Shooting-stars are
are the result of
The Church Institute, Leeds, was admitted as
amongst them early textiles with representations a Subscribing Library.
are the result of
The Church Institute, Leeds, was admitted as
amongst them early textiles with representations a Subscribing Library.
Athenaeum - London - 1912a
Davenport apparently agrees with which will have to receive very careful former opinion, and suggests the possi-
Prof. Bateson, yet he gives a long list consideration by experts; but there is not bility of the Arab being the descendant
of inheritable family traits occupying the slightest doubt that the cases on the of the Siwalik horse from Southern Asia ;
153 pages, including both normal and borderland will present a problem of but in all these critical discussions, if we
abnormal characters, with no indication great difficulty, and indeed, widespread
whether they are due to the presence or injustice, if the present Bill becomes The Horse and its Relatives.
absence of positive factors. He has operative,
Lydekker. (Allen & Sons. )
are re-
cases
By R.
## p. 626 (#470) ############################################
626
No. 4414, JUNE 1, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
Α
2
>
THE
have a fault to find, it is that the author while the budding engineer will learn much student should be encouraged to read
gives us too much of the opinions of from its well-illustrated pages.
subsequently the works mentioned on p. 62,
others, and not enough of his own.
He In addition to the various complete which deal in a fuller manner with the
refers to the horse as possessing the maxi. engines, Mr. Garratt devotes a considerable radiation of energy.
mum speed of which the inammalian portion of his volume to their adjuncts, such Russell (Rollo), PREVENTABLE CANCER, 4/8
-heaters;
organization is capable: if he means by all descriptions, including the sleeve-valve
Longmans
this over short distances as well as long, used in the Daimler motor-car engines ; con-
This is a book dealing with cancer sta-
we are not sure that the statement is densers; and air-pumps, including the “ Ed-author thinks that cancer could be prevented
tistics in various parts of the world. The
correct.
wards” type of pump.
if people paid more attention to diet. His
The horse is often cited as the mammal
We suggest that an improvement in the
whose evolutionary history is best known, describing the various boilers before begin- deal to do with the supposed increase of
arrangement of the work could be made by argument is
, unfortunately, not at all con-
vincing. Improved diagnosis has a great
for its gradual development from primitive, ning the subject of the generation of steam,
many-toed animals no larger than foxes is rather than interpolating them, as at present, the countries where medical education is at
cancer, for this has taken place in
almost completely revealed by the records into the middle of chap. iii.
The only omission we have noticed is the system of collecting statistics in various
of the Tertiary and Pleistocene strata.
its highest development. Unfortunately,
Prof. Osborn includes all these ancestral the rotary engine of the Gnome type, such countries differs considerably, so that it is
|
types with the modern horse in the one
as is used in aeroplanes. In view of difficult to compare their results.
family, Equidæ ; but the differences are
the rapid developments in this direction
marked, and it is safer to break them
some description of its working would have Science Progress in the Twentieth Century,
been appropriate, and will no doubt be added a Quarterly Journal of Scientific Work
up, as the author proposes, into the three to future editions. There is, by the way, an and Thought, No. 24, April, 5/
families of Equidæ, Anchitheriidæ, and error in one of the references. On p. 229,
John Murray
Hyracotheriidæ.
“Fig. 125" should evidently read Fig. 128. This excellent quarterly journal contains
Mr. Lydekker concludes with a profes- Hutchinson's Popular Botany, Part IV. , 7d.
many interesting articles by well-known
authorities. It is catholic in its views,
sion of faith which in the present day is, net.
perhaps, worth recording. He says :
This ‘Popular Botany' continues to be
and we can strongly recommend it to all
those interested in scientific problems.
good, and, when completed, promises inter-
“That all these marvellous changes and esting results, both to botanical students United States National Museum: 1884, ON
adaptations are not due to any mere 'blind and to readers without scientific knowledge.
AN IMPORTANT SPECIMEN OF EDESTUS,
struggle for existence' or 'survival of the The illustrations are excellent.
WITH DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES,
fittest," but that they were directly designed Lockyer (Sir Norman), THE SPECTRUM OF
EDESTUS MIRUS, by Oliver Perry Hay;
and controlled by an Omniscient and
COMET BROOKS (1911 c), and ON THE
1896, New PEDICULATE FISHES FROM
Omnipotent Creator, is the settled and final
IBON FLAME SPECTRUM AND THOSE OF
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND CON-
opinion of the author of this volume. ”
SUN-SPOTS AND LOWER-TYPE STARS.
TIGUOUS WATERS, by Lewis Radcliffe ;
A word of praise is due to the photo- Both reprinted from the Proceedings of
1900, DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES
OF PARASITIC COPEPODS IN THE COL-
graphic illustrations, which are excellent, the Royal Society.
and a great assistance to the text. People's Books : LORD KELVIN,
LECTIONS OF THE MUSEUM, by Charles
by A.
Branch Wilson ;
1901, NOTES ON
Russell, 6d. net.
Jack
FRESH-WATER COPEPODA IN THE Mu-
A capital little biography by an old
student of the famous Professor. It covers
SEUM, by C. Dwight Marsh ; 1902,
DESCRIPTIONS OF CERTAIN SPECIES OF
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. the ground well and avoids trivialities,
WASPS OF THE FAMILY SPHECIDÆ, by
though the author seems excessively at-
(Notico in these columns does not preclude longer tracted by Senior Wranglers. Some words
Henry T. Fernald ; and 1903, ADDI-
review. )
TIONS TO THE WEST AMERICAN PYRA-
might, perhaps, have been added concerning
MIDELLID MOLLUSK FAUNA, WITH DE-
Collie (Sir John) and Wightman (C. F. ), Kelvin's simplicity of character and manners.
FIRST AID IN ACCIDENTS, 9d. net. Gili He might well have been priggish, in view
SCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES, by Paul
Bartsch. REPORT ON THE PROGRESS
Student's edition.
of his upbringing and scientific distinction
at an early age.
AND CONDITION OF THE MUSEUM FOR
Fabre (J. -H. ), LES RAVAGEURS : RÉCITS
THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1911.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF
SUR LES INSECTES NUISIBLES À L'AGRI- People's Books :
Washington, Govt. Printing Office
CULTURE, 3fr. 50.
