336 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



not among the human tribe. The discoverer of Sivapithecus, Dr. Guy Pilgrim, 

 took the other view, but Prof. Boule thought the new genus ought to be placed in 

 the Simiida?, and this latter opinion has always seemed to me to be correct. 

 The latter half of the paper is largely psychological. The author has no belief in 

 the alleged detailed identity of the working of the human mind in different areas. 

 There has, he says, " been no far-reaching and progressive modification of the 

 instincts and emotions since man came into existence." And "at no stage of his 

 career has he acquired highly complex and specialised instincts which impelled 

 him, without any promptings from other peoples, to build megalithic monuments, 

 or to invent the story of the deluge, independently of other people who do the 

 same arbitrary things, as modern speculations would have us believe." 



A. G. T. 



ENGINEERING 



Textbook of Ordnance and Gunnery. By Lieut.-Col. William H. Tschappat, 

 Ord. Dept., U.S.A. [Pp. iv + 705, with 314 illustrations, one folding plate, 

 and 14 tables.] (New York : John Wiley & Sons; London: Chapman & 

 Hall, 1917. Price 30J. net.) 



This is a further example of the thorough manner adopted in the United States 

 in the preparation of textbooks for a clearly defined class of student. 



It is, of course, also indicative of the thorough training of a truly educational 

 character given to specific students— in this case "the senior class at the U.S. 

 Military Academy, or for students who have had an equal amount of mathematical 

 training." 



The chapters taken in order deal with : Properties, Manufacture, Care and Use 

 of Explosives, Theory of Explosives, Measurements of Velocities and Pressures, 

 Interior Ballistics, Metals used in Ordnance Construction, Guns, Recoil and 

 Recoil Brakes, Artillery, Exterior Ballistics, Projectiles, Primers and Fuses, 

 Aiming Devices, Fire Control Instruments, Small Arms and Hand Arms, 

 Machine Guns. 



Chapter VI.— Guns— is characteristic of the work throughout the book. 

 Under the simple heading of " Guns " we have an excellent treatise on elasticity 

 which points the way to and reason for modern gun construction— the selection 

 of material, the care in manufacture, and the mechanisms for firing. 



In the same way, under "Exterior Ballistics," the theory of projectiles is 

 followed by the necessary "corrections" required in practice under the ever- 

 varying conditions following changes in projectiles and changes in wind and 

 general atmospheric conditions. It further indicates how essential it is that the 

 " personal equation," so to speak, of every gun should be known to those in charge. 



The chapter which follows on " Projectiles" is equally well treated. In such a 

 textbook it is hardly to be expected that the author, with so much definite matter 

 to cover, would care to wander into the realms of possibilities, and consequently 

 no specific mention is made of projectiles for very long range guns, say seventy-five 

 miles. No similar book to the one under review will be complete in the future 

 without some such very definite treatment, because, without question, the projectile 

 is the most important factor in a long range bombardment— both with respect to 

 obtaining (safely on the projectile itself) the necessary pressure on the base and 

 the conditions of its flight in the air. 



This volume should prove most interesting reading to any scientist at the 

 moment. 



J. Wemyss Anderson. 



