358 



NA TURE 



[September 8. 1923 



himself almost exclusively to work published in English, 

 and without any (videme of first-hand observation. 

 Concrete exampl'5, so important in such a subject as 

 this, are lacking, and the reader is thus little able to 

 judge of the relative merits of the rival hypotheses, 

 which are, however, fairly and accurately described. 

 The corrosion of steel boilers and of brass condenser 

 tulx^s is treated more fully, the section on the latter 

 subject being reprinted from a pamphlet issued by the 

 Corrosion Committee of the Institute of Metals. The 

 most valuable part of the book deals with the prevention 

 or diminution of corrosion, especially of boilers and 

 condensers. Here the author is evidently at home, 

 and the chapters on the softening and de-aeration of 

 water, and on the protection of boilers by electrolytic 

 methods, are fully illustrated and contain much detail. 

 This portion of the book might well have been issued 

 alone, a procedure which would have lessened its rather 

 high cost. The printing is good, and the illustrations 

 of plant are very clear. 



The Bakitara or Banyoro : the First Part of the Report 

 of the Mackie Ethnological Expedition to Central 

 Africa. By the Rev. Canon J. Roscoe. Pp. xvi + 

 370 + 42 plates. (Cambridge: At the University 

 Press, 1923.) 255. net. 



Anthropological science owes a debt of gratitude to 

 all who were concerned in the initiation and organisa- 

 tion of the Mackie Ethnological Expedition to Central 

 Africa ; but most of all to Mr. Roscoe, by whom the 

 actual work of investigation was carried out. This 

 first instalment of his report is an invaluable contribu- 

 tion to our knowledge, and will prove an almost in- 

 exhaustible mine of information for the student of 

 primitive custom and belief. The dominant people 

 of the country of Kitara are the Bahuma, Negro- 

 Hamites, possibly of Galla strain, though this is 

 uncertain. Coming from the north-east, they invaded 

 the country in the lake region immediately west of 

 Uganda, part of which they now occupy, and subdued 

 the Bahera, the agricultural negro aborigines. Among 

 much which is striking in their culture, the most 

 remarkable feature is the manner in which their whole 

 social and religious organisation centres around their 

 herds. The entire routine of the kingly office is 

 ordered solely to promote by sympathetic influence 

 the well-being of the cattle. The elaborate milk 

 ritual, which Mr. Roscoe has studied carefully in minute 

 detail, inevitably invites comparison with the dairy 

 cult of the Todas of Southern India. 



L'Homme fossile de La Quina. Par Dr. H. iMartin. 

 (Archives de Morphologic generale et experimentale. 

 Fasc. 15 : Anatomic.) Pp. 260. (Paris : Gaston 

 Doin, 1923.) 25 francs. 



In this volume Dr. Martin describes the results of the 

 investigations which he has carried out on the Mousterian 

 site of La Quina (Charente) since 1905. His discoveries 

 included a large number of mammalian remains and 

 of typical implements as well as objects of bone, which 

 at the time of discover^' constituted the first evidence 

 of the use of bone in the Mousterian age. Much of this 

 material has formed the subject of communications to 

 French scientific societies, and the general conclusions 



NO. 2810, VOL. 112] 



are well known ; but anthropologists will welcome this 

 careful and detailed study of the evidence as a whole. 

 The author, by inference, docs much to throw light 

 upon the habits of Mousterian man, and it is noteworthy 

 that he is inclined to regard a certain rrmdition of 

 the efjuine teeth as evidence for d- 

 most imj>ortant contribution to antlii 

 however, was the discovery in 1911 oi tht hun.in 

 skeletal remains now known as the La Quina m.ui, 

 and in 1915 of the cranium of a child aged eight, lx)th 

 falling within the Neanderthal group. Dr. Martin, on 

 the ground of inferiority to type in certain respects, is 

 disposed to regard the former as female. 



Practical Chemistry. By E. J. Holmx.uu. u>iii » 

 Natural Science Series.) Pp. xvi + 267. (London: 

 G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1923.) 45. net. 



Mr. Holmvard in the preface to his book has some- 

 thing to say on the heuristic system, about which so 

 much was said a few years ago. While we may admire 

 it at a safe distance, he remarks, " We are at least upon 

 safe ground when we believe that a little sound know- 

 ledge acquired by the method of direct teaching is 

 distinctly more valuable than much hazy and in- 

 accurate knowledge gained by the so-called ' method 

 of research ' — which is, of course, not the method of 

 research at all, but a sort of game of make-believe." 

 He has written a sound and useful book on the lines 

 he advocates. It covers the ground of the School and 

 Higher Certificate Examinations, and is sufficient for 

 University Scholarships, but is wisely not written for 

 any examination. Gravimetric and volumetric analysis, 

 physical chemistry and organic chemistr>- are included, 

 but the author has rightly, we think, omitted qualitative 

 analysis. The course described is one of the best we 

 have seen, and the book should become popular in 

 schools. It is evidently the work of an exf)erienced 

 teacher. 



Ink. By C. Ainsworth Mitchell. (Pitman's Common 

 Commodities and Industries.) Pp. ix+128. 

 (London : Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., 1923.) 

 35. net. 



Mr. Mitchell has dealt with the origin of inks, the 

 way in which they are made, and their characteristics 

 in a most interesting and useful way. The use of 

 carbon inks, he shows, dates back to ven.' remote 

 periods in Egypt and China. The earliest mention of 

 iron-gall ink is said to be in the work of Theophilus 

 the Monk, dating to about the eleventh centur)' a.d. 

 Before the beginning of the seventeenth centur\', ink 

 was made in the household, but in 1609 it was manu- 

 factured in Paris, later in Dresden, and much later by 

 Stephens in England. Mr. Mitchell deals with all kinds 

 of ink, including printing ink. 



Your Broadcast Receiver and How to Work It : Hints 

 and Tips for the Radio Listener. By P. W. Harris. 

 Second Impression. Pp. 68. (London : The Wire- 

 less Press, Ltd., 1923.) 6d. net. 



This book can be recommended to owners of broad- 

 casting receiving sets. A judicious amount of elemen- 

 tary practical theory is given which will enable them I 

 to get the best results from their apparatus. 



