22 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 679 



irons, curling irons, stoves for heating and 

 for cooking, a " stemo-inferno coffee-machine 

 set," and full-page illustrations of a " com- 

 plete chafing-dish outfit trimmed with genuine 

 ivory " and " teakettle set, trimmed with solid 

 beaded edge." 



Chapter VIII., " Alcohol as a Source of 

 Power" (62 pp.). This chapter opens with 

 twelve pages of excellent cuts and descriptive 

 matter furnished by the Deutz Gas Engine 

 Works " through the kindness of their Ameri- 

 can branch hoiise, the Otto Gas Engine 

 Works." Mietz and Weiss, Weber and Diesel, 

 and Eoos engines are illustrated. 



Chapter IX., " Laws and Regulations for 

 Denatured Alcohol" (32 pp.), is abnost ex- 

 clusively a compilation of circulars, regula- 

 tions and acts of several governments; very 

 interesting and useful, but they belong in the 

 appendix. 



A page on the recovery of denatured alcohol 

 is forcibly injected into this chapter where 

 it does not belong. The chapter closes with 

 two pages on " spirit varnishes." This lost 

 and forlorn little composition appears to con- 

 tain all the book has to say upon the many 

 important uses of denatured alcohol in chem- 

 ical industries. It is indeed strange that a 

 book on denatured alcohol should not give a 

 brief sketch at least of the manufacture of 

 ethyl ether, iodoform, artificial silk or smoke- 

 less powders. Chapter X. (14 pp.) gives ex- 

 tracts from consular reports, showing what 

 enormous quantities of denatured alcohol are 

 used for the above purposes in other countries. 



Appendix (pp. 375^99). In this are re- 

 printed government regulations, a report of a 

 committee to the British Parliament, etc., all 

 exceedingly interesting material, but almost 

 all of it to be had for the asking and a postage 

 stamp. 



The bibliography on page 493 (not 489, as 

 given in the index) is incomplete. Since some 

 French and German titles are included, others 

 should be. For instance, the Zeitsehr. f. 

 Bpiritusindustrie, the German journal devoted 

 to the subject, is not mentioned. Date and 

 place of publication and authors' initials are 

 in several instances omitted. If it is con- 

 sidered undesirable to include prices in a 



bibliography, the size of the work might be in- 

 dicated in terms of pages. In his preface the 

 author says : " The scarcity of literature treat- 

 ing the subject of denatured or industrial 

 alcohol is so great that there are practically 

 no books concerning it." The reviewer had 

 occasion to look up the literature of the sub- 

 ject about a year ago and found many more 

 articles than he had the opportunity to read. 



The book as a whole has little claim to 

 consideration as a scientific treatise, and its 

 usefulness " practically " is somewhat prob- 

 lematical, although it contains much that is 

 both good and useful, of course. It is a scrap- 

 book made up from a superabundance of elec- 

 trotypes, plenty of government publications 

 and dealers' catalogues, some journal articles 

 and too few references. It is raw material 

 which one would naturally collect as a pre- 

 liminary step to writing a book. 



S. Lawrence Bigelow 



Genera Avium. Edited by P. Wytsman. 4to. 



Brussels, V. Verteneuil and L. Desmet. 



Part VI., Picarise.— Fam. ColiidsE. By P. 



L. ScLATEE. 1906 (1907). Pp. 6; pi. L 



Part VII., Steganopodes — Fam. Pelecanidse. 



By Alphonse Dubois. 1907. Pp. 4; pi. I. 



Part VIIL, Picarise — Fam. Musophagidse. 



By Alphonse Dubois. 1907. Pp. 9; pis. 



II. 



Three more parts' of this useful work have 

 recently been published, one of which (part 

 VI.), though dated 1906, apparently was not 

 issued until May, 1907. The general treat- 

 ment is the same as that of preceding parts, 

 and need not again be explained. " Genera 

 Avium " is, of course, not an exhaustive 

 treatise, but the editor, Mr. P. Wytsman, de- 

 serves the thanks of ornithologists for his 

 efforts to bring out a work that shall present 

 in convenient, succinct form, the most im- 

 portant points regarding genera and species, 

 with due regard for the results of recent 

 research. 



The Coliidse, or colies (part VT.), a highly 

 peculiar African family allied to the king- 

 fishers, is considered by Dr. Sclater to con- 



' For a notice of the five previous numbers, cf. 

 Science, N. S., XXIV., 1906, pp. 438-439. 