Paris, Delagrave
SCIENCE, by W. C. D. Whetham ; and
M. Fabre is the village schoolmaster who
RADIATION, by P. Phillips, 6d. net each.
Wild Flowers in their Home Series: No. 1,
Jack
WILD FLOWERS OF THE HEDGEROW ;
awoke one morning to find that his ‘La Vie
des Insectes' had made him famous. He physical, biological, and psychological
Adopting the threefold division of science
and No. 2, WILD FLOWERS OF THE
Wood, both by W. Percival Westell
,
has written since many charming studies
Mr. Whetham, in the limited space at
with six Coloured and twenty Black-
in natural history which have placed him his disposal, puts before his readers in a
and-white Illustrations by C. F. Newell
,
in the front rank of European naturalists.
1/ net each.
Werner Laurie
This book, dealing chiefly with insects of masterly way the chief results that have
been reached in each division in the
These volumes are weak in method,
the predatory class, is no prosy entomological
manual, but is full of feeling for nature attempt to construct a consistent model of and contain some sentimentalizing
and of keen observation, to which must be phenomena and their relations. The brief flowers. The cataloguing of plants without
added a gift of expression which makes
any regard to the natural orders in which
survey presented here is brought right up
learning delightful. The chapters are
to date, and the reader who wishes to they have been classified does not seem " to
thrown into the form of dialogues, and pursue his studies in greater detail in any point the way to the beginner," but rather
to leave him without any conception of the
the discussion is sprightly
throughout. particular direction will find that he has
laid a good foundation for progress.
characteristics which mark the most familiar
Those interested in fieldwork and nature
study cannot afford to neglect a charming the character of the waves which constitute books are said not to be concerned with
Mr. Phillips deals with the investigation of orders of wood and hedge flowers. The
and informative book.
light and heat, and their relationship to dry details of structure or classification **;
Garratt (Herbert A. ), HEAT ENGINES, 6/ electro-magnetic waves. The subject of but if those hedge plants found during the
Arnold radio-activity is expressly excluded from spring months, belonging to the same orders,
Mr. Garratt's position as Principal of the consideration. The author labours under had been arranged side by side, the young
London County Council School of Engineer the disadvantage of having to attempt reader would have unconsciously begun to
ing and Navigation is a guarantee that his detailed explanations of physical processes see the bare skeleton upon which our floral
technical knowledge will not be found without the aid of laboratory demonstrations, system has been arranged. The uncoloured
at fault; but it is not only on this account and does not always succeed in presenting illustrations tend to be finicking, and do not
that the book is praiseworthy, for the the details of his subject in a clear manner.
reach the high
standard of accuracy
information it contains is given more Thus the explanation of electro-magnetic desirable in scientific
drawing.
lucidly, and is expressed in better style, than waves, and of their modifications which Zimmer (George Frederick), DICTIONARY OF
is often the case in books of the sort. result in Hertzian waves (the foundation of
Engineers who are concerned in the design- wireless telegraphy), will, we fear, tend rather
BOTANICAL NAMES, 2/6 net.
ing and manufacture of every type of prime to confuse than to enlighten the tyro.
Routledge
mover actuated by heat, whether recipro- But the brevity that is imposed on the and terms with their English equivalents,
A popular dictionary of botanical names
cating or rotary, stationary or locomotive, author by the size of the book is partly intended for botanists and horticulturists,
will find this a handy desk-book for reference, I responsible for this, and the enthusiastic as well as amateurs interested in the subject
over
1
## p. 627 (#471) ############################################
No. 4414, JUNE 1, 1912
627
THE ATHENAUM
OF
Dr. W. T. Calman read a short paper describing
SOCIETIES.
a new genus and species of the Crustacean order
Science Gossip.
Branchiura.
SOCIETY ANTIQUARIES. —May 23. -Dr. A parasite of fishes collected by Mr. Spencer THE proceedings at the gatherings of the
C. H. Read, President, in the chair.
Moore at Corumba, Matto Grosso, Southern
Optical Convention on Tuesday, June 25th,
Mr. R. T. Günther gave an account of some
Brazil, was referred to a new genus as follows :
further researches on the site of the Imperial Dipteropeltis, gen. n. Differing from Argulus in
will be of an astronomical character, and for
Villa situated at the end of Posilipo, near Naples, having no spine on the preoral papilla ; in having that day Fellows of the Royal Astronomical
and described a Roman mural glass mosaic the antennules and antennæ very minute and Society may become Honorary Members
found at the back of a small niche in the ruins. imperfectly segmented ; in having no large spines of the Convention.
The mosaic is of interest on account of the charm-
or hooks on the under surface of the carapace,
The programme will include, in the
ingly natural rendering of the subject, a white body, or appendages ; in having no furcal rami
bird flying over some plants grouped behind a
on the abdomen ; and in having the lateral wings morning, a reception by the Astronomer
yellow trellis, the whole being inlaid in a back- of the carapace greatly elongated. Genotype, Royal, Vice-President of the Convention,
ground of deep blue cobalt-stained glass mosaic.
D. hirundo, sp. n. , with the characters of the genus. to be followed by the reading of papers
The borders are ornamented with cockle-shells and
G.
spirally twisted glass rods, and are coeval in Second Contribution to our Knowledge of the bearing upon astronomical optics; in the
afternoon, a visit to the Royal Observatory,
style with the mosaic fountain-niches at Pompeii. Varieties of the Wall-Lizard. ' This paper was a
A chemical analysis of the green tesseræ was made
continuation of one published in the Society's Greenwich; and in the evening a public
by Mr. J. J. Manley, who discovered that the Transactions in 1905, and dealt chiefly with the lecture.
peculiar colour was partly due to the presence of
variations of Lacerta muralis in South-Eastern The reception will be held in the Science
a minute quantity (1. 25 per cent. ) of oxide of Europe and South-Western Asia. It also con-
Museum, and the papers will be read in the
uranium iningled with the other constituents of tained a supplement to the first part, thus com-
the glass. This is the first time that the presence
pleting an account of the varieties, of which Lecture Hall, Imperial College of Science
of this metal as a colouring matter in Roman
about thirty were regarded as more or less and Technology, South Kensington.
