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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1904.

JUSTUS VON LIEBIG AND FRIEDRICH MOHR.

Monographieen aus der Geschichte der Chemie. Herausgegeben von Dr. Georg W. A. Kahlbaum. viii. Heft. Justus von Liebig und Friedrich Mohr in ihren Briefen von 1834-1870. Pp. viii+274. (Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1904.) 8 marks.

DR.

Price

R. KAHLBAUM continues to put those chemists who are interested in the personal history of their science under an obligation to him by reason of the care and assiduity which he devotes to the editing of the letters of the great leaders of chemical inquiry such as Berzelius, Liebig, Wöhler, and others, as these from time to time come into his keeping. The volume before us deals with the correspondence of Liebig and Friedrich Mohr.

Of Liebig it is unnecessary at this date to say any thing. His name and personal characteristics are well known to all who are interested in science, and his position in the history of science is assured for all time. Whilst his correspondence with Mohr adds but little to our knowledge of him as a man, it throws many sidelights on incidents which occurred during the most interesting and active periods of his career. Thus, for example, we learn for the first time of the relative share of Liebig and Wöhler in the work which resulted in the classical memoir on bitter almond Most of the experimental work was due to Wohler; the interpretation of the facts and the compilation of the memoir was made by Liebig. It would appear, in fact, that Wöhler never saw the memoir until the proof of it was sent to him.

Indeed, the chief interest of the correspondence, so far as it relates to Liebig, is concerned with his work as editor of the famous periodical-the Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie-which is now permanently associated with his name.

The name of Friedrich Mohr is much less familiar, at all events to the chemists of this generation; and yet the author of the "Titrier-methode "-the practical founder of the art of volumetric analysis-deserves to be had in remembrance. He was a representative of a type of man of which few examples, at least in this country, are left to-day, viz. that of the scientific apothecary. He was by instinct, training, and practice a man of science, and he brought his knowledge, experience, and aptitudes as a man of science to the exercise of his calling. In this respect he resembled many of those who laid the foundations of modern chemical science. In the early part of the last century the occupation of the apothecary was practically the only one open to the man who had his living to make, and who at the same time wished to exercise his passion for chemical inquiry. Teaching appointments were few, and even where chemistry was taught the opportunities for experimental work were very meagre. Mohr was born in Coblenz at about the time that Dalton gave the New Philosophy to the world. His father, Karl Mohr, apothecary, town councillor and

member of the Rhenish Medical College, was a person of some importance in the city, and it was probably in his house that the authors of this correspondence first made each other's acquaintance.

Coblenz, from its proximity to the French frontier, was the scene of many stirring episodes during the early years of the nineteenth century, and Mohr himself lived through the time of, and was personally witness to, the rise and collapse of French military power during the interval between Moscow and Sedan. As a little boy he might have seen the passage of the Rhine by the French troops on the occasion of Napoleon's invasion of Russia, and have spelled out the magniloquent inscription on the fountain before St. Castor which commemorates that event, as well as the caustic words which St. Priest, the Russian commander following on the heels of the retreating French, caused to be added:-" l'u et approuvé par nous, Commandant Russe de la Ville de Coblence: Janvier Ier 1814." As an old man he saw, after the debâcle of Sedan, the spectacle of a ruined and discredited War Minister skulking about in the twilight under the shade of the chestnuts in the Poppelsdorfer Allée in Bonn in just fear of the taunts and insults of the unfortunate soldiery whom he had betrayed.

In 1829 Mohr went to Heidelberg, where he came in contact with Leopold Gmelin. He had already acquired a considerable knowledge of operative chemistry and of pharmacology under his father's tuition.

In those far-off days the laboratory of an apothecary was a reality, and those who practised the calling were not merely chemists by prescription, but were such in fact. They were for the most part well skilled in chemical processes, and actually made the greater number of the substances in which they dealt. The influence of this early training is to be seen in the character and scope of Mohr's subsequent work. He was essentially a practical chemist, and his services to the science consisted mainly in the improvements he effected in operative chemistry. Many of these humble but useful inventions were not calculated to bring their author much fame, but if his connection with them is well-nigh forgotten they at least secured for him the gratitude of his contemporaries. How many of the present generation of workers, it may be asked, associate his name with that commonest of laboratory appliances-the cork-borer?

