August i i, 1923] 



NA TURE 



201 



Some Questions of Phonetic Theory. By Wilfrid Perrett. 

 Chapter 6 : The Mechanism of the Cochlea. Pp. 

 39-80. (Cambridge : W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd., 

 1923.) 25. net. 



This section of Mr. Perrett's book is an attack on the 

 resonance theory of hearing, and on all those who have 

 written in support of it. It is his avowed object " to 

 lay the yammering ghost of ' sympathetic resonance ' 

 in the cochlea " (p. 44). His criticisms of the resonance 

 theory are under three headings : '(i) An attack upon 

 Helmholtz's theory of beats as he conceives it. The 

 construction he puts upon Chapter VIII. of the 

 " Tonempfindungen " is, in the reviewer's opinion, 

 forced and unfair. (2) An uncorroborated personal 

 experience of his own which leads him to the conclusion 

 that the ear can distinguish two notes " in perfect 

 physical unison " sounded simultaneously. (3) That 

 speech sounds can terminate suddenly in a " voiceless- 

 occlusion " consonant, consequently no " after vibra- 

 tions " of the basilar fibres occur. Mr. Perrett quotes 

 graphic speech records, but admits that the evidence 

 drawn from them is inconclusive. 



We gather that Mr. Perrett has abandoned the 

 Wrightson theory in favour of a " travelling-bulge " 

 theory on the lines of those of Meyer and ter Kuile, but 

 he does not appear to have brought forward any addi- 

 tional evidence in support of this view. He tells us 

 that the preceding four chapters of his book have been 

 received " with gratuitous contumely in certain 

 quarters " (p. 59). We cannot help thinking that his 

 manner of conducting a controversy may have been 

 responsible to a certain extent for the treatment his 

 work has received. G. W. 



The Americas. By J. Bruce. (The " Explorer " 

 Geographies). Pp. viii + 216. (London: G. Bell 

 and Sons, Ltd., 1922.) 35. 



A NEW note is introduced into elementary geographical 

 teaching by this volume, which appears to be the first 

 of a series. After an introductory chapter on map- 

 reading, there are several chapters describing the way 

 in which the American continent was discovered and 

 opened up by Europeans. The sections are vividly 

 written and cannot fail to interest, although the para- 

 graphs and map dealing with Arctic Canada and the 

 Xorth-west passage would bear some revision. Then 

 follows a general geographical survey of the Americas. 

 • Eight double-page plates with full descriptions are a 

 notable feature, and there are in addition several sketch 

 maps and two coloured orographical maps. The list 

 of books for students' reading is useful, but might well 

 be extended. The book as a whole gives a far more 

 vivid picture of North and South America than the 

 more formal analytical text-books succeed in doing. 



R. N. R. B. 



Elements of Glass-bloiving. By Dr. H. P, Waran. 

 Pp. ix-f-116. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 

 1923.) 2S. 4d. net. * ^ 



I iR. Waran's book deals in a clear and practical way 

 ith many things which a research student will find 

 tiiat he requires to know. The ability to put together 

 and to repair simple glass apparatus is one of the 

 things which he should gradually acquire, and this 



NO. 2806, VOL. I 12] 



book will be found a useful guide in this direction. It 

 is very doubtful whether the laboratory worker will 

 find it desirable to make his own stopcocks or Dewar 

 vessels ; the time spent on such work would usually 

 be more profitably applied in research, but in places 

 where apparatus is not easily obtained it may be 

 quicker to make it. As a general rule, unless one has 

 become very proficient in glass-working, it is usually 

 cheaper and quicker to leave complicated things to 

 the professional man. 



The Wonders of the Stars. By Joseph McCabe. Pp. 

 ix + 114-1-4 plates. (London: Watts and Co., 

 1923.) 35. net. 



The author has written a series of volumes on various 

 phases of evolution ; the present book belongs to the 

 series, and discusses the light that has been thrown on 

 stellar and planetary evolution by the discoveries of 

 the last half-century. As an illustration of the diflfi- 

 culty of keeping up-to-date in discussing the status 

 of the spiral nebulae, some of the views of leading 

 astronomers in favour of the " island-universe " 

 theory that are quoted in the book have already been 

 modified by the discovery of their rapid rotation. 



While a few sentences here and there might be 

 picked out for criticism, chiefly the statement of 

 matters of conjecture as facts, on the whole the picture 

 given of our present knowledge of the universe appears 

 to be correct, and as complete as can be expected in 

 the space of 112 pages. We sympathise with the 

 author's appeal for a general agreement among astron- 

 omers as to the meaning of a " biUion." 



A. C. D. C. 



Astronomie : Grosse, Bewegung und Entfernung der 

 Himmelskorper . Von A. F. Mobius. 13 Auflage, 

 bearbeitet von Prof. Dr. Hermann Kobold. Teil 2 : 

 Kometen, Meteore und das Sternsystem. (Samm- 

 lung Goschen Nr. 529.) Pp. 128. (Berlin und 

 Leipzig : W. de Gruyter und Co., 1923.) is. 



This little book has three chapters dealing with 

 comets and meteors, the fixed stars, and cosmogony 

 respectively. This restriction of subjects enables each 

 to be treated pretty fully, in spite of the small size of 

 the volume. The information is brought up-to-date, 

 and includes recent comets, the Giant and Dwarf 

 theory, and a discussion of the planetesimal theory. 

 The star-maps give the positions of all stars of magni- 

 tude 5 or brighter down to south Decl. 45°. 



A. C. D. C. 



Tracks of British Animals. Edited by H. Mortimer 

 Batten. (Edinburgh : W. and A. K. Johnston, 

 1923.) 45. net. 



This publication takes the form of a chart, 20 in. x 30 in., 

 depicting in life-size the spoors of the commoner 

 British wild animals and of domestic animals for 

 comparison, with brief explanatory notes by the editor. 

 The diagrams are boldly and clearly printed and the 

 chart should be of the greatest use for the teaching of 

 nature study in schools and for the instruction of Boy 

 Scouts and Girl Guides in the craft of the country-side. 

 The omission of a figure of the track of a dog is one that 

 should be made good in a future edition. 



