320 



NATURE 



[September i, 1923 



Geographical Influences. 



The Great Capitals: an Historical Geography. By 

 Dr. Vaughan Cornish. Pp. xii + 296. (London: 

 Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1923.) 12s. 6d. net, 



IT may be said at once thaf we regard this as one of 

 the most important and original works in geography 

 that have appeared within a generation. The volume 

 should be looked upon by teachers of geography as 

 essential to their studies. It cannot be denied that 

 the book is not easy reading ; it must have cost an 

 immense amount of pains to write. The result is, 

 however, worth the pains, and though readers who will 

 follow every page with the aid of a good atlas may indeed 

 find that they make but slow progress, they will be well 

 rewarded for their labour and lose all desire to hurry 

 through the interest roused by tracing the author's line 

 of thought. Thei-e are no doubt many who, with the 

 best will in the world, cannot find the necessary' time to 

 complete the study of the whole work. We would 

 advise these first, if they must read the volume piece- 

 meal, to keep it always at hand, and, second, at least to 

 find the time to master the author's account, say, of the 

 situation of Moscow (pp. 181-91) or London (pp. 211 

 and onwards). If one of these has been read with the 

 necessary care, the reader, if he has been hitherto 

 unfamiliar with the geographical point of view, can 

 scarcely fail thenceforth to understand what geography 

 means, and even professed geographers will be warned 

 against one danger now rather prevalent arising from a 

 too narrow study of " natural regions." Dr. Cornish 

 never fails to take into account the wide-reaching 

 influences on the rise and growth of towns. 



The author's views on the special subject of his 

 volume are set forth in his preface as follows : 



" An historical examination of imperial capitals 

 shows that their district is usually either a Storehouse, 

 or a far-reaching Crossways near a Storehouse, seldom 

 a Stronghold. • Their political geography has one out- 

 standing character, a forward, as distinguished from 

 a central, site. The Great Power both of ancient and 

 modern times has always been an incorporation of 

 several States, and the characteristic site of the imperial 

 capital is in or adjacent to that Storehouse of the 

 dominant community of the empire which is nearest 

 to the principal foreign neighbour." 



This position the author endeavours to make good by 

 ranging over all recorded time and the greater part of 

 the world, examining his thesis in the light of the earUer 

 . and later history and geography of China, Japan, India, 

 Persia, Mesopotamia, Italy and the Roman Empire of 

 the West and East, Trans-Alpine Europe, North and 

 South America, taking every opportunity presenting 

 itself in the course of his investigation to show the 

 infinite variety of ways in which geographical factors 

 NO. 2809, VOL. I 12] 



affect history and the course of events brings about 

 changes in geographical values. On the whole, he may 

 be said to have made out his case, and at any rate he 

 has always something ingenious and ir* to 



say in support of it, not least when he is , , ^ his 

 theory to certain minor illustrations, as in dealing with 

 the capitak of the " heptarchy " or the Iroquois capitals 

 in the neighbourhood of the great lakes of North 

 America. But he is not dogmatic. He will sometimes 

 qualify his averments by an " I think " or " I suppose," 

 and the very fulness with which he brings forward his 

 arguments is an invitation to the student to judge 

 before accepting, in Bacon's language " to weigh and 

 consider." 



If here and there are found some rather broad and 

 questionable historical statements, the student should 

 note that the validity of the geographical exposition 

 is not necessarily affected thereby. The present 

 reviewer lays no claim to any intimate knowledge of 

 Indian history, but was rather startled on meeting with 

 the statement (p. 28) that " twice in the course of histor>' 

 has a government seated and independent of foreign 

 control, ruled the whole, or nearly the whole, peninsula," 

 and he cannot find that it is fairly justified ; but that 

 does not affect the value of the author's geographical 

 considerations as to Patna, the capital of " the Aryan 

 Empire," or Delhi, that of " the Empire of the Moham- 

 medan Moghuls." 



The volume is illustrated by two maps, one showing 

 "The Isothermal Frontier of Ancient Cities," the other 

 " The Marmora Metropolitan Region." A few more 

 maps of the latter kind would have assisted the student 

 greatly. Geo. G. Chisholm, 



Our Bookshelf. 



Aio>7is. By T. C. Wignall and G. D. Knox. Pp. 288. 



(London : Mills and Boon, Ltd., 1923.) 75. 6d. net. 

 White Lightning. By Edwin Herbert Lewis. Pp. iv + 



354. (Chicago : Covici-McGee, 1923.) n.p. 



These two scientific novels both centre around the 

 idea of liberating the energy of the atom — a theme 

 first explored by Mr. H. G. Wells iri "The World 

 Set Free." They may be taken as indicative of the 

 interest being taken by the public in the recent develop- 

 ments of physical science. 



The first, " Atoms," a highly imaginative romance, 

 reflects strongly some of the most cherished popular 

 conceptions or misconceptions about the growth of 

 science. Super-financiers contend with one another 

 and with or through the regular international anarchist 

 associations in an atmosphere of dNTiamite plots, 

 assassinations, and impersonations, in order to comer 

 the world's supplies of energy. A colossal plant for 

 producing power from coal and distributing it by 

 wireless springs up at the word of command, and 

 is converted during erection into an atomic energ\' 

 plant by the discovery of sublimium. Subhmium dis- 



