August 5, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



181 



spite of his uusuited type of mind, found 

 nothing but false values, although he devoted 

 a long period of time to the determinations 

 and used only the simple silver titration 

 method. 



Thus far the instinctive talent for avoid- 

 ing methodical errors, which is clearly the 

 characteristic of Eichards's gift, has guided 

 him so surely that no such errors have as yet 

 appeared in his measurements extending over 

 a period of over twenty years. Obeying his 

 measuring instinct, Richards abandoned the 

 method of working with large quantities, in 

 which his celebrated predecessor Stas saw the 

 greatest advantage, and returned to work- 

 ing with quantities of a few grams. The ab- 

 solute errors of weighing, which led Stas to 

 use large quantities, are so insignificant by 

 the side of all other possible errors that the 

 use of large quantities, with the complica- 

 tions of apparatus and preparative method 

 arising from it, really introduces more errors 

 than it eliminates. 



A distinctive trait of the researches of 

 this American investigator lies in his ele- 

 gant simplicity of means. Just as Penny, 

 in his time, carried out his masterly determi- 

 nations with the simplest imaginable means, 

 and yet attained a precision surpassing every- 

 thing that his contemporaries had attained, 

 so Richards shows us that refined complica- 

 tions of apparatus can mostly be dispensed 

 with, if one only thinks a little longer over 

 his problem before undertaking its experi- 

 mental execution, and reduces the work to its 

 simplest and most transparent form by first 

 experimenting with the head. 



As an instance of this I will mention only 

 the simple device for closing a weighing tube 

 within the apparatus in which the reaction 

 takes place. This device has rendered pos- 

 sible the handling of many halogen com- 

 pounds and other hygroscopic substances 

 whose weight would be vitiated to an unde- 

 terminable extent by exposure to the air. 



And so the study of these researches will 

 be an excellent school for every nascent in- 

 vestigator whose heart's desire it is to learn 

 to work precisely. 



In conclusion, it is a satisfaction that this 

 remarkable collection has been published in 

 Germany and in the German language. With 

 us, the publication of such a book is a pleasant 

 enterprise for the publisher and involves no 

 particular risk; in America no publisher could 

 apparently be found who thought that there 

 was " money in.'" 



WlLHELM OsTWALd' 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 

 VIIL, No. 1, issued July 19, 1910, contains 

 the following : " The Hsemocyanin of Limulus 

 Polyphemus," by C. L. Alsberg and E. D. 

 Clark. The h^mocyanin from the blood of 

 Limulus differs from that from the blood of 

 Octopus in percentage composition and in 

 various of its reactions. This fact shows 

 that there are different haemocyanins and that 

 homologous proteins in different animals are 

 not identical. " On the Preparation of Cys- 

 tin," by Otto Folin. A convenient and rapid 

 method for obtaining cystin in bulk. " Ex- 

 periments Relating to the Mode of Decomposi- 

 tion of Tyrosine and of the Related Sub- 

 stances in the Animal Body," by H. D. Dakin. 

 Experiments are described which do not sup- 

 port the view .that homogentisic acid is a 

 normal intermediary product in the catabolism 

 of tyrosine and phenylalanine, and which show 

 that this acid is not formed in the body from 

 tyrosine by reactions similar to those which 

 obtain in the oxidation of o- or p-hydroxyben- 

 zaldehyde by hydrogen peroxide. " The Fate 

 of Inactive Tyrosine in the Animal Body to- 

 gether with Some Observations upon the De- 

 tection of Tyrosine and its Derivatives in the 

 Urine. The Synthesis and Probable Mode of 

 Formation of Blendermann's Para-hydroxy- 

 benzylhydantoi'n," by H. D. Dakin. These 

 experiments throw doubt upon the probability 

 of the formation of either p-hydroxyphenyl-a- 

 uramidopropionic ■ acid or p-hydroxybenzyl- 

 hydantoin in the metabolism of tyrosine. " On 

 ^ The translator leaves this as in the original. 

 'Translated by M. A. Rosanoff, from the Ger- 

 man in the Zeitschrift fur physikalische Chemie, 

 Vol. 72, p. 759, 1910. 



