THIS well-known monograph by authors actively engaged in original investigation on many matters connected with the cellulose group is written in a manner stimulating to all workers in this field. The new impression is chiefly remarkable for a supplementary chapter of twenty pages, the greater portion of which is composed of the authors' critical review of researches published by others during the last two or three years. In addition there is a very interesting resume of the authors' views on the standard of purity for “pure cellulose” and of their attempts to define a “normal cellulose.” Whilst they regard cotton cellulose as the prototype of the group, it is affirmed, in contradistinction to the descriptions common in the older text-books of cellulose as a very stable substance, (1) that cellulose is constitutionally modified by any and every treatment with reagents, and (2) that profound changes affecting the reactivity of its individual groups are determined by treatments which are not marked by change of weight of the cellulose or by visible Structural modifications.

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/101202b0

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