56o 



NATURE 



[April 14, 1898 



street and canal scenes, and explains at sonae length 

 many of the more important ceremonies by means of 

 which Siamese Buddhists make the amount of "merit" 

 necessary for the bettering of their position hereafter, 

 and he gives a short account of the Buddhism of the 

 country. The author makes some interesting observ- 

 ations on education, and gives an attractive picture of 

 the children with whom his duties brought him in contact. 

 He does not go far beyond the capital, and the scattered 

 remarks about the interior do not enlighten the reader 

 much as to the commercial aspects of the country. Politics 

 have also been rigorously excluded. On the whole there 

 is not much which may not be found in Turpin, Crawfurd, 

 Bowring, or Alabaster, or in the recent writings of Captain 

 Gerini. The author does not, however, pretend to an 

 •entirely original or exhaustive treatment of the subject. 

 His aim has rather been a chatty and popular account of 

 the life and ideas of the ordinary people, as they present 

 themselves to the observant resident of Bangkok. The 

 Far East is daily coming nearer, and becoming more 

 intelligible, to the Western reader, and the present work 

 is one which, in our opinion, distinctly helps to bridge 

 the gulf which yet lies between them. 



The illustrations, which, it is no discredit to the author 

 to say, form the chief feature of the book, are by Mr. 

 Norbury, another old Bangkok resident. Some of these, 

 •especially the full-page drawings towards the end of the 

 book, are quite charming, and give some characteristic 

 scenes with a rare combination of fidelity and artistic 

 ■effect. 



The West Australian Settler's Guide and Farmer's Hand- 

 book. (Perth, W.A. : Wigg and Son, 1897-98.) 



West Australia is at the present time best known to us 

 by its gold mines ; the real importance of this vast and 

 almost unoccupied territory must, however, be determined 

 by its capability of supporting in the future a large popu- 

 lation, and hence the agricultural capabilities of the 

 country become an extremely important factor in any 

 schemes for its development. The Handbook before us 

 is issued by the Agricultural Department of the Colony ; 

 its object is to present a picture of the agricultural capa- 

 bilities of various districts, and to advise intending settlers 

 as to their best course of action. It deals chiefly with the 

 south-western portion of the Colony, a district enjoying a 

 better and more uniform rainfall than is generally met 

 with in Australia, and the general fertility of which is 

 vouched for by the occurrence of large areas of heavily- 

 timbered land. The forests of West Australia are said to 

 occupy more than forty million acres ; the wood from 

 them has already been employed in paving London 

 streets. Large areas of the country appear to be especially 

 adapted for vine cultuie. Part i. of the Handbook de- 

 scribes the agricultural areas open for selection. Part ii. 

 contains general instructions for settlers. Part iii. deals 

 \\'ith the natural grasses and weeds, and with various im- 

 ported crops. Part iv. is devoted to sheep husbandry. 

 Part V. is a general treatise on soils and manures, with- 

 out much special reference to Australia. The whole 

 publication is freely illustrated. The photographs of the 

 forest trees are very striking. The maps are bad, and 

 quite insufficient for the purpose. The Handbook has 

 •evidently been hastily put together, and its value is 

 often marred by the want of a clear arrangement of the 

 subjects discussed. R. W. 



Die Gattung Cyclamen Z. eine systeviatische und biolo- 

 gische Monographie. By Dr. F. Hildebrand. Pp. 190, 

 with 6 plates. (Jena : Gustav Fischer, 1898.) 



Living plants have served Dr. Hildebrand as the basis 

 of his careful study of the genus Cyclamen, and herbaria 

 have afforded additional material. The result is a most 

 thorough monograph of the genus, the thirteen species of 

 which have been studied in great minuteness. Eighty 



NO. 1485, VOL. 57] 



pages are given to the description of these, and the re- 

 maining portion to a general review of the genus. The 

 book is extraordinarily free from theory ; indeed, it is a 

 storehouse of facts. 



One species of this genus, C. persicum, has recently 

 been brought forward as affording a good instance of the 

 gradual accumulation of small variations, which has 

 yielded the many forms in cultivation. For this reason 

 it has a special interest ; and Dr. Hildebrand's assertion 

 of the variability of the wild plants (p. 166), and his 

 recognition of no hybridisation of this species, come as 

 opportune remarks. Variation in the leaf has particularly 

 attracted the author's attention ; and he notices, too, that 

 there can be traced no connection (p. 172) between the 

 variability of the foliar and floral organs. 



Of biological interest are such statements as the 

 following : that the corms have for a protection some 

 poisonous substance (p. 92) ; that the leaves have no 

 character in them which will definitely support Stahl's 

 theory of the relation of their shape to rainfall (p. 1 10) ; 

 that the pollen, at first sticky, becomes dry and powdery 

 (p. 132) ; that ants appear to aid in the dispersal of 

 the seeds (p. 142) ; and that the corm begins to form 

 very early in germination (p. 1 1). From these the general 

 trend of the book may be judged ; but, in addition, 

 anatomy, teratology, distribution, and the relation of the 

 species to their habitat, the rest of the seed, age of 

 the plant at flowering, colour of the leaves, &c., find a 

 place. The whole results in a most careful work, which, 

 unfortunately, wants a good index. I. H. B. 



An Arithmetic for Schools. By S. L. Loney, M.A. 



(London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1898.) 

 This is a comprehensive text-book clearly written and 

 well arranged. There is a useful chapter on abridged 

 methods and approximations, and a note (in the appendix) 

 on the metric system. Compound interest is, very 

 properly, done entirely by decimals. The examples are 

 numerous, sensibly chosen, and carefully graduated. The 

 term "concrete number" is objectionable; so is the 

 statement " i lb. of sugar = 2(^." in the explanation of the 

 chain rule. In compound proportion too much of the 

 old-fashioned paraphernalia has been retained ; and we 

 think that too much attention has been paid to the con- 

 version of vulgar fractions into recurring decimals, and 

 vice versa. It would be a good thing if recurring decimals 

 could be ehminated from all elementary examinations in 

 arithmetic ; they are of no practical use, and the tiresome 

 calculations connected with them help to perpetuate the 

 English prejudice against the metric system. It may be 

 worth noticing that in Chapter v. the term " power" and 

 the index notation are apparently introduced without 

 previous explanation. In some cases it would be well to 

 give not only an explanatory working of an example, but 

 also the actual computation, arranged in proper form. It 

 is true that this is done in many cases ; but there are 

 many others where the working is decidedly clumsy, owing 

 to the addition of explanatory matter. On the whole it 

 may be said that this work, while not specially dis- 

 tinguished by novelty of treatment, deserves to rank with 

 the best of its class. G. B. M. 



Navigazione Aerea. By Guglielmo N. Da Pra. Pp. 73, 

 with 18 woodcuts and 6 plates. (Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 

 1898.) 

 This is a critical examination of the various conditions 

 which must be satisfied by a flying machine, together 

 with designs of proposed arrangements of aeroplanes to 

 be worked by means of benzene motors symmetrically 

 arranged. 



On the principle that " an ounce of practice is worth 

 a pound of theory," it will be interesting to see how far 

 Signor Da Pra's predictions as to the form of the flying 

 machine of the future are confirmed by future experi- 

 ments. G. H. B» 



