December 14, 191 1] 



NATURE 



209 



creatures are one family with the higher throughout," 

 buc we do not follow the author's theory of "spiritual 

 inheritance" as opposed to "physical inheritance." 

 Perhaps the right of making pronouncements regard- 

 ing- the scope of physical inheritance in garnering the 

 past has not been earned by an author who tells us 

 that "the human bowel is a worm." We do not 

 mean, however, that this quaint sentence is in any 

 way essential to the author's argument. 



I'he Wanderings of Peoples. By Dr. A. C. Haddon, 

 F.R.S. Pp. vii+i2 + 5 maps. (Cambridge Univer- 

 sity Press, 191 1.) Price is. net. 

 In this little volume, one of the handy manuals issued 

 by the Cambridge University Press, Dr. Haddon 

 deals with the movements of the world's population 

 irom those times "when mortals knew no shores 

 ' I vond their own " down to the modern movements 

 , quest of political, social, or religious freedom. 

 The introduction deals with the general factors 

 hich determine the impulse and direction of migra- 

 aons. The author also summarises the evidences for 

 racial or cultural drift which are to be found in the 

 physical characters of peoples, and in their artifacts, 

 customs, folklore, and speech. 



The main body of the work is a marvel of con- 

 densation. Into little more than one hundred pages 

 Dr. Haddon has contrived to pack in terse and vivid 

 phrases a whole history of the world so far as that 

 history is correlative with ethnology and geography. 

 Asiatic migrations and their sequence in Oceania are 

 described in one chapter. Europe and Africa have 

 each a chapter to themselves. The American peoples 

 — North, Central and South — require for the history 

 of their wanderings a space equal to two-thirds of 

 that of the rest of the world together. One value of 

 the book consists in the fact of its being an index to 

 a more detailed examination of its subject. Each 

 chapter is accompanied by its bibliography, and each 

 paragraph is referred to its authority. For reference 

 purposes the book is thoroughly up to date, and works 

 appear in the bibliography which have appeared since 

 its own chapters were in print. The five maps, owing 

 to their small size, only show the more important 

 migrations, but nev'ertheless they give a good general 

 idea of the movements which have taken place on 

 eacli continent. S. H. R. 



The King to His People : Being the Speeches and 

 Messages of his Majesty George V. as Prince and 

 Sovereign. Pp. xviii + 452. (London : Williams 

 and Xorgate, 191 1.) Price 5s. net. 

 One of the most impressive characteristics of these 

 speeches and messages is the remarkable manner in 

 which the British Royal Family has been able to 

 sympathise with, and be interested in, every aspect 

 of the lives and enterprises of British subjects in all 

 parts of the Empire. Whether addressing the Royal 

 Society, speaking to school children, presiding at 

 philanthropic meetings, officiating at military and 

 other functions, his Majesty has shown a genius for 

 speaking the right words at the opportune moment. 

 'I'he messages, "Wake up, England!" "Have 

 Courage, Be Thorough," "The Rule of Science," and 

 others, have served as an inspiration to workers 

 throughout the Empire. 



Prohleme der Proiistenkunde. By Prof, F. Doflein. 



H., Die Natur der Spirochaeten. Pp. vi + 36. 



(Jena: G. Fischer, 1911) Price 1.20 marks. 



'he first of Prof. Doflein 's studies, that on the Try- 



■panosomata, was noticed in Nature of June 24, 1909, 



p. 4S9. The present work deals with the Spirochaetw, 



spirillar micro-organisms met with in ditch water and 



also in connection with many diseases, such as the re- 



tlapsing fevers and syphilis, and as commensal parasites 



! NO. 2198, VOL. 881 



in the fresh-water mussel, &c. Some are doubtless 

 vegetable in nature, but manj' must probably be regarded 

 as belonging to the protozoa. From a critical survey 

 of the minute structure of several species the author 

 divides the spirochaetes into three groups : (i) Spiro- 

 chaeta, with a central staining filament ; (2) Cristispira, 

 with a marginal staining filament ; and (3) spirochaetes 

 with a flattened band or lamella. He does not con- 

 sider that sexually differentiated individuals have been 

 proved to occur. The pathogenic forms, like many 

 trypanosomes, are transmitted by blood-sucking 

 arthropods, principally ticks. The essay is illustrated 

 with many figures, and is a useful contribution to this 

 important subject. R. T. H. 



Arbeiten aus dem Gebiet der experimentellen Physi- 

 ologie. Edited by Dr. Hans Friedenthal. 

 Teil ii., 1909-10. Pp. viii + 286 + 5 plates. (Jena: 

 Gustav Fischer, 1911.) Price 5 marks. 

 This is a collection of twenty-seven papers which 

 have previouslv been published in various German 

 journals, or in the proceedings of scientific bodies. 

 They have been carried out in Dr. Hans Friedenthal's 

 private laboratory near Berlin, by Dr. Friedenthal 

 himself and his colleagues. They represent a large 

 amount of fruitful and painstaking labour, and relate 

 to a great variety of subjects. The publication of col- 

 lected papers from individual laboratories is often a 

 great convenience to other workers, and Dr. Fried- 

 enthal is to be congratulated on his valuable output of 

 the last few years. W. D. H. 



The Process of the Year. Notes on the Succession 



of Plant and Animal Life. By H. H. Brown. Pp. 



180. (London : Society for Promoting Christian 



Knowledge, 191 1.) Price 25. 6d. 



Though it does not appear to be his primary object, 



Mr. Brown has condensed much useful reading on 



nature-study into his volume. His "leading purpose 



is to show that the world is beautiful and happy." 



The vear is divided into seven periods corresponding 



with the seven ages of man, and in each division a 



series of typical plants and animals is considered. 



Philosophy. By Nicholas Murray Butler, president of 

 Columbia University. Pp. vii + 5i (London: Henry 

 Frowde, 191 1.) Price 45. 6d. net. 

 The third thousand has now been issued of President 

 Butler's lecture, delivered on March 4, 1908, in the 

 series on science, philosophy, and art, at Columbia 

 University. The purpose of the lecture was, the pre- 

 face points out, clearly to differentiate philosophy 

 from science and "to cut away the odd and unfitting 

 scientific garments in which some contemporary 

 writers have sought to clothe philosophy." 



Bergson. By Joseph Solomon. Pp. 128. (Philosophies 

 /Xncient and Modern.) (London : Constable and 

 Co., Ltd., 191 1.) Price 15. net. 

 The series to which this little volume has been added 

 alreadv included sketches of some fourteen systems 

 of philosophy, but none of them formulated by a 

 contemporarv thinker. M. Bergson has been so much 

 in the public eye recently that many readers will be 

 glad to acquaint themselves with the te.uhing of tliis 

 twentieth-century philosopher. 



Confessions of a Robin. By Lieut.-Colonel A. F. 

 Mockler-Ferrvman. Pp. 192. (London : Society 

 for Promoting Christian Knowledge, n.d.) Price 



2S. 



This story of incidents in the life of a robin will 

 appeal to young children, who will not regard talking 

 robins, with a well-developed power of consecutive 

 thought, as incongruous. The tale reveals the author 

 as a sympathetic observer of bird-life. 