Mohr remained at Heidelberg two years, and then repaired to Berlin to listen to Heinrich Rose's lectures. In 1832 he returned to Heidelberg and took his degree -summa cum laude. What a summa cum laude meant in 1832, so far as regards chemistry, may be inferred from the fact that the " hoch berühmten Führer," Gmelin, recorded that "the Herr Kandidat answered his questions on the chemical relations of iodine, the preparation of potassium iodide, the discovery of arsenic and on the preparation and composition of ether to his complete satisfaction. Creuzer found that he displayed considerable knowledge of what the old Greeks and Romans knew of botany and materia medica, and that he had a competent acquaintance with their languages; Muncke was satisfied with his answers concerning the balance,

the pyrometer, and the electrical relations of bodies; Leonhard with those on mineralogy and geology; and Schweins recorded that the "Kandidat als Pharmazeut ungewöhnliche Kenntnisse in der Mathematik besitzt" -whatever that might imply.

The subjects in which Mohr took his degree continued to interest him to the end of his days. In chemistry he was no theorist; indeed, the speculative

side of this science seemed to have little or no attractions for him; and this is the more remarkable when it is remembered that in other departments of human thought he let his imagination have the fullest play, as may be seen in his "History of the Earth." Further, Mohr has some claim to be regarded as an independent discoverer of the law of the conservation of energy, as his tombstone in the old "Friedhof " in Bonn testifies.

To the historian of chemistry these letters have a special interest. If, as has been said, they add little to our knowledge of Liebig as a man and as a leader in science, they nevertheless afford much valuable information concerning matters which agitated the chemical world during some of the most stirring periods of the last century. They have been most carefully annotated by the editor and his assistants, as the numerous foot-notes indicate. Many passages and allusions which might have been obscure have been elucidated by their patient research. We can heartily commend the book to all who are interested in the personal and biographical history of chemistry.

.T. E. T.

THE BIONOMICS OF EXOTIC FLOWERS. Handbuch der Blütenbiologie. Begründet von Dr. Paul Knuth. iii. Band. Die bisher in aussereuropäischen Gebieten gemachten blüten-biologischen Beobachtungen unter Mitwirkung von Dr. Otto Appel. Bearbeitet und herausgegeben von Dr. Ernst Loew. i. Theil. Cycadaceæ bis Cornaceæ. Pp. 570; mit 141 Abbildungen im Text. (Leipzig: Engelmann, 1904.) Price 175. net.

THIS

HIS valuable summary of available information concerning the pollination of exotic flowers maintains the high standard of the preceding volumes, though it naturally deals with knowledge essentially fragmentary and only rarely founded on a statistical basis. The work does not limit itself to imparting information upon actual observations on pollination, but in some cases includes accounts of the forms and colours of flowers, the arrangement of their nectaries, and even the microscopical details of fertilisation. As examples of the various matters dealt with, the following may be cited:-Freycinetia and its suggested pollination by bats, the remarkable synchronous blossoming habits of Dendrobium crumenatum, parthenogenesis in Ficus, Kooders's work on tropical geocarpous plants, the fertilisation of Rhopalocnemis, the peculiar flowers of the commelinaceous Cochliostema and their morphology, species of Yucca and their relations with Pronuba.

Among the many interesting features of the work we may note that in bringing together in one work

the scattered observations on ornithophilous pollination it renders possible a survey of existing knowledge concerning the inter-relations of birds and flowers. Yet the facts recorded show the rudimentary stage of our knowledge as to the significance of birds in the shaping of flowers. Scattered through the present work we find evidence of actual or possible ornithophilous flowers belonging to a considerable number of natural orders, including the Bromeliacea, Liliacea (Alöe), Scitamineæ, Orchidaceæ, Proteaceæ, Loranthaceæ, Ranunculaceæ (Aquilegia), Capparidaceæ, Rosacea (almond, peach, quince), Caricaceae, Leguminosa, Melianthaceae, Balsaminacea (Impatiens), Malvaceæ, Cactaceæ, Rhizophoraceæ, Myrtacea, Marcgraviaceæ, and Passifloraceæ. Included among these are flowers, such as the peach and almond, obviously not originally ornithophilous, and others, such as Passifloraceæ and Aquilegia canadensis, the pollination of which by birds is dubious. Still others there are, such as Carica Papaya, the structure and creamy tint of the flowers of which scarcely suggest ornithophily. Other observations show that in different parts of the earth the same species of flower is visited by different animals. For example, the entomophilous Japanese Eriobotrya japonica is visited by humming-birds in South America, and by honeybirds in South Africa. On the other hand, certain natural orders, such as the Loranthaceæ and Mimosaceæ, markedly show pollination, or at least regular visitation, by honey-birds in the Old World and by humming-birds in the New World; and some flowers of remarkable structure, such as those of Amherstia nobilis and Hibiscus schizopetalus, visited by birds seem to demand correspondingly remarkable methods of pollination.