glass has been recognized, and it may yield a clue definable, the author endeavouring to show
It may not be generally known that the
to the provenance of the mineral used to tint the the inconstancy of the characters adduced by
glass employed by the manufacturers of these some herpetologists in assigning specific rank night sky has a brightness of its own, apart
mosaics.
to a number of these forms, connected by many
from that due to the moon and stars. This
Mr. W. H. St. John Hope read a paper on the gradations. Mr. Boulenger hoped to support earth-light," as it is called, has in recent
opening of a tumulus in Leadenham Park, Lincs. his statements by a number of photographic years been the subject of some accurate
The mound, which is marked “ tumulus
Ordnance map, is circular in form and about amount of material which had passed through study and measurement, and its amount,
50 ft. in diameter, and surrounded by a ditch. his hands in the course of his study of this though small, has been estimated numerically.
Excavation disclosed at a depth of 7 ft. two rows polymorphic and widely distributed lizard. The full moon is six million times as bright
of stone slabs, set in trenches and crossing each
per unit area as the sky would be if illu-
other at right angles. These trenches were cut
minated by “ earth-light” alone. The phe-
in the marly rock before the construction of the HISTORICAL. -May 16. -Ven. Archdeacon Cun- nomenon seems to be a thing of the high
mound. In constructing the mound a layer ningham, President, in the chair. -A paper was atmosphere, and for certain reasons cannot
of earth was first thrown over the cross formed read by Prof. Firth on 'The Ballad History of
by the trenches, and a ring of stones was then
be attributed wholly to a celestial source.
Charles I. ,'one of a series of papers beginning with
laid all round, Above this was heaped a thick the fifteenth century, which Prof. Firth hopes to
The suggestion of a permanent aurora seems
layer of clay, and finally a second layer of earth. continue to the reign of Anne. The ballads plausible, since the line of the spectrum
Nothing was found except some fragments of referred to are drawn from MS. collections and in the green, characteristic of the aurora,
mediæval pottery in the superficial layer. The contemporary printed broadsides.
object of
the
be seen on almost any dark clear night
mound
may
It is
is puzzling.
The following were declared elected Fellows of
certainly not sepulchral, and opinions differ as the Society: P. G. Bales, A. E. Baker, G. G.
in any part of the sky; but there is a more
to whether it may be a botontinus (boundary Butler, G. Baskerville, Louis Felberman, Canon recent suggestion that earth-light” is
mark), or the mound on which a windmill was F. J. Foakes Jackson, M. W. Myres, G. B. due to the continual bombardment of the
built.
Penell, J. W. Reynolds, F. R. Salter, and D. A.
Mr. W. R. Lethaby drew attention to a variety | Winstanley.
outer atmosphere by material of meteoric
of Early Christian objects in our museums,
origin.
Shooting-stars are
are the result of
The Church Institute, Leeds, was admitted as
amongst them early textiles with representations a Subscribing Library.
particles moving in space which rush into
of the Nativity and Annunciation, and Coptic
our atmosphere and are source of
embroideries. Mr. Hope exhibited an enamelled
incandescence. There may be smaller par-
censer cover of the twelfth century found at BRITISH NUMISMATIC. —May 22. -Mr. Carlyon- | ticles of meteoric dust which bombard us
Blakeney Church, Norfolk.
Britton, President, in the chair. -The President and cause this diffused light.
referred in feeling terms to the death of the late
King of Denmark, a Royal Member of the Society.
A MOVEMENT has been set on foot by a
ZOOLOGICAL. ---May 21. -Sir Edmund G. Loder, Mr. J. B. Caldecott gave an address upon the committee of geodesists of France and of
V. -P. , in the chair.
coins and tokens of the British possessions and the Republic of Ecuador to erect a monu-
The Secretary read a report on the additions Colonies, in which he urged the necessity for a
ment at Quito as a memorial of measurements
that had been made to the Society's menagerie new and standard work treating that branch of
during April.
numismatics upon comprehensive and modern
of an arc of a degree of the meridian at the
Mr. A. Blayney Percival exhibited a number lines. In support of his argument he instanced Equator. This was first done in the year
of photographs and lantern-slides of game animals from his own collection alone how numerous 1735 at the instigation of the French
from British East Africa, including a fine series were the errors and omissions in the old text- Academy of Sciences in order to compare
of the reticulated girafie.
books to which students were still forced to refer
Mr. D. Seth-Smith, Curator of Birds, exhibited for their only information.
with the measure of an arc made in Lapland
two living specimens of a rare lory, Calliptilus
by a party led by Maupertuis, the “earth
solitarius, from Fiji, and remarked that Dr.
flattener as he was called by Voltaire,
Philip H. Bahr had recently brought loine two
since from these measurements it was first
specimens which had
MEETINGS NEXT WEEK.
died. The specimens
demonstrated that our globe is an oblate
exhibited were from a collection of eight brought
Mox.
Institute of Actuaries, 5. -Annual Meeting.
home alive by Mr. Rood Tarte, of Taviuni Island,
koyal Institution, 5. -- General Monthly ai eeting.
spheroid. These operations have been re-
Hurveyors' Institution. 5. -Annual Meeting.
one of the Fijian group, where this very beautiful
peated within_the last twelve years by
Society of Engineers, 7. 30.
species was still abundant, its numbers having
Aristotelian. 8. - Significance and validity in Logic,' Mr. officers of the French Service géographique
been considerably reduced in the other
Jewish Historical, 8. 30. -The Jewish Pioneers of South de l'Armée, who measured the equatorial
islands by the introduced mongoose.
The
exhibitor referred to a recent note on the species
TUES. Horticultural, 3. - Problems of Propagation,' Prof. I. B.
arc, and by Russian and Swedish geodesists,
Balfour.
by Dr. Bahr in The Ibis for April last, p. 293.
Royal Institution, 3. - The Formation of the Alphabet,'
who worked near Spitzbergen. So far as
Lecture II. , Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie.
