Decembee 12, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



855 



reviewer may be permitted to doubt wbetiier 

 the most elementary treatment of the chemis- 

 try of life can, for instance, afford to neglect 

 such substances as the amino-acids, or to omit 

 from its vocabulary the word " metabolism." 

 The fact that amino-acids appear sometimes 

 to be vaguely referred to among the " amides " 

 does not diminish the seriousness of the first 

 defect; nor is the second excused by the au- 

 thor's peculiar use of the word " digestion." 

 Digestion, it would seem, is employed to sig- 

 nify not merely the preparation of food for its 

 absorption, but also its subsequent fate within 

 the organism. When this has been grasped it 

 is possible to understand such remarkable 

 statements as that " in order that digestion 

 may proceed in a normal way, a liberal sup- 

 ply of air is necessary to oxidize the nutri- 

 ents," or that when carbohydrates are " com- 

 pletely digested, carbon dioxide and water are 

 the final products," or that " during . . . di- 

 gestion, heat is produced in proportion to the 

 calories contained in the food . . . digested." 



In discussing the " Nitrogenous Compounds 

 of Plants " the author retains the term 

 " proteid," now generally abandoned by Eng- 

 lish-speaking chemists. He classifies casein 

 as an " albuminate," vitellin as a " globulin- 

 like body," nuclein and mucin as " albumin- 

 oids." The system of protein nomenclature 

 adopted by the American Society of Biological 

 Chemists and the American Physiological 

 Society receives, indeed, no recognition what- 

 ever. The doctrine of ferments and fermenta- 

 tion is another theme that might with advan- 

 tage have been cast in a more modern form. 

 The concept of a ferment does not to-day 

 include such things as the " tubercular organ- 

 ism," and the once important distinction be- 

 tween " organized " and " soluble " ferments 

 has now little more than a historical interest. 

 It is to be regretted that a " revised edition " 

 should perpetuate terminologies and methods 

 of presentation that, to say the least, are obso- 

 lescent. 



If the weight of these criticisms be allowed 

 to depend to some extent upon the individual 

 point of view, it is otherwise with the actual 

 misstatements that are occasionally encoun- 



tered. Some of these, to be sure, are mere 

 slips, as when nitrogen is said to constitute 

 " 23 per cent." of the atmosphere ; others argue 

 chiefly a lack of precision, as when carbon is 

 said to be " present in plant and animal bod- 

 ies in larger amounts than any other element." 

 But there are several positive blunders. Wax 

 is stated to contain " an ethyl radical in place 

 of the glycerol radical " of fat. The globulin 

 of wheat is called " edestin." Meat is de- 

 scribed as containing 0.07 to 0.32 per cent, of 

 an " amide," which bears the name of " kera- 

 tin." It is obvious enough what substance is 

 being spoken of; but the name is not appar- 

 ently a simple misprint, for it is thrice em- 

 ployed in one paragraph, and is to be found 

 unaltered in the index. 



In spite of the blemishes noted, the book, as 

 a whole, is capable of filling a useful place, 

 and there are many sections which deserve 

 ungrudging commendation. This is especially 

 true of the chapters dealing with the various 

 important food crops, and with their applica- 

 tion to the scientific feeding of animals and 

 men. Here the author, speaking often as a 

 first-hand authority, makes a discriminating 

 selection of essential facts, and presents them 

 in a manner at once accurate, lucid and inter- 

 esting. Many tables of useful data are in- 

 corporated, and excellent diagrams illustrate 

 graphically the comparative composition of 

 important foods. 



The reviewer can not approve the construc- 

 tion of a sentence like the following : " Iron 

 . . . readily undergoes oxidation and rusting, 

 due to the joint action of oxygen and water, 

 and results in the production of a basic oxid 

 of iron." Fortunately such lapses are infre- 

 quent, and the style of the book is in the main 

 straightforward and readable. 



Andrew Hunter 



Cornell University 



Eouseliold Bacteriology. By Estelle D. 

 Buchanan, M.S., Eecently Assistant Pro- 

 fessor of Botany, Iowa State College, and 

 Robert Eaele Buchanan, Ph.D., Professor 

 of Bacteriology, Iowa State College and 

 Bacteriologist of the Iowa Agricultural 