The fragmentary nature of our knowledge in regard to pollination is shown by the lack of published information in regard to some of the commonest plants. For instance, Bombax malabaricum is not mentioned in this work, yet it is very widely distributed, and even common in some regions; and in southern China I know that its large red flowers are visited by small birds. In some cases the omission of information is due to oversight on the part of the authors; for example, there is no reference to the Vallisneria-like pollination of the submarine Enhalus. The work also shows that additional observations are required in regard to some of the commonest tropical plants. As a case in point, it may be said that few of those who have scented Pandanus odoratissimus at distances of a quarter of a mile will accept without further examination the view that littoral species of Pandanus are anemophilous. Or, again, Knuth found that the flowers Cassytha filiformis were mostly cleistogamous on the coral islands of the Java Sea; but unpublished observations of my own on Dane's Island, near Canton (China), sufficiently showed that this is not the case everywhere.

In regard to the printing of the work, it must be con fessed that misprints are too numerous, a brief examination showing the following:-Kleistoam, Magroglossa, Abitulon, Spahtiphyllum, and Bromeliaceenhlüten. PERCY GROOM.

RECENT PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS.

(1) A Primer of Philosophy. By A. S. Rappoport, Ph.D. Pp. 118. (London: John Murray, 1904.) Price is. net.

12) Religion und Naturwissenschaft.

Eine Antwort an Professor Ladenburg. By Arthur Titius. Pp. 114. (Tübingen und Leipzig: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1904.) Price 1.80 marks.

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(3) Philosophische Propädeutik auf Naturwissenschaftlicher Grundlage. By August Schulte-Tigges. Zweite verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage. Pp. xvi+221. (Berlin: Georg Reimer.) Price marks. (4) Der Skeptizismus in der Philosophic. By Raoul Richter. Erster Band. Pp. xxiv+364. (Leipzig: Dürr'sche Buchhandlung, 1904.) Price 6 marks. R. RAPPOPORT'S book, which appears in DR Mr. Murray's new series of primers, is on the whole a very satisfactory introduction to the study of philosophy. The statement is always accurate, interesting and suggestive, and the terminology is carefully rbosen. There are many interesting quotations; perhaps those from the German will not always be understood without a translation by the average reader of a primer. On p. 2 the statement "it was astonishment that first made man philosophize" is attributed to Aristotle. No doubt Aristotle said so, but Plato had the same idea before him. On p. 45 the term sociology is said to be derived from the Latin word socius, society (sic).

(2) Religion und Naturwissenschaft" is a counterblast to a lecture given by Prof. Ladenburg of Breslau, on the influence of the natural sciences on the Weltanschauung. Prof. Ladenburg, as represented by the quotations from his work, appears to believe that experiment, observation, induction, are the key of all knowledge, and that all the progress of the last enturies has been caused chiefly by the enlightenment due to the natural sciences. This rather extreme posi

tion Prof. Titius assails with some success, and then proceeds to vindicate the spiritual life of man, individualisation, Wertbestimmung, Christianity, even miracles, on lines that are not altogether novel. But the author is no obscurantist, and the argument is probably as convincing as any popular discussion can make it.

would perhaps be well if the author's name and the title of the work in question were added in every case.

(4) The first volume of "Der Skeptizismus in der Philosophie" contains an account only of Greek scepticism, that is to say, of Pyrrhonism and of the scepticism of the Later Academy. But as many of the chief problems raised by scepticism in all ages are discussed here at considerable length, this first volume cannot safely be neglected even by those who are chiefly interested in Hume, the "partial" scepticism of Kant, or modern positivism. The author shows himself a most competent guide. He is always fair minded; even where it is most difficult to be patient with certain wellknown quibbles of the Pyrrhonists he labours seriously to discover the grain of truth amid the heap of chaff. Almost a hundred pages are given to a discussion of "sensual scepticism," i.e. the scepticism which bases object experienced by different living creatures, by itself upon the contradictory perceptions of the same different human beings, by the same human being at different times, and the like. These arguments, according to this work, have weight only as against extreme realists, and both (extreme) idealism and moderate realism (e.g. the realism of Locke) are represented as able to face the situation. With which of the two last named the author's sympathies ultimately lie is not apparent from this first instalment; it will doubtless become evident in the second (and concluding) volume. It is to be hoped for every reason that so excellent a work will soon reach completion.

THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY IN JAPAN. Geschichte des Christentums in Japan. By Dr. J. Haas. Band ii. Pp. xxvii +383. (Tokio: 1904.) N this second volume Dr. Haas-whom we conIN gratulate on the well merited doctorate in theology recently conferred upon him by the University of missions in Japan from the departure of Xavier in 1549 Strassburg-pursues the history of the Christian to the year 1570 under the leadership of the Jesuit superior Cosmo de Torres, of Valencia. During that period, and, indeed, almost up to the close of the sixteenth century, the task of conversion lay entirely in the hands of the Jesuits, while the increasing trade with Japan was monopolised by the Portuguese. The sources of Dr. Haas's history are almost wholly European, and above all the famous letters of the Jesuit missionaries from Japan, of which the volume is largely précis. These authorities are not, however, sufficient, and with the progress of the work it becomes more and more evident that the true history of the Christian century in Japan can only be written in the Peninsula, where, as Father Cros's great book on "St. François de Xavier " tells us, in the inexhaustible archives and libraries of Lisbon and Madrid, and in those of Simancas, Coimbra, Evora, and Ajuda, are to be found the original documents in vast numbers from which alone an adequate account of that most interesting chapter in the world's history can be gathered.

a The

(3) The third work on our list is intended to introduce pupils of the highest classes in Realgymnasien to the philosophic principles that underlie scientific method and the general scientific thought of our time. first part deals with Methodenlehre, and discusses observation and experiment, induction, causal law and hypothesis, deduction. In the second part, entitled "The Mechanical View of the Universe, and the Limits of Knowledge," there is an adequate account of such things as atomism, teleology, the Darwinian theory, and the relations of psychical events and their physiological accompaniments. On this last head the author declares himself for a theory of parallelism, not as being the solution of the problem, but the problem itself. The book is excellent both in form and statement, and all the arguments both for and against a particular view are most fully and impartially stated. The quotations show a wide range of reading; but it

In the score of years covered by the present volume the faith was preached over the whole of Kiushiu and most of Central Japan, the northern and eastern Daimiates and the whole of the great island of Shikoku

being untouched. This work was accomplished by eleven Jesuit fathers, assisted by four converts. In 1564 the Daimio of Omura, the first Christian Daimio, known as Sumitada, or Omura Risen (Risen was his Buddhist name), was baptised, and adhered to the faith until his death in 1587. It is of this convert that Crasset writes :

"He went to the chase of the bonzes as to that of wild beasts, and made it his singular pleasure to exterminate them from his states " ("Murdoch," p. 238).

It would, however, be merely special pleading to take this language literally, otherwise than as expressing the worthy father's admiration of the vigour with which the newly made convert promulgated Christianity within his petty domain. Up to 1570, out of the fifteen or sixteen millions of Japanese, some twenty thousand had been baptised. This seems a small proportion, but the true measure would be the ratio of the baptised to the population of those parts of Japan where the gospel had been, with some adequacy, preached. As to the quality of their Christianity it is difficult to form a judgment. The steadfastness of large numbers under persecution is some guarantee of the reality of their belief; on the other hand many in becoming Christians followed the example or obeyed the commands of their feudal superiors.

Another much debated point, not easy to determine, is to what extent the native converts "provoked" the immense majority who still adhered to the Way of the Gods and the Way of Buddha. It is certain that the Buddhists were "provoked," but there is little evidence that they had any real cause of complaint during the period now considered-the provocation was of a passive, not of an aggressive character. On the whole, the fathers were far from unpopular with the common folk. They were looked upon as superior beings, and Froez says of his reception at Yoko

seura :

"All the Christian inhabitants came to meet us and were so delighted at our arrival that they would willingly have taken us on their shoulders and borne us off.

It was not until 1587 that persecution began, the result of a fit of policy of the cruel, crafty, but capable Taiko, Hideyoshi.

Dr. Haas writes lucidly, and his pages are full of interesting details; but the narrative is obscured by an over-abundance of matter that might well be relegated to notes or appendices. The Germans seem unable to distinguish between books and note-books. F. VICTOR DICKINS.

OUR BOOK SHELF. Lectures on the Diseases of Children. By Robert Hutchison, M.D., F.R.C.P. (London: Edward Arnold.) Price 8s. 6d. net.

