Decembee 30, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



957 



Part III. is devoted to the Geography of 

 Trade. To treat " each important product iu 

 detail under the particular country which 

 leads in its production or in some cases in its 

 elaboration," has always been questionable as 

 a method, and the authors have not succeeded 

 in overcoming its drawbacks. Wliile only the 

 United States, the British Empire and Ger- 

 many are treated, there is need of constant 

 repetition in the discussion of given products, 

 and stiU an added chapter is required for 

 articles not treated under countries. Then, 

 too, the space allowed is too small, and the 

 treatment of countries becomes as usual so 

 much abbreviated, as to fall into the old form 

 of mere statistics. With discussion so con- 

 densed it is not always possible to distribute 

 emphasis fairly. Thus we find that Germany 

 gets no more space than Australasia, and 

 though South Africa is given six pages there 

 is no room for France. 



We all realize that coal and iron are the 

 bases of modern commerce, yet the iron indus- 

 try gets no more space than cocoa and pla- 

 tinum, two items of insignificant value; and 

 coal claims no more room than hemp, buck- 

 wheat and barley. The very great significance 

 in industry and commerce of copper, clay, 

 cement and the phosphates is quite overlooked, 

 for buckwheat looms larger than copper; the 

 clay industries get only two and one half 

 inches ; and cement and the phosphates occupy 

 only as much space as the two words require, 

 and that in eight-point type. 



It is the firm conviction of the reviewer that 

 the plan is illogical of attempting to mis the 

 commodity and the country in a general text- 

 book. To attempt it is to make both the com- 

 modity and the country suffer, as this book 

 demonstrates anew. The field is amply large, 

 and the geographic and teaching values are 

 adequate, to make the commodity point of 

 view suificient for a general survey. If it is 

 desired to take the country point of view it 

 should be done as a course apart and in addi- 

 tion, and with space enough so that some 

 geographic interpretation can be attempted. 

 Certainly no adequate geographic study can be 



given of a country like Germany, in eleven 

 pages as here. The trouble is we are attempt- 

 ing far too much in one course, or in a brief 

 survey. The authors might give a much bet- 

 ter account of themselves were they to devote 

 Part III. either to commerce and its com- 

 modities alone, or to America alone. 



In spite of the many errors in detail, only 

 a few of which are here noticed, and which 

 would largely be eliminated by better team 

 work on the part of the authors, and by more 

 careful editorial supervision, the text stands 

 as a distinct advance over its American pre- 

 decessors. J. Paul Goode 



The Univeesitt of Chicago, 

 November 28, 1910 



CHEMICAL TEXT-BOOKS 



A Text-hooh of Organic Chemistry. By A. F. 

 HoLLEMAN, Ph.D., F.E.A. Amst., Professor 

 Ordinarius in the University of Amster- 

 dam. Edited by A. Jajiieson Walker, 

 Ph.D., B.A., Head of the Department of 

 Chemistry, Technical College, Derby, Eng- 

 land; assisted by Owex E. Mott, Ph.D., 

 with the cooperation of the author. Third 

 English edition, partly rewritten. First 

 thousand. New York, John Wiley and 

 Sons. 1910. Pp. 599, 80 figures. $2.50. 

 A long review of the second edition of this 

 book appeared in this Journal.' That a new 

 edition is required in less than three years 

 indicates the deserved reputation of Pro- 

 fessor Holleman's book. 



In the present edition the author has re- 

 written the chapter on proteins, which with 

 that on amino-acids now follows the chapter 

 on sugars. Dr. Walker has introduced the 

 protein classification adopted by the Chemical 

 Society of London jointly with the English 

 and American Physiological Societies, and 

 the American Society of Physiological Chem- 

 ists. 



A repetition of the detailed review referred 

 to is not necessary. It is enough to quote 

 from the author's preface : " This book is es- 

 sentially a text-book and makes no claim to be 

 a ' Beilstein ' in a very compressed form," and 

 ' Vol. XXVI., 1907, p. 791. 