Major J. Stevenson Hamilton communicated
can be seen, the operations were eminently
Zoological, 8. 30. - Preservation of the English Fauna,' Mr.
a short paper, illustrated by photographs, on the E. G. B. Meade-Waldo;, The North Rhodesian Giraffe, successful, though no actual result as to the
local races of Burchell's zebra, and pointed out
Mr. R. Lydekker ; 'On the Hydrocoralline Genus Errina,
Prof. 8. J. Hickson ; Contributions to the Anntomy and
ellipticity of the earth, which was their final
that it was possible to shoot in one herd individuals
Systematic Arrangement of the Cestoidea : VI. un au
presenting the characters of various subspecies
Asexual Tapeworm from the Rodent Fiber sibethicus, show
object, has yet been published.
inga New Form of Asexual Propagation, and on the Supposed
as described by systematists. In the Transvaal,
Sexual Form,' Mr. F. E. Beddard ; and other papers.
THE latest section of the Smithsonian
for example, he obtained skins exhibiting features
Entomological, 8. –Studies of the Blattidæ. XIL, Mr. R. Miscellaneous Collections to reach us from
claimed to be distinctive of such races as E.
Shelford ; Lyocena (Agriades) alexius, Frr. , a "good
Species, Mr. T. A. Chapinan.
Washington is a good specimen of careful
burchelli wahlbergi, E. b. transvaalensis, and E. b. Geological, 8. 30. -* The Further Evidence of Borings as to the
chapmanni, and from his experience he expressed
Range of the South-Eastern Coalfield and of the Palmozoic
Dzvio anthropological work. Dr. Ales Hrdlickă
Floor, and as to the Thickness of the Overlying strata,'
the opinion that these subspecies had been based
Prof W. B. Dawkins; Shelly Clay dredged from the
has examined 'The Natives of Kharga
upon inadequate museum material.
Dogger Bank,' Mr. J. W. Stather.
Oasis, Egypt,' and provides, with thirty-eight
Tuurs. Royal Institution. 3. - X kays and Matter,' Lecture II. ,
Dr. William Nicoll communicated some obser-
Prof. O. G. Barkla.
excellent plates, elaborate statistics of their
vations on two new trematode larvæ found
Royal, 4. 30. -The Process of Excitation in Nerve and
Muscle,' Mr. K. Lucas. (Crconian Lecture. )
numbers, sex rate, births and deaths, physio-
encysted in enormous numbers in the mesentery Linuean, 8 - The Development of the Cod, Gadus morrhua,
of several striped snakes (Tropidonotus ordinatus
8
W. E. Tanner.
africa,' Mr. 8. Mendelssohu.
WED.
-
Linn. , Prof. A. Meek; Palæoatographical Relatious of
logical observaions and measurements of
sirtalis) which had died in the Society's gardens.
Antarctica. ' Mr. C. Hedley.
Chemical, 8. 30. - The Absorption Spectra of Various Deriva.
stature, head, face, nose, &c.
He named these forms, as neither could be
tives of Naphthalene in solution and as Vapours,' Mr. J E. He concludes that these Kharga natives
referred to any adult species already known. It
Purvis: ''The Velocity of the Hydrogen Ion, and a Geuernl
Dissociation Formula for a cids,' Mr. J. Keudall; 'Chloro- are radically distinct in type from the negro,
could be safely predicted, however, that the
amino Derivatives of Benzylidene Diamides. ' Messrs. F. D.
Second species completed its life-cycle in the
Chattaway and A. E. Swinton; The Refractivity of Sulphur
somewhat deficient in physical develop-
in Various Aliphatic Compounds, Messrs. T. 8. Price and
intestine of a bird, and from this fact it could
ment owing to malnutrition, and substan-
D. F. Twibs; and other papers.
be inferred that the striped snake was eaten by
Royal Institution, 9. -'Lord Lister. ' Sir W. Macewen. tially the same as they were during the first
birds.
BAT. Royal Institution, 3. -The Weather and the Utilities of
Forecasts,' Mr. W. L. Moore.
part of the Christian era,
FRI.
## p. 628 (#472) ############################################
628
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4414, JUNE 1, 1912
review.
>>
remains a comprehensive account of the Babylonians and Assyrians he gives a
FINE ARTS
flora and fauna, with some reserve where brief sketch; and he could hardly have
the crudeness of early art leaves their done more in the present state of our
identification dubious.
knowledge of the subject.
Mesopotamian Archæology: an Introduc-
On the other hand, architecture and
In referring to the great work done by
tion to the Archæology of Babylonia and Rawlinson in deciphering the cuneiform sculpture, metallurgy, painting, cylinder
Assyria. By Percy S. P. Handcock. inscriptions, that of his contemporaries— seals, shell - engraving and ivory work,
(Macmillan & Co. , and the Medici Grotefend, Burnouf, and Lassen-must terra-cotta figures and reliefs, stoneware
Society. )
not be overlooked. Of Burnouf Mr. and pottery, dress and military accoutre-
Handcock says:
ments, are described in full detail, well
In this volume of a little more than 400
illustrated, and ably commented upon.
“He discovered that
pages, issued by the Medici Society jointly contained a list of the satrapies, and as the
one inscription It may well be that readers of Mr. Hand-
with Messrs. Macmillan, Mr. Handcock
cock's work may desire to know more
from the Greek writers he was able on the about its fascinating subject, for the book
of the archæological remains of various partial knowledge of the alphabet already itself is interesting from beginning to end.
kinds, and a digest of the information they attained to fit in the names to the cuneiform For the benefit of those who desire to
present as to the several elements that signs, and as a result he produced an alphabet pursue further any of the matters dealt
entered into the ancient civilization of of 30 letters, mostly correct. "
with, a short bibliography is included.
Babylonia and Assyria. He also describes Since then the materials for study have
the land and its people, gives a sketch of been multiplied a thousandfold, and so
their history, and tells the ever-interesting voluminous are the historical and chro- NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
story of the successive excavations and nological records that it is possible to
the decipherment of the cuneiform compile a fairly complete list of the (Notice in these columns does not preclude longer
inscriptions. As we read his book, we dynasties and kings of Babylonia and
are reminded of the wave of deep interest Assyria, with approximate dates. Mr. Catalogue of Portraits in the Possession of
which passed over the country in the Handcock has furnished such a list, but
the University, Colleges, City, and County
early fifties when Layard's book on has specified in it only the "more im-
of Oxford, compiled by Mrs. Reginald
Lane Poole : Vol.
