November io, 1923] 



NA TURE 



68 



and careful survey of the relations of biology and 

 sociology ; a charming essay, full of careful observa- 

 tion, on the manifestation of emotion in birds ; a light 

 satirical discourse called " Philosophic Ants " on the 

 relativity of our conceptions, two admirable discussions 

 on sex psychology and on the biological approach to 

 progress, and last, but not least, seven sonnets intro- 

 ductory to each chapter. They are quite good sonnets 

 too. 



It would be impossible in a short review to give 

 any idea of the varied contents, and it would spoil the 

 reader's enjoyment to pick out the plums too freely. 

 But one may indicate the author's attitude on the 

 more important topics of which he treats. The last two 

 pa])ers contain his attempted rationalistic reconstruc- 

 tion of the idea of God, being an analysis and elabora- 

 tion of the statement that " the conception of God 

 always represents man's idea of the powers operating 

 in the universe." It will be noticed that the second of 

 these papers, delivered at Woodbrooke at the sixth of 

 the Unitv History Schools, approaches more nearly, on 

 the side <il (li\ ine personality and of communal religion, 

 to the ordinary attitude of the Churches. 



It is not to be supposed that Mr. Huxley weakens 

 anvwhere in his allegiance to positive science. He tells 

 us in the first paper that a " law of Nature is not some- 

 thing re\ealcd as absolute, not something imposed on 

 phenomena from without or from alio\e : il is no more 

 and no It ^s t!ian a summing-up, in generalised form, 

 of our o\Mi observations of phenomena." He adopts, 

 in 1,1' 1. ' iiti:(ly in this matter the position which Dr. 

 I".. W. Ilobson has been ilhistratiiiL; so tully in his 

 reeeiit CiirfDnl lectures. Students of Comte will note 

 with that "the sciences are a hierarrh\. the 



subjecliuatlcr of one constituting the foundation for 

 the next in the series." The relation of biology to 



:lHiiated more than oii< 1 in the book as 

 an lUustratMii ot this. SoeioloL;\- suhsiimes all the 

 conclusions nf tl,c lower or earlier >( ieiiees, and adds 

 I A considerations, or laws, oi its own. 



\\ nil Mi, in ni 1,1(1 lliere has been a " radical ( liangc in 

 fvolnlinn:!!' method "due to his power of transmitliiiu 

 ! I t reasoning by collective tradition. 



Ill :. Hi. 1 , nmU find the chapter on " Bird-Mind " 

 - ■■ lU n'oiit (|ue (le lame " the most delightful thing 

 in till iiiHik. The account of the egrets' honeymoon 



almost too good to be true. Apparently 



ong 



,,la. 



iniMana i- 



sit >i<le l>v side lor hours together \\ii!i ii:i 



iiitertw ined in a I ; ' ■ 



. iln\lr\- 1 . li lit ih 



in tiir Ih. 

 loCti!' 



tir.-,t 

 Hits 

 the 



points out, I1 

 NO. 2819, VOL. I 12] 



ha\f had no 



chapter on this aspect of the subject in " Progress and 

 History." We can see the human facts so much more 

 clearly as they arise from the common biological 

 evolution of universal life. From this point of view 

 progress is seen to consist in " an increase in the control 

 exerted by organisms over their environment, and in 

 their independence with regard to it " ; in an increase 

 in the harmony of the parts of organisms ; in an 

 increase in the psychical powers of willing, of feeling, 

 and of knowing. In short, progress is the growth, in 

 power and harmony, of the soul ; and man, being the 

 crown of animate existence, embodies the principles of 

 progress most completely. F. S. Marvin. 



The Petroleum Industry. 



A Handbook of the Petroleum Industry. By Dr. D. T. 

 Day, Editor-in-Chief. In 2 vols. Vol. i. Pp. 

 x + 964. Vol. 2. Pp. vi-f-ioo6. (New York: J. 

 Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chapman and Hall, 

 Ltd., 1922.) 2 vols. 3Z. 155. net. 



THIS w^ork, which might aptly be termed the 

 " Redwood " of American petroleum literature, 

 has been written with a very definite purpose in view, 

 namely, as an aid to the best utilisation of oil and the 

 development of new resources to offset the impending 

 shortage of supply in the United States. In a striking 

 preface the editor-in-chief, Dr. Day, discusses dis- 

 passionately the truth of a situation which many 

 people, both in Great Britain and in America, seek 

 to gloss over, usually from self-interested motives. 

 Briefly the situation is this : there exist less than 

 twent}' ) cars' resources of petroleum in the United 

 States at the present rate of supply and demand. To 

 this we may add that one-fifth of the total oil require- 

 ments of that country latterly has been derived from 

 Ah Ml ' : but in Mexico also there has been a startling 

 decline in output noticeable recently, due principally 

 to salt-water encroachment in some of the most pro- 

 ductive wells. Small wonih r. t!un, that serious-minded 

 .\meri( ans (and Europeans too, for that matter) are 

 a|)|>ri lu ii.si\e of the future, and that the several 

 specialists responsihh loi this handbook are actuated 

 by a rnmmon motive, that ot contributing " their 

 special knowledge to thi^ xdlnme, in the hope th.il 

 iiioir nil may bo humd and hritrr ntili.^ation be 

 gi\cu it." 



Wrilten e\|ii(Nsl\ \ny liic pnhlie. the Work niakcs a 

 inure (iirci t aiipci! ry^ wjiu produce and 



relme uil, and it in. nil. f thai the sections 



concerned uith thi>e a>|ie. t> i.l the iiuhistrv are li\ tar 

 thel" ' ni t he pi.mt III \ iew .tl till' general ]>nlilic, 



the ( ■ I ij. tail, the .M/e ot the work (neaiK jooo 



pages of ( (imi)aratively small type), and the impression 



