December 19, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



885 



If the ■well-known saying of Goethe " Denn 

 eben wo es an Begriffen fehlt, da stellt ein 

 Wort zur rechten Zeit sich ein " applied in 

 the past to any group of phytochemical sub- 

 stances, its application to plant pigments was 

 certainly justifiable. Such designations as 

 " the green coloring matter of leaves," or " the 

 blue coloring matter of flowers " are not as 

 euphonious as chlorophyll and anthocyanin, but 

 it is doubtful if they would have done as much 

 harm. These words of Greek origin certainly 

 enjoyed the advantage of brevity as well as of 

 euphony, but they also carried with them some- 

 thing of a notion that they stood for more or 

 less definite chemical compounds about which 

 we flattered ourselves that we knew something, 

 although this knowledge had not crystallized 

 into structural formulas, the chemical short- 

 hand expression of their properties. Plant 

 physiologists were not the only sinners in this 

 direction, but chemical literature is almost 

 equally replete with illustrations of such mis- 

 leading use. 



To any one who is at all acquainted with the 

 chemical literature on plant pigments, the re- 

 searches of Willstaetter and his colaborers, as 

 they have made their appearance in the 

 Annalen since 1906, have come as a great 

 relief. It is equally a relief, though of a 

 different kind, to have the results, as laid 

 down in these twenty-two Abhandlungen, to- 

 gether with more recent ones, coordinated to a 

 " gemeinsames Ganzes." If we have admired 

 Willstaetter's experimental researches, we are 

 more grateful for his literary labors that have 

 made available to us the results of his labors 

 in the laboratory. 



Even a partial review of the contents of this 

 monograph would lead too far for a non- 

 technical journal like Science. Suiflce it to 

 point out that all aspects of the subject, it 

 would seem, are treated in such a manner that 

 the person who desires to inform himself in 

 a general way can use the book to advantage 

 as well as the investigator who is particularly 

 interested in this special field. Plant physiolo- 

 gists as well as chemists will find the volume 



replete with useful information as well as 

 interest. 



We have here another illustration of Ger- 

 man " Gruendliehkeit " that is not impaired 

 by specialization and detail, but that has ac- 

 complished the best because of special effort 

 on the one hand and because of the application 

 of a wide general knowledge to a restricted 

 problem on the other hand. It reminds one of 

 Berzelius's letter to Woehler in which the 

 older Swedish chemist pats his young German 

 friend on the back, as it were, when, in words 

 that one would scarcely look for to a chemist, 

 he makes light of the more or less accidental 

 discovery of a new element by Sefstroem — a 

 discovery that had just escaped Woehler — as 

 compared with the brilliant and far-reaching 

 researches of the man to whom is commonly 

 attributed the first organic " synthesis." 



If the Germans have felt the necessity of 

 supplementing the research activities, that 

 have so long been characteristic of the scien- 

 tific institutes of their universities, by the 

 Kaiser Wilhelm Foundation, this contribution 

 from the " Kaiser Wilhelm-Institut f uer 

 Chemie " may well serve as a good omen of the 

 excellent results that may be expected in the 

 future from this new institution devoted to 

 scientific research. 



If the knowledge that we now have to deal 

 with definite chemical substances when we 

 speak of the " Abbau " products of chlorophyll 

 and its partial synthesis, afl^ords a feeling of 

 satisfaction, the excellent microphotographic 

 views of the crystals of these substances assist 

 in strengthening the feeling that our present 

 knowledge, as elucidated by Willstaetter, rests 

 on a good foundation. E. K. 



The Principles of Stock-hreeding. By James 

 Wilson, M.A., B.Sc, Professor of Agricul- 

 ture in the Royal College of Science for 

 Ireland, Dublin, author of " The Evolution 

 of British Cattle and the Fashioning of 

 Breeds." Published in 1912 by Vinton and 

 Company, Ltd., 8 Bream's Buildings, Chan- 

 cery Lane, E. C, London. 8vo. Pp. vi -]- 

 146. 

 This book is an exposition of the recently 