Prof. Bateson, yet he gives a long list consideration by experts; but there is not bility of the Arab being the descendant
of inheritable family traits occupying the slightest doubt that the cases on the of the Siwalik horse from Southern Asia ;
153 pages, including both normal and borderland will present a problem of but in all these critical discussions, if we
abnormal characters, with no indication great difficulty, and indeed, widespread
whether they are due to the presence or injustice, if the present Bill becomes The Horse and its Relatives.
absence of positive factors. He has operative,
Lydekker. (Allen & Sons. )
are re-
cases
By R.
## p. 626 (#470) ############################################
626
No. 4414, JUNE 1, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
Α
2
>
THE
have a fault to find, it is that the author while the budding engineer will learn much student should be encouraged to read
gives us too much of the opinions of from its well-illustrated pages.
subsequently the works mentioned on p. 62,
others, and not enough of his own.
He In addition to the various complete which deal in a fuller manner with the
refers to the horse as possessing the maxi. engines, Mr. Garratt devotes a considerable radiation of energy.
mum speed of which the inammalian portion of his volume to their adjuncts, such Russell (Rollo), PREVENTABLE CANCER, 4/8
-heaters;
organization is capable: if he means by all descriptions, including the sleeve-valve
Longmans
this over short distances as well as long, used in the Daimler motor-car engines ; con-
This is a book dealing with cancer sta-
we are not sure that the statement is densers; and air-pumps, including the “ Ed-author thinks that cancer could be prevented
tistics in various parts of the world. The
correct.
wards” type of pump.
if people paid more attention to diet. His
The horse is often cited as the mammal
We suggest that an improvement in the
whose evolutionary history is best known, describing the various boilers before begin- deal to do with the supposed increase of
arrangement of the work could be made by argument is
, unfortunately, not at all con-
vincing. Improved diagnosis has a great
for its gradual development from primitive, ning the subject of the generation of steam,
many-toed animals no larger than foxes is rather than interpolating them, as at present, the countries where medical education is at
cancer, for this has taken place in
almost completely revealed by the records into the middle of chap. iii.
The only omission we have noticed is the system of collecting statistics in various
of the Tertiary and Pleistocene strata.
its highest development. Unfortunately,
Prof. Osborn includes all these ancestral the rotary engine of the Gnome type, such countries differs considerably, so that it is
|
types with the modern horse in the one
as is used in aeroplanes. In view of difficult to compare their results.
family, Equidæ ; but the differences are
the rapid developments in this direction
marked, and it is safer to break them
some description of its working would have Science Progress in the Twentieth Century,
been appropriate, and will no doubt be added a Quarterly Journal of Scientific Work
up, as the author proposes, into the three to future editions. There is, by the way, an and Thought, No. 24, April, 5/
families of Equidæ, Anchitheriidæ, and error in one of the references. On p. 229,
John Murray
Hyracotheriidæ.
“Fig. 125" should evidently read Fig. 128. This excellent quarterly journal contains
Mr. Lydekker concludes with a profes- Hutchinson's Popular Botany, Part IV. , 7d.
many interesting articles by well-known
authorities. It is catholic in its views,
sion of faith which in the present day is, net.
perhaps, worth recording. He says :
This ‘Popular Botany' continues to be
and we can strongly recommend it to all
those interested in scientific problems.
good, and, when completed, promises inter-
“That all these marvellous changes and esting results, both to botanical students United States National Museum: 1884, ON
adaptations are not due to any mere 'blind and to readers without scientific knowledge.
AN IMPORTANT SPECIMEN OF EDESTUS,
struggle for existence' or 'survival of the The illustrations are excellent.
WITH DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES,
fittest," but that they were directly designed Lockyer (Sir Norman), THE SPECTRUM OF
EDESTUS MIRUS, by Oliver Perry Hay;
and controlled by an Omniscient and
COMET BROOKS (1911 c), and ON THE
1896, New PEDICULATE FISHES FROM
Omnipotent Creator, is the settled and final
IBON FLAME SPECTRUM AND THOSE OF
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND CON-
opinion of the author of this volume. ”
SUN-SPOTS AND LOWER-TYPE STARS.
TIGUOUS WATERS, by Lewis Radcliffe ;
A word of praise is due to the photo- Both reprinted from the Proceedings of
1900, DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES
OF PARASITIC COPEPODS IN THE COL-
graphic illustrations, which are excellent, the Royal Society.
and a great assistance to the text. People's Books : LORD KELVIN,
LECTIONS OF THE MUSEUM, by Charles
by A.
Branch Wilson ;
1901, NOTES ON
Russell, 6d. net.
Jack
FRESH-WATER COPEPODA IN THE Mu-
A capital little biography by an old
student of the famous Professor. It covers
SEUM, by C. Dwight Marsh ; 1902,
DESCRIPTIONS OF CERTAIN SPECIES OF
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. the ground well and avoids trivialities,
WASPS OF THE FAMILY SPHECIDÆ, by
though the author seems excessively at-
(Notico in these columns does not preclude longer tracted by Senior Wranglers. Some words
Henry T. Fernald ; and 1903, ADDI-
review. )
TIONS TO THE WEST AMERICAN PYRA-
might, perhaps, have been added concerning
MIDELLID MOLLUSK FAUNA, WITH DE-
Collie (Sir John) and Wightman (C. F. ), Kelvin's simplicity of character and manners.
FIRST AID IN ACCIDENTS, 9d. net. Gili He might well have been priggish, in view
SCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES, by Paul
Bartsch. REPORT ON THE PROGRESS
Student's edition.
of his upbringing and scientific distinction
at an early age.
AND CONDITION OF THE MUSEUM FOR
Fabre (J. -H. ), LES RAVAGEURS : RÉCITS
THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1911.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF
SUR LES INSECTES NUISIBLES À L'AGRI- People's Books :
Washington, Govt. Printing Office
CULTURE, 3fr. 50.