It is difficult to praise this little volume too highly. It deals with one of the most attractive and satisfactory subjects in medicine, the treatment of children's diseases; the style is excellent, and the illustrations, which, with one or two exceptions, are taken from photographs of the author's cases, are unusually good.

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In some three hundred pages Dr. Hutchison describes aspects of some of the more common diseases of childhood which, as he says, “are not usually dealt with in systematic lectures." In the first instance, the lectures were given at the London Hospital; subsequently they were published serially in the Clinical Journal, while their present appearance in book form is in response to the request of a number of readers who wanted them in a convenient form for reference.

The early chapters deal with the problems of infant feeding, and the subject, which unfortunately is closely allied, of the various digestive disturbances which occur in hand-fed babies. Upon questions of diet Dr. Hutchison speaks with special authority, and his remarks on the difficult subject of artificial feeding are concise and practical.

The

In the space of a short lecture it is not possible or desirable to deal with all the conceivable methods by which children might be, or have been, fed, but it seems an omission not to mention "laboratory " milk, which, whatever its objections, certainly offers the physician a method of wonderful precision in prescribing the exact percentage of fat, proteid, and lactose which he requires for any individual patient. establishment in London of the Walker Gordon Laboratory, at which this milk can be obtained, and the existence of a farm in connection with it at which every precaution is taken to procure germ-free milk with scientific accuracy, certainly deserve mention in any book which deals with the subject of substitute feeding. The expense of "laboratory" milk puts it beyond the reach of many babies, but it is less expensive than a wet nurse, and avoids all the disadvantages inseparable from employing one.

In succeeding chapters Dr. Hutchison deals with various common diseases of childhood. They are all delightful reading, full of common sense and helpful suggestion as to diagnosis and treatment. One would like to quote extensively, but the book is one that every student of the subject, whether he be qualified or not, should possess.

Special interest attaches to the lecture on mental deficiency in childhood, often a subject of great difficulty in practice, and one with which the ordinary textbook scarcely deals. The photographs illustrating this chapter are particularly good.

The concluding chapters are devoted to the diagnostic significance of some common symptoms, such as wasting, cough, fever, &c. It is impossible to do full justice to this delightful book in a short notice. The work forms a valuable adjunct to the good text-books already written on the subject, and it shows to the full the clinical knowledge and the literary ability of the author, whose reputation, already high, will no doubt be increased by it.

Elementary Manual for the Chemical Laboratory. By Louis Warner Riggs, Ph.D., Instructor in Chemistry in Cornell University. Pp. vi+138. (New York: John Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1904.) Price 5s. 6d. net.

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THIS Volume embodies the author's idea of what should be taught during a one-year course of chemistry, the time available being not less than a hundred and twenty hours for laboratory practice, and sixty for recitation" work. It is arranged in short numbered paragraphs, each containing a direction to the student or an explanation of some point or process, and is intended to be used, under the guidance of an instructor, in conjunction with some general text-book of chemistry and physics.

The

About one-third of the work is devoted to preliminary experiments in general chemistry. student is then introduced to simple volumetric analysis, the principles of which are very well explained

--this forming, perhaps, the best portion of the book. After three experiments in gravimetric work the learner passes on to systematic qualitative analysis, treated from the standpoint of electrolytic dissociation. The author recognises that, "logically," the quantitative work should follow rather than precede the qualitative; but after repeated trials he prefers the order indicated. In the present connection, however, the matter is more one of convenience than of logic.

Accepting the author's system, the experiments themselves are judiciously selected, and well fitted for their purpose. But there are educationists who would by no means agree that "theoretical explanations should be reserved for the recitation-room,' and not given in the laboratory. Still less would they say that the students should "study thoroughly all the details of an experiment before attempting to perform it," and that this should be done outside the laboratory." Whether such a system would tend to produce a hodman or an architect would depend, as it seems to the writer, less upon its own merits than upon the personality of the instructor. C. S.

Die Einheit der Naturkrafte in der Thermodynamik. By Richard Wegner. Pp. viii+132. (Leipzig: Von Veit and Co., 1904.)

