November 18, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



715' 



While several of the plates reproduced by 

 Shaler are excellent, notably the one of a peb- 

 ble-beach and the pictures of breakers on the 

 shore of Martha's Vineyard, some of the cuts 

 in the text are decidedly poor. The small 

 woodcut intended, according to title, to repre- 

 sent a sun spot, and another of a portion of the 

 moon's surface, should certainly be replaced by 

 something better in future editions. 



In the preface of the volume the statement is 

 made that it is intended for beginners in the 

 study of the earth's history. It seems to the 

 present writer that this claim is too miodest, as 

 the book can be used with both pleasure and 

 profit by the advanced student and even by 

 the most experienced veteran in physiography, 

 as well as by the novice. In fact, the many 

 suggestions and original observations, strewn 

 thickly along the general pathways that are fol- 

 lowed, are among the greatest charms of the 

 book. Some of these branches of the general 

 current of thought may perhaps lead the be- 

 ginner astray, but to more experienced ex- 

 plorers they serve to show how vast is the space 

 surrounding the known. 



In every library there should be a new shelf 

 for romances of nature, and one of the first 

 books to be placed thereon, whether in the 

 home, school, university or circulating library, 

 should be the ' Outlines of the Earth's History. ' 

 Israel C. Russell. 



Die Cheniie in tdglichen Leben. Gemeinverstand- 

 liche Vortrage. By Professor Dr. Lassar- 

 CoHN. Hamburg und Leipzig, Leopold Voss. 

 1898. Third Edition. Svo. Pp. vii+317. 

 A German book on chemistry which has ex- 

 perienced three editions in as many years, and 

 translations of which into several foreign 

 tongues have been made or are in preparation, 

 as the author's prefaces inform us, must have 

 struck a responsive chord in public favor. 



These lectures on chemistry in daily life are 

 twelve in number. They cover a wide range of 

 topics; foods, illuminants, explosives, leather, 

 coal-tar colors, ceramics, Rontgen rays and 

 many other subjects are discussed. 



At times the grouping of themes presented in 

 one lecture seems rather incongruous. Thus, 

 in one instance, lecture twelve, metallic alloys. 



alkaloids, anesthetics, anti-pyretics and disin- 

 fectants all come in for consideration. 



This appears to be rather a varied menu for 

 an intellectual repast, especially if one intends 

 following the author's admonition and dispose 

 of it at one sitting. For the preface says: " As 

 the individual lectures had the customary dura- 

 tion of one hour a corresponding amount of 

 time ought to be devoted to their perusal." 



The style is terse and clear; typography and 

 paper good. 



Ferdinand G. Wiechmann. 



Introduction to the Study of Organic Chemistry. 



By John Wade, B.Sc, Senior Demonstrator 



of Chemistry and Physics at Guy's Hospital. 



London, Swan, Sonnenschein & Co. 1898. 



The author has adopted a method of treating 

 the subject which is exactly the reverse of that 

 commonly employed. He starts not with the 

 simple hydrocarbons, but with some of their 

 derivatives, and does not give the properties, 

 etc., of the hydrocarbon until he has taken up 

 the complex derivatives. As he states in the 

 preface, ' the book proceeds from the familiar to 

 the unfamiliar.' The application of this method 

 can, perhaps, be best shown by an extract from 

 this preface: "The first substances to be 

 studied are the typical alcohol and acid akin to 

 the inorganic bases and acids, and the study of 

 these leads to the theory of radicals. The 

 other simple alcohols and acids are next dealt 

 with, and the ideas of homology and isomerism 

 introduced. The construction of the net-work 

 of cross connections typical of organic chemis- 

 try is now commenced, with the aid of the am- 

 monia derivatives and cyanogen compounds, 

 and the necessity of the theory of structure 

 shown. The structural formulae of the various 

 compounds having been duly established, the 

 simple aldehydes are introduced, and with them 

 the conception of polymerism ; then the simple 

 ketones and secondary alcohols, with the theory 

 of position isomerism ; and the iso-alcohols and 

 acids, with the theory of branching-chain 

 isomerism. Finally, the simple hydrocarbons 

 are dealt with, and the preceding work codified 

 in the theory of substitution." 



It is difBcult to see how one can gain a clear 

 idea of the more complex substances without 