Paris, Delagrave
SCIENCE, by W. C. D. Whetham ; and
M. Fabre is the village schoolmaster who
RADIATION, by P. Phillips, 6d. net each.
Wild Flowers in their Home Series: No. 1,
Jack
WILD FLOWERS OF THE HEDGEROW ;
awoke one morning to find that his ‘La Vie
des Insectes' had made him famous. He physical, biological, and psychological
Adopting the threefold division of science
and No. 2, WILD FLOWERS OF THE
Wood, both by W. Percival Westell
,
has written since many charming studies
Mr. Whetham, in the limited space at
with six Coloured and twenty Black-
in natural history which have placed him his disposal, puts before his readers in a
and-white Illustrations by C. F. Newell
,
in the front rank of European naturalists.
1/ net each.
Werner Laurie
This book, dealing chiefly with insects of masterly way the chief results that have
been reached in each division in the
These volumes are weak in method,
the predatory class, is no prosy entomological
manual, but is full of feeling for nature attempt to construct a consistent model of and contain some sentimentalizing
and of keen observation, to which must be phenomena and their relations. The brief flowers. The cataloguing of plants without
added a gift of expression which makes
any regard to the natural orders in which
survey presented here is brought right up
learning delightful. The chapters are
to date, and the reader who wishes to they have been classified does not seem " to
thrown into the form of dialogues, and pursue his studies in greater detail in any point the way to the beginner," but rather
to leave him without any conception of the
the discussion is sprightly
throughout. particular direction will find that he has
laid a good foundation for progress.
characteristics which mark the most familiar
Those interested in fieldwork and nature
study cannot afford to neglect a charming the character of the waves which constitute books are said not to be concerned with
Mr. Phillips deals with the investigation of orders of wood and hedge flowers. The
and informative book.
light and heat, and their relationship to dry details of structure or classification **;
Garratt (Herbert A. ), HEAT ENGINES, 6/ electro-magnetic waves. The subject of but if those hedge plants found during the
Arnold radio-activity is expressly excluded from spring months, belonging to the same orders,
Mr. Garratt's position as Principal of the consideration. The author labours under had been arranged side by side, the young
London County Council School of Engineer the disadvantage of having to attempt reader would have unconsciously begun to
ing and Navigation is a guarantee that his detailed explanations of physical processes see the bare skeleton upon which our floral
technical knowledge will not be found without the aid of laboratory demonstrations, system has been arranged. The uncoloured
at fault; but it is not only on this account and does not always succeed in presenting illustrations tend to be finicking, and do not
that the book is praiseworthy, for the the details of his subject in a clear manner.
reach the high
standard of accuracy
information it contains is given more Thus the explanation of electro-magnetic desirable in scientific
drawing.
lucidly, and is expressed in better style, than waves, and of their modifications which Zimmer (George Frederick), DICTIONARY OF
is often the case in books of the sort. result in Hertzian waves (the foundation of
Engineers who are concerned in the design- wireless telegraphy), will, we fear, tend rather
BOTANICAL NAMES, 2/6 net.
ing and manufacture of every type of prime to confuse than to enlighten the tyro.
Routledge
mover actuated by heat, whether recipro- But the brevity that is imposed on the and terms with their English equivalents,
A popular dictionary of botanical names
cating or rotary, stationary or locomotive, author by the size of the book is partly intended for botanists and horticulturists,
will find this a handy desk-book for reference, I responsible for this, and the enthusiastic as well as amateurs interested in the subject
over
1
## p. 627 (#471) ############################################
No. 4414, JUNE 1, 1912
627
THE ATHENAUM
OF
Dr. W. T. Calman read a short paper describing
SOCIETIES.
a new genus and species of the Crustacean order
Science Gossip.
Branchiura.
SOCIETY ANTIQUARIES. —May 23. -Dr. A parasite of fishes collected by Mr. Spencer THE proceedings at the gatherings of the
C. H. Read, President, in the chair.
Moore at Corumba, Matto Grosso, Southern
Optical Convention on Tuesday, June 25th,
Mr. R. T. Günther gave an account of some
Brazil, was referred to a new genus as follows :
further researches on the site of the Imperial Dipteropeltis, gen. n. Differing from Argulus in
will be of an astronomical character, and for
Villa situated at the end of Posilipo, near Naples, having no spine on the preoral papilla ; in having that day Fellows of the Royal Astronomical
and described a Roman mural glass mosaic the antennules and antennæ very minute and Society may become Honorary Members
found at the back of a small niche in the ruins. imperfectly segmented ; in having no large spines of the Convention.
The mosaic is of interest on account of the charm-
or hooks on the under surface of the carapace,
The programme will include, in the
ingly natural rendering of the subject, a white body, or appendages ; in having no furcal rami
bird flying over some plants grouped behind a
on the abdomen ; and in having the lateral wings morning, a reception by the Astronomer
yellow trellis, the whole being inlaid in a back- of the carapace greatly elongated. Genotype, Royal, Vice-President of the Convention,
ground of deep blue cobalt-stained glass mosaic.
D. hirundo, sp. n. , with the characters of the genus. to be followed by the reading of papers
The borders are ornamented with cockle-shells and
G.
spirally twisted glass rods, and are coeval in Second Contribution to our Knowledge of the bearing upon astronomical optics; in the
afternoon, a visit to the Royal Observatory,
style with the mosaic fountain-niches at Pompeii. Varieties of the Wall-Lizard. ' This paper was a
A chemical analysis of the green tesseræ was made
continuation of one published in the Society's Greenwich; and in the evening a public
by Mr. J. J. Manley, who discovered that the Transactions in 1905, and dealt chiefly with the lecture.
peculiar colour was partly due to the presence of
variations of Lacerta muralis in South-Eastern The reception will be held in the Science
a minute quantity (1. 25 per cent. ) of oxide of Europe and South-Western Asia. It also con-
Museum, and the papers will be read in the
uranium iningled with the other constituents of tained a supplement to the first part, thus com-
the glass. This is the first time that the presence
pleting an account of the varieties, of which Lecture Hall, Imperial College of Science
of this metal as a colouring matter in Roman
about thirty were regarded as more or less and Technology, South Kensington.
glass has been recognized, and it may yield a clue definable, the author endeavouring to show
It may not be generally known that the
to the provenance of the mineral used to tint the the inconstancy of the characters adduced by
glass employed by the manufacturers of these some herpetologists in assigning specific rank night sky has a brightness of its own, apart
mosaics.
to a number of these forms, connected by many
from that due to the moon and stars. This
Mr. W. H. St. John Hope read a paper on the gradations. Mr. Boulenger hoped to support earth-light," as it is called, has in recent
opening of a tumulus in Leadenham Park, Lincs. his statements by a number of photographic years been the subject of some accurate
The mound, which is marked “ tumulus
Ordnance map, is circular in form and about amount of material which had passed through study and measurement, and its amount,
50 ft. in diameter, and surrounded by a ditch. his hands in the course of his study of this though small, has been estimated numerically.
