386$ NATURE March 12, 1949 Vol.

163

Les cafeiers du globe and plant varieties on the yield and chemical com-
Par Prof. Aug. Chevalier. Fascicule 3 : Systematique position of the fodder plants. More specialized
des cafeiers et faux-ca. e , maladies et insectes information is not contained in this book, although
nuisibles. (Encyclope · iologique, Tome 28.) Pp. for clover the hydrocyanic acid, and for lupin the
357+ 17 plates. (P : Paul Lecheva.lier, 1947.) alkaloid content are given, and some figures are quoted
1,000 francs. L' for carotene and vitamin C content of peas.
C . The volume, published in German, is a useful
3 of Prof. Aug. heva11er's mono- collection of tabulated data, otherwise scattered in
',\\b"rk on the genus Oo.ffea and allied
genera c ins a detailed account of the anatomy journals published in different languages; but,
· d · h although printed in 1947, the book includes no
of t> the vegetative and repro ucttve parts, t e published information available since about 1938.
gen tcs and variations, the geographical distribution, The table of contents indicates the information con-
the systematics, and the diseases and pests of the tained in the tables, but the numbering of the pages
plants concerned. All these matters are dealt with
very fully, and a great deal of information is brought in the book does not cor1·espond to that given in this
together in one volume. In the genus Oo.ffea the table, and unfortunately the book has no index.
basic chromosome number is eleven (as it is in the J. T. sf/'
greater part of the Hubiacere). Most wild coffees and The Rh Blood Groups and their Clinical Effects
many cultivated ones have n = 11, but most cultiv- By Dr. P. L. Mollison, Dr R. E. Mourant and Dr.
ated varieties of 0. arabica are tetraploid ; and R. R. Race. (Medical R reb Council Memorandum
triploid, hexaploid, and octoploid variants and No. 19.) Pp. 74. (Lo n: H.M. Stationery Office,
hybrids have also been recorded.
The systematic section ,#
is']] a long one,
treatment accorded to 0 OJJea 1 ustrates t e taxonomiC
h and the · A1948.) 18. 6d.
QUEST
I
· .requen
one IS "
b t Rh ?" . b t
tl y as k ed ts· "Where
t 0 d te 1't
difficulties met with in a genus composed of wild
cultivated plants. Oo.ffea is divided into four main
nltrt
c-. 0b ow do.w
ouh
°t 'd .u
a
t
e qlubes
· b h bs · M d t may e a me 1ca1 prac 1 10ner, a ora ....11-y
sectiOns ; ut t e su . ectwn oza,wwvJJ 00 008 no or a geneticist. The Medical Research Council
appear to be subordmated to any one of them. d fi lfil th "' at d Th
· · the .our "' · anfid t h e sub sec t Ion
' · t y- ran urn u s, ere.ore, a gre nee . · t' e
W1thm -
sectiOns SIX
· d 6 rs t part d ea1s Wl'th the Rh groups, and a d escnp 10n
four species (and. one doubt ul one) are recogmze · of the various sub-groups and the different Rh anti-
Some of the species, for example, 0. canephora , ltnd, b od'1es 1s
· given.
· Th e t np· 1e-gene theory o f R . A .
0 · arab'wa, h numerous va:r•eties._
· · S
races Fisher and the ODEfcde nomenclature arising there-
and some hybrids are also g1ven bmom1als. The . h' h
'"' Is fti • d 'b d b · fl · d' ted in from are explamed. T IS theory as been sub-
"hll: e co kees escri ? orfmtohre rie Y th stantiated by all recent work, and a thorough know-
t 18 wor are speCies o e genera Bt an U8,
1e d ge of 1t
· · · 1r 1t d din
T 7
p 'la tho · L h t0 D· z
loac n;:s "(;hatp rp?ra,L ypo
rwaz· ysw • e nop orpa, l hpe
H bath
r;;::.·
and-
IS essent1a .or a comp e e un erstan
of the Rh group. The second part details clinical
considerations, the importance of Rh in blood
g

ne w, 0 rerrwspora, o ysp ama, ronw t f · d h d· · d tm t f

Randia, together with several other genera that have rans USI?ns•. an t e Iagnosis an trea en o
· th t bee · ted 'th C ,# hremolytlc disease of the newly hom.
m e pas n asso01a WI oJJea. · Th e 1ast sec t'wn o f th e memorand um concerns
I nsects an d f ung1· are the wors t enemies f ftiee
o co , · If 'th Rh · d 1 h ds f ·
part1.c ulsr1y o f the more v a.1 usble cult"Ivated var1e · tt'es 1tse WId te ·testmg, an f
severa
'b dmet' o do typmg'b d
under certain environmental conditions. The coffee ce11s an or antl 0 tes are . escr1 e ·
rust (Hemileia vestatrix) is naturally dealt with at The reader mtendm_g to carry out Rh how-
th W B TURR 1LL ever, should not gam a false sense of security from
· · · reading this manual, since, in order to obtain con-
B . L . d L . d F fl sistently accurate results, considerable experience is
tocuemte er egumJnosen __un ouragep anzen required ; and one would have liked to have seen
Von N. N. Iwanoff. Pp. vu+ 115. (Amsterdam : expressed a more definite opinion with regard to the
Dr. W. Junk, n.p. value of some of the techniques described and more

I N 1938, twelv.e ublications appeared in Russian,

each conta' · g information collected from the
available li e on the biochemistry of one of the
stress laid on the necessity for controls. This
memorandum is the most clear, concise and author-
itative exposition of the present state of knowledge
following I inous and fodder plants : peas, beans, so far published, and all who are interested in this
soya entils, clover, sweet-clover, lucerne, subject should read it. F. l::lTRATTON
lupin, grass, sorghum, common vetch and lt
chick pea The book under review, which consists Surveying vr'
qr bles, was compiled from the information Instruments and Methods for Surveys of Limited
co d m these twelve publications by the late Extent. By f. Philip Kissam. Pp. xi+384.
Prof. . N. Ivanoff of Leningrad, who unfortunately (New York an don: McGraw-Hill Book Co.,
died before the printing of the book was completed. Inc., 1947.) 1 · d.
The 327 tables, with a few explanatory notes, give THE aut&>:r tates that this little book has been
the chemical composition of the above-mentioned written'l<l provide a text-book for a short course
leguminous and fodder plants, each table being in for students of all branches of engineer-
accompanied by the relevant reference(s). Nitrogen the material presented differs from
('crude protein'), crude fibre, starch and/or other th rNnally found in surveying text-books, in that
carbohydrates, fat and ash contents are given for all the has been complete re-arrangement and rejection
the plants mentioned, and, in addition, for most of of some subjects usually covered. The scope is that
them, figures are quoted giving the amino-acid con- of the requil"{'ment of the engineer for surveying, in
tent of the protein(s), the composition of the ash, and connexion particularly with the construction and
analytical data on the fats. Data are also included expansion of works, and of the employment of sur-
showing the influence of different growth conditions veying techniques for setting out in shop-practice--
© 1949 Nature Publishing Group