102 Scientific Intelligence, 



meet the demand for aocurate information in these days of aotive 

 agitation and reform, when the real distinctions between the pure 

 and wholesome, adulterated and injurious products are by no 

 means apparent. It is intended for individuals such as teachers 

 and the thinking public, rather than for the technical chemist. 

 Many will be surprised to learn that " a food is pure if it has 

 been in common use for a long time" (p. lit). In addition to a 

 iv\ iew of the general composition and characteristic of food 

 materials, the book deals with the sources, manufacture, and uses 

 of some of the more common foods, together with current prac- 

 tices in the way of preservation and sophistication. Directions 

 for selected illustrative experiments are appended. l. n. m. 



4. Physikalische C/iemie der Zelle und der Gewebe / von 

 Professor Dr. Rudolf Hober, Privatdozent der Physiologie an 

 der Universit'at Kiel. Dritte, neubearbeitete Auflage, mit 55 

 Textfiguren. Pp.671. Leipzig, 1911 (Wilhelm Engelmann). — Tyhe 

 expansion of this standard leference work from a volume of 460 

 pages in the edition of 1906 to its present size in 1911, indicates 

 the great strides which have characterized the recent applications 

 of physico-chemical methods and points of view to the elucida- 

 tion of biological problems. The text has been enriched by exten- 

 sive additions on the subject of colloids and absorption phenomena, 

 the study of which has been so .vigorously prosecuted of late. 

 The role of lipoids, especially in relation to the permeability of 

 cells, is extensively and critically reviewed. To the physiologist 

 the newer interpretations of secretory phenomena are of special 

 interest. As in earlier editions, several chapters are devoted to 

 the more familiar facts and deductions of physical chemistry, 

 such as osmotic pressures, the theory of solutions, and equilibrium 

 reactions. l. b. m. 



5. Guide to the Exhibition in the British Museum of Natu- 

 ral History of Animals, Plants, and Minerals mentioned in the 

 Bible. Pp. 74, with 7 figures. London, 1911. (British Museum 

 of Natural History. Special Guide, No. 5.) — The task of identi- 

 fying the various natural history objects and minerals mentioned 

 in the Bible is difficult and yet one of very general interest. 

 The pamphlet here issued by Dr. Fletcher of the British Museum 

 takes up this subject and deals with the various topics with care 

 and thoroughness ; it is based upon a collection now placed on 

 exhibition in the Museum. The animals have been selected and 

 arranged by Mr. R. Lydekker, the minerals by Dr. G. F. Herbert 

 Smith, and the plants by Dr. A. B. Rendle. Many people will 

 be interested in the facts here presented, and not the least in 

 those relating to the somewhat vaguely characterized minerals 

 referred to in the Book of Revelations. 



Obituary. 



The Rev. F. J. Jervis-Smith, F.R.S., died on August 23 at 

 the age of sixty-three years. He did much important work in 

 designing and constructing instruments of delicacy and precision. 



M. Pierre Emile Levassent, the French geographer, died 

 recently at the age of eighty-two years. 