Excavation disclosed at a depth of 7 ft. two rows polymorphic and widely distributed lizard. The full moon is six million times as bright
of stone slabs, set in trenches and crossing each
per unit area as the sky would be if illu-
other at right angles. These trenches were cut
minated by “ earth-light” alone. The phe-
in the marly rock before the construction of the HISTORICAL. -May 16. -Ven. Archdeacon Cun- nomenon seems to be a thing of the high
mound. In constructing the mound a layer ningham, President, in the chair. -A paper was atmosphere, and for certain reasons cannot
of earth was first thrown over the cross formed read by Prof. Firth on 'The Ballad History of
by the trenches, and a ring of stones was then
be attributed wholly to a celestial source.
Charles I. ,'one of a series of papers beginning with
laid all round, Above this was heaped a thick the fifteenth century, which Prof. Firth hopes to
The suggestion of a permanent aurora seems
layer of clay, and finally a second layer of earth. continue to the reign of Anne. The ballads plausible, since the line of the spectrum
Nothing was found except some fragments of referred to are drawn from MS. collections and in the green, characteristic of the aurora,
mediæval pottery in the superficial layer. The contemporary printed broadsides.
object of
the
be seen on almost any dark clear night
mound
may
It is
is puzzling.
The following were declared elected Fellows of
certainly not sepulchral, and opinions differ as the Society: P. G. Bales, A. E. Baker, G. G.
in any part of the sky; but there is a more
to whether it may be a botontinus (boundary Butler, G. Baskerville, Louis Felberman, Canon recent suggestion that earth-light” is
mark), or the mound on which a windmill was F. J. Foakes Jackson, M. W. Myres, G. B. due to the continual bombardment of the
built.
Penell, J. W. Reynolds, F. R. Salter, and D. A.
Mr. W. R. Lethaby drew attention to a variety | Winstanley.
outer atmosphere by material of meteoric
of Early Christian objects in our museums,
origin.
Shooting-stars are
are the result of
The Church Institute, Leeds, was admitted as
amongst them early textiles with representations a Subscribing Library.
particles moving in space which rush into
of the Nativity and Annunciation, and Coptic
our atmosphere and are source of
embroideries. Mr. Hope exhibited an enamelled
incandescence. There may be smaller par-
censer cover of the twelfth century found at BRITISH NUMISMATIC. —May 22. -Mr. Carlyon- | ticles of meteoric dust which bombard us
Blakeney Church, Norfolk.
Britton, President, in the chair. -The President and cause this diffused light.
referred in feeling terms to the death of the late
King of Denmark, a Royal Member of the Society.
A MOVEMENT has been set on foot by a
ZOOLOGICAL. ---May 21. -Sir Edmund G. Loder, Mr. J. B. Caldecott gave an address upon the committee of geodesists of France and of
V. -P. , in the chair.
coins and tokens of the British possessions and the Republic of Ecuador to erect a monu-
The Secretary read a report on the additions Colonies, in which he urged the necessity for a
ment at Quito as a memorial of measurements
that had been made to the Society's menagerie new and standard work treating that branch of
during April.
numismatics upon comprehensive and modern
of an arc of a degree of the meridian at the
Mr. A. Blayney Percival exhibited a number lines. In support of his argument he instanced Equator. This was first done in the year
of photographs and lantern-slides of game animals from his own collection alone how numerous 1735 at the instigation of the French
from British East Africa, including a fine series were the errors and omissions in the old text- Academy of Sciences in order to compare
of the reticulated girafie.
books to which students were still forced to refer
Mr. D. Seth-Smith, Curator of Birds, exhibited for their only information.
with the measure of an arc made in Lapland
two living specimens of a rare lory, Calliptilus
by a party led by Maupertuis, the “earth
solitarius, from Fiji, and remarked that Dr.
flattener as he was called by Voltaire,
Philip H. Bahr had recently brought loine two
since from these measurements it was first
specimens which had
MEETINGS NEXT WEEK.
died. The specimens
demonstrated that our globe is an oblate
exhibited were from a collection of eight brought
Mox.
Institute of Actuaries, 5. -Annual Meeting.
home alive by Mr. Rood Tarte, of Taviuni Island,
koyal Institution, 5. -- General Monthly ai eeting.
spheroid. These operations have been re-
Hurveyors' Institution. 5. -Annual Meeting.
one of the Fijian group, where this very beautiful
peated within_the last twelve years by
Society of Engineers, 7. 30.
species was still abundant, its numbers having
Aristotelian. 8. - Significance and validity in Logic,' Mr. officers of the French Service géographique
been considerably reduced in the other
Jewish Historical, 8. 30. -The Jewish Pioneers of South de l'Armée, who measured the equatorial
islands by the introduced mongoose.
The
exhibitor referred to a recent note on the species
TUES. Horticultural, 3. - Problems of Propagation,' Prof. I. B.
arc, and by Russian and Swedish geodesists,
Balfour.
by Dr. Bahr in The Ibis for April last, p. 293.
Royal Institution, 3. - The Formation of the Alphabet,'
who worked near Spitzbergen. So far as
Lecture II. , Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie.
