September 29, 1923] 



NATURE 



469 



of fixed and moving marks is employed, which is 

 observed by both eyes simultaneously through a pair 

 of telescopes provided with a suitable system of prisms ; 

 in others two pairs of marks are made use of, one of 

 which is seen in the middle of the field of view of each 

 pf the two telescopes, so that the appearance is that of 

 single pair. The two moving marks are geared 

 )gether, and driven either by hand or by a small hot- 

 ir motor. If the fields of view of the two telescopes 

 re equally " bright," the mark appears to move to 

 id fro, horizontally, in a straight line, its point passing 

 just above the point of the fixed mark ; a difference 

 |0f brightness makes it appear to revolve round the 

 ced mark. This is independent of the colour of the 

 ro lights which are being compared. It is also 

 )ssible to adjust the two sides of the apparatus to 

 juality of brightness with an accuracy of 2 to 3 per 

 rtent., however great the difference of colour may be, 

 ! provided the observer has sufficient experience, and 

 good spectroscopic vision. In the stereospectral 

 photometer, two monochromators are employed, one 

 for each telescope, so that practically monochromatic 

 light of different wave-lengths can be employed. A 

 form of photometer, which enables one-half of the 

 spectrum to be balanced against the other half, promises 

 to be valuable in pyrometry. 



Malaya : the Straits Settlements and the Federated and 



Unfederated Malay States. Edited by Dr. R. O. 



Winstedt. Pp. xi + 283. (London, Bombay and 



Sydney : Constable and Co., Ltd., 1923.) X2S. net. 



This authoritative and comprehensive handbook will 



come as a boon to all who are interested in or in any 



way connected with the Malay Peninsula. The editor, 



a well-known authority and the author of several works 



on the Malayan language, is himself responsible for 



the chapters on the population, the ethnology, and 



languages of the Peninsula ; Malayan literature ; arts 



and crafts ; religion and beliefs ; and history and 



archaeology, as well as the account of the Eurasian, 



Chinese, and other races of the country. 



Other chapters are the work of experts in their 

 respective departments. Mr. J. B. Scrivenor, the 

 ' iovernment Geologist, describes the geography, geo- 

 igy, and mineralogy of the country, as well as its 

 lining industry. Dr. F. W. Foxworthy deals with the 

 ilora and forests, and Mr. F. C. Robinson of the Feder- 

 ated States Museum with the fauna. Mr. B. J. Eaton, 

 Director of Agriculture, deals with this and other 

 industries, while Mr. Pountney, Financial Adviser to 

 the Straits Settlements, analyses revenue and expen- 

 <iiture. The sections on the Straits Settlements, the 

 I'ederated and Unfederated States, which will be 

 liiund particularly helpful, are the work of the editor. 

 \n adequate, if not lengthy, bibliography is an excellent 

 uide to those who seek further information. The 

 l>ook is well illustrated and well produced. 



A Tested Method oj Laboratory Organisation. By S. Pile 

 and R. G. Johnston. Pp. xx + 98. (London : H. F. 

 and G. Witherby, 1923.) 7^. 6d. net. 



The authors of this little book were associated with a 



)-operative laboratory established during the War by 



I number of Birmingham brass firms, and their con- 



< lusions are mainly based on experience gained in that 



NO. 2813, VOL. I 12] 



laboratory. They give many useful notes on the 

 equipment and arrangement of works and control 

 laboratories, on the preparation of samples, and on the 

 methods of recording the source of the sample and the 

 results of its examination, whether analytical, mechani- 

 cal, or physical. Their treatment of the subject of 

 laboratory' books and the entering of results is very 

 thorough, and they go so far as to describe a system of 

 costing in units by means of which a monetary value 

 may be attached to each operation. While the scale 

 of the work is too small for it to serve as a manual of 

 laboratory equipment, it will be found particularly 

 useful by those who have to instal a small laboratory 

 in a works, especially in one of the metallurgical 

 industries. The question of the relations between the 

 superintendent and his staff is also dealt with, but the 

 closing chapters, under such headings as " The Men- 

 tality of the Scientist," seem rather out of place in 

 an essentially practical note-book. 



Among Unknown Eskimo. By J. W. Bilby. Pp. 

 280 + 16 plates. (London : Seeley, Service and Co., 

 Ltd., 1923.) 21^. net. 



The Eskimo of Mr. Bilby's title can be accurately 

 described as " unknown " only in relation to the public 

 for whom he writes — a public which normally does not 

 have access to scientific publications. His account of 

 the customs, modes of life, and beliefs of the Central 

 Eskimo of Baffin Land is, however, something more 

 than a book with a merely popular appeal. A residence 

 of twelve years among these tribes qualifies him to give 

 ritual and belief their proper setting and perspective 

 in the everyday round in a manner which is not always 

 possible in an analytic study. This has a value which 

 anthropologists will readily acknowledge ; but Mr. 

 Bilby's intense appreciation of the native attitude of 

 mind to tribal observances, and his keen insight into 

 the dynamic relation of such observances to conduct, 

 have obscured the fact that these do not necessarily 

 tell the whole story. Accordingly, he is prone to offer 

 as an interpretation of native practices the immediate 

 social effect and the psychological factors which come 

 into play in certain elements of ritual, to the neglect of 

 deeper causes. An appendix gives a valuable list of 

 some fifty departmental deities of the Eskimo with 

 their attributes. 



Edmund Loder ; Naturalist, Horticulturist, Traveller and 



Sportsman : a Memoir. By Sir Alfred E. Pease. 



With Contributions by St. George Littledale, Charles 



G. A. Nix, Lord Cottesloe, J. G. Millais, and W. P. 



Pycraft. Pp. x-l-356. (London: John Murray, 



1923.) 18s. net. 



The friends and acquaintances — and of a man so 



accomplished and of such wide interests as was Sir 



Edmund Loder, these are many — will be glad to possess 



this " miniature " of his remarkable personality. Sir 



Alfred Pease has not attempted to depict a life-size 



portrait ; but by wise selection, and with the assistance 



of other contributors, he succeeds in conveying a very 



clear impression. The reviewer can perhaps pay no 



higher tribute than by stating that though he was not 



privileged to know Sir Edmund personally he closed 



the book with the feeling that he knows well what 



manner of man he was. 