As described in the secondary title, this pamphlet is an attempt to deduce from the kinetic energy of nonelastic atoms, corporeal and ethereal, all known physical forces, chemical, electrical, and mechanical, including gravity. Nothing Boschovichian is assumed; only the kinetic energy of moving atoms of different sizes. It is not easy to follow an argument which provisionally assumes that the atoms are held together to form molecules with regular vibration frequencies capable of propagating through the surrounding swarm of ether-atoms waves of condensation and rarefaction, by means of the reactions and interference of which (when there are two or more molecules) attractions are brought into being; and which then, in terms of this general outlook, gives reasons why the reaction of the ether atoms may be found sufficient to hold the corporeal atoms together. A necessary consequence of the investigation is that gravity is propagated in time, and should be a function of the temperature. The author has tested the latter point by experiment, and finds some evidence in favour of its truth. The source of the chemical elements is found in the different magnitudes of the atoms, with the corresponding differences in their energetic combinations. The temperature of a body is proportional to the mean molecular weight, multiplied by the square of the mean translational velocity of the molecule; divided by the reative number of molecules in unit volume; multiplied by the relative mean path of the molecule. Since, according to the theory elaborated, the kinetic energy of the elementary particles implies attraction, all bodies will be surrounded by a layer of condensed gas and ether particles. In the waves in the ether sheath is found the source of the electrical current. Electrostatic action, on the other hand, depends on chemical actions in the ether sheath. The applications to hemical and electrical phenomena are admittedly crude and imperfectly worked out; but the author claims to have proved the possibility of deducing all the recognised forces of nature from the kinetic energy of non-elastic Lucretian atoms.

The Science and Practice of Photography. By Chapman Jones, F.I.C., &c. Fourth edition. Pp. 569. (London: Iliffe and Co., Ltd., 1904.) Price 5s. net. THIS volume, which is the fourth edition of the work, has been very greatly enlarged and rewritten since the app arance of the third edition, the number of chapters

having been increased from fifty-five to sixty-eight. It may be considered as forming a most excellent guide to the practice of photography, and a perfect reference for those who so continually question one as to "the best book on photography, for a beginner, you know "; and it will doubtless prove useful as a reference book to many who have long passed the beginner stage. There is a decision of tone and clearness of exposition, combined with an intelligent anticipation of the many questions which arise at every step of the path, which render it especially suitable for this purpose.

At the same time, the scientific reader who hopes to gain from it some account of the work which has been done of late years, with a view to the clearing up in some measure of the chemical and physical problems in which photography abounds, will probably be greatly disappointed. The two most noteworthy features of this, as of almost all English works on photographic science, are found in the method in which contemporary German literature is ignored, and in which the whole of modern physical chemistry is disregarded. The fact, for instance, that development may be regarded as a reversible heterogeneous reaction occurring between ionised salts, in accordance with the mass law, seems to be entirely beyond the idea of this or any other book on the subject. Development with ferrous oxalate is here represented by the equation:

3AgBr+3FeC2O1 = FeBr ̧ + Fe2(C2O1), +3Ag, which, involving as it does the existence of ferric ions in the developer after use, gives a sufficiently distorted view of the reaction. While we find the chemical theory of the book to be of this type, the information as to the progress of sensitometry is of the slightest, no mention whatever being made of the notable researches by Dr. Eder. A most original suggestion as to the nature of the developable condition is to be found at the close of the chapter devoted to that subject. In brief, this book is a most delightful manual of the practice of photography, but can scarcely claim to represent the scientific side of the subject in any sense whatever. C. E. KENNETH MEES.

Ants and Some Other Insects. An Inquiry into the Psychic Powers of these Animals. With an Appendix on the Peculiarities of their Olfactory Sense. By Dr. August Forel. Translated from the German by Prof. William Morton Wheeler. Pp. 49; figures. (Chicago, 1904.) Price 2s. 6d.

AN elaborate treatise on the senses of insects, especially ants, illustrated by numerous experiments. The book deserves the most serious attention of students of psychology and animal intelligence; but it would occupy too much space, nor would any useful object be gained, by attempting to epitomise either the body of the work or even the author's deductions. however, quote the following conclusions:"Even to-day I am compelled to uphold the seventh thesis which I established in 1877 in my habilitation as privat-docent in the University of Munich :

We may,

"All the properties of the human mind may be derived from the properties of the animal mind.' "I would merely add to this:

"And all the mental attributes of higher animals may be derived from those of lower animals. In other words, the doctrine of evolution is quite as valid in the province of psychology as it is in all the other differences presented by animal organisms and the conprovinces of organic life. Notwithstanding all the ditions of their existence, the psychic functions of the nerve-elements seem nevertheless everywhere to be in accord with certain fundamental laws, even in the cases where this would be least expected on account of the magnitude of the differences."

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