, in sum- 

 ming up. Professor Osborn says : " The chief 

 induction which can be made from this exten- 

 sive survey of the causes of extinction seems 

 to be this : following the diminution in num- 

 ber which may arise from a chief or original 

 cause, various other causes conspire or are 