Major J. Stevenson Hamilton communicated
can be seen, the operations were eminently
Zoological, 8. 30. - Preservation of the English Fauna,' Mr.
a short paper, illustrated by photographs, on the E. G. B. Meade-Waldo;, The North Rhodesian Giraffe, successful, though no actual result as to the
local races of Burchell's zebra, and pointed out
Mr. R. Lydekker ; 'On the Hydrocoralline Genus Errina,
Prof. 8. J. Hickson ; Contributions to the Anntomy and
ellipticity of the earth, which was their final
that it was possible to shoot in one herd individuals
Systematic Arrangement of the Cestoidea : VI. un au
presenting the characters of various subspecies
Asexual Tapeworm from the Rodent Fiber sibethicus, show
object, has yet been published.
inga New Form of Asexual Propagation, and on the Supposed
as described by systematists. In the Transvaal,
Sexual Form,' Mr. F. E. Beddard ; and other papers.
THE latest section of the Smithsonian
for example, he obtained skins exhibiting features
Entomological, 8. –Studies of the Blattidæ. XIL, Mr. R. Miscellaneous Collections to reach us from
claimed to be distinctive of such races as E.
Shelford ; Lyocena (Agriades) alexius, Frr. , a "good
Species, Mr. T. A. Chapinan.
Washington is a good specimen of careful
burchelli wahlbergi, E. b. transvaalensis, and E. b. Geological, 8. 30. -* The Further Evidence of Borings as to the
chapmanni, and from his experience he expressed
Range of the South-Eastern Coalfield and of the Palmozoic
Dzvio anthropological work. Dr. Ales Hrdlickă
Floor, and as to the Thickness of the Overlying strata,'
the opinion that these subspecies had been based
Prof W. B. Dawkins; Shelly Clay dredged from the
has examined 'The Natives of Kharga
upon inadequate museum material.
Dogger Bank,' Mr. J. W. Stather.
Oasis, Egypt,' and provides, with thirty-eight
Tuurs. Royal Institution. 3. - X kays and Matter,' Lecture II. ,
Dr. William Nicoll communicated some obser-
Prof. O. G. Barkla.
excellent plates, elaborate statistics of their
vations on two new trematode larvæ found
Royal, 4. 30. -The Process of Excitation in Nerve and
Muscle,' Mr. K. Lucas. (Crconian Lecture. )
numbers, sex rate, births and deaths, physio-
encysted in enormous numbers in the mesentery Linuean, 8 - The Development of the Cod, Gadus morrhua,
of several striped snakes (Tropidonotus ordinatus
8
W. E. Tanner.
africa,' Mr. 8. Mendelssohu.
WED.
-
Linn. , Prof. A. Meek; Palæoatographical Relatious of
logical observaions and measurements of
sirtalis) which had died in the Society's gardens.
Antarctica. ' Mr. C. Hedley.
Chemical, 8. 30. - The Absorption Spectra of Various Deriva.
stature, head, face, nose, &c.
He named these forms, as neither could be
tives of Naphthalene in solution and as Vapours,' Mr. J E. He concludes that these Kharga natives
referred to any adult species already known. It
Purvis: ''The Velocity of the Hydrogen Ion, and a Geuernl
Dissociation Formula for a cids,' Mr. J. Keudall; 'Chloro- are radically distinct in type from the negro,
could be safely predicted, however, that the
amino Derivatives of Benzylidene Diamides. ' Messrs. F. D.
Second species completed its life-cycle in the
Chattaway and A. E. Swinton; The Refractivity of Sulphur
somewhat deficient in physical develop-
in Various Aliphatic Compounds, Messrs. T. 8. Price and
intestine of a bird, and from this fact it could
ment owing to malnutrition, and substan-
D. F. Twibs; and other papers.
be inferred that the striped snake was eaten by
Royal Institution, 9. -'Lord Lister. ' Sir W. Macewen. tially the same as they were during the first
birds.
BAT. Royal Institution, 3. -The Weather and the Utilities of
Forecasts,' Mr. W. L. Moore.
part of the Christian era,
FRI.
## p. 628 (#472) ############################################
628
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4414, JUNE 1, 1912
review.
>>
remains a comprehensive account of the Babylonians and Assyrians he gives a
FINE ARTS
flora and fauna, with some reserve where brief sketch; and he could hardly have
the crudeness of early art leaves their done more in the present state of our
identification dubious.
knowledge of the subject.
Mesopotamian Archæology: an Introduc-
On the other hand, architecture and
In referring to the great work done by
tion to the Archæology of Babylonia and Rawlinson in deciphering the cuneiform sculpture, metallurgy, painting, cylinder
Assyria. By Percy S. P. Handcock. inscriptions, that of his contemporaries— seals, shell - engraving and ivory work,
(Macmillan & Co. , and the Medici Grotefend, Burnouf, and Lassen-must terra-cotta figures and reliefs, stoneware
Society. )
not be overlooked. Of Burnouf Mr. and pottery, dress and military accoutre-
Handcock says:
ments, are described in full detail, well
In this volume of a little more than 400
illustrated, and ably commented upon.
“He discovered that
pages, issued by the Medici Society jointly contained a list of the satrapies, and as the
one inscription It may well be that readers of Mr. Hand-
with Messrs. Macmillan, Mr. Handcock
cock's work may desire to know more
from the Greek writers he was able on the about its fascinating subject, for the book
of the archæological remains of various partial knowledge of the alphabet already itself is interesting from beginning to end.
kinds, and a digest of the information they attained to fit in the names to the cuneiform For the benefit of those who desire to
present as to the several elements that signs, and as a result he produced an alphabet pursue further any of the matters dealt
entered into the ancient civilization of of 30 letters, mostly correct. "
with, a short bibliography is included.
Babylonia and Assyria. He also describes Since then the materials for study have
the land and its people, gives a sketch of been multiplied a thousandfold, and so
their history, and tells the ever-interesting voluminous are the historical and chro- NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
story of the successive excavations and nological records that it is possible to
the decipherment of the cuneiform compile a fairly complete list of the (Notice in these columns does not preclude longer
inscriptions. As we read his book, we dynasties and kings of Babylonia and
are reminded of the wave of deep interest Assyria, with approximate dates. Mr. Catalogue of Portraits in the Possession of
which passed over the country in the Handcock has furnished such a list, but
the University, Colleges, City, and County
early fifties when Layard's book on has specified in it only the "more im-
of Oxford, compiled by Mrs. Reginald
Lane Poole : Vol.
