206 



NATURE 



\7an. 13, 1876 



photo-lithographic processes which have from time to 

 time been invented, including those of Donn^, Fizeau, 

 Niepce de Saint- Victor, Poitevin, Baldus, Gamier and 

 Salmon, Albert, and Obernetter. The second chapter, 

 under the title of " Photoglypty," is devoted to a de- 

 scription of the Woodbury process, after which follow 

 two chapters on photo-sculpture and photo- graphic 

 enamels. Chapter V. treats of photo-micrography, and 

 is illustrated by several excellent engravings of photo- 

 graphs of microscopic objects. The following chapter 

 describes the application of photography to war. The 

 method of sending microscopic despatches by carrier- 

 pigeons adopted during the siege of Paris will be of 

 interest to our readers. The despatch having been 

 printed was reduced by photography on to a collodion 

 film, which was then rolled up and enclosed in a quill, which 

 was fastened to the tail of the pigeon. We here repro- 

 duce a facsimile of one of these microscopic despatches. 

 To read the despatches sent in this way the collodion 

 film was unrolled by immersion in weak ammonia water, 

 dried, placed between two glass plates and a magnified 

 image projected on to a screen by means of a photo- 

 electric microscope (see Fig. 2). 



Chapter VII. treats of astronomical photography, and 

 touches upon the results achieved in this branch of the 

 art by Warren De la Rue, Secchi, Rutherfurd, Grubb, &c. 

 The author is not quite accurate when he states that 

 for astronomical photography " it is indispensable to 

 make use of a reflecting telescope having a speculum 

 formed of glass silvered according to Foucault's process." 

 The experiments of Rutherfurd show that lenses may be 

 used with excellent results. Chapter VIII. describes pho- 

 tographic registering apparatus, barometric, thermome- 

 tric, magnetic, electric, &c. ; and Chapter IX. is devoted 

 to stereoscopic photography. 



Chapter X. treats of the applications of photography 

 to art, while the last chapter discusses the future of pho- 

 tography. The author expresses a hope that among 

 other developments which the art is destined to undergo, 

 the time may come when it will be possible to photograph 

 by telegraphic means. 



The foregoing sketch of the book will be sufficient to 

 enable our readers to form an estimate of its contents. 

 The translation appears to have been careJully made, and 

 the engravings, of which there are over seventy, are ex- 

 cellent. The frontispiece portrait, by B. J. Edwards and 

 Co.'s photo-tint process, is a beautiful example of perma- 

 nent photographic printing. In conclusion, we can heartily 

 commend M. Tissandier's book as a popular expose of 

 photography. - R. Meldola 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Morocco and the Moors : being an Accoimt of Travels, 

 with a General Description of the Country and its 

 People. By Arthur Leared, M.D. Oxon, F.R.C.P., &c. 

 (London : Sampson Low and Co., 1876.) 



Many readers, we believe, know less about Morocco 

 than they do about Lake Tanganyika, the Fiji Islands, 

 or the Arctic regions. Not that there are no easily 

 accessible works on the country ; no one, we conceive, 

 who might be anxious to " get up " Morocco would 

 have much difficulty in collecting trustworthy authorities. 



both in English and French. The modern general reader, 

 however, has so much to do to keep up with a decent 

 percentage of the literature of the day, that, unless for a 

 special purpose, he is not likely to unshelve works of 

 travel of a past generation ; therefore, even for countries 

 near at hand and whose names occur almost daily in 

 Renter's despatches, it is useful now and again to have 

 the iiarrative of a recent visit. Morocco, though com- 

 paratively near us, yet in many respects is so isolated and 

 so far behind the age, that a trustworthy account of its 

 condition is welcome. Dr. Leared was only a iev/ weeks 

 in this country in the autumn of 1872. He landed at 

 Tangier, visited the neighbourhood, sailed down the coast 

 to Mogador, calling at one or two places on the way, and at 

 a time of great internal disturbance visited the city of 

 Morocco, where an attempt was made to poison him, hap- 

 pily without success. He managed to make a very good 

 use of his time and his eyes and his introductions, and the 

 reader will find many interesting observations on the 

 people and the country. Dr. Leared has, however, not 

 confined himself to his own observations, but has evi- 

 dently diligently studied various authorities on the 

 country, and taken trouble to acquire information from 

 various quarters. The results he presents throughout the 

 work as he goes along, and especially in a series of con- 

 cluding chapters on the country and the people, govern- 

 ment, law, education, superstitions, agriculture, natural 

 history, &c. The appendix contains a variety of valuable 

 material, including meteorological observations for Tan- 

 gier and Mogador. Dr. Leared is strongly impressed 

 with the value of Morocco as a resort for phthisical 

 patients, the climate in some parts, he thinks, being in 

 this respect superior to that of almost any other place. 

 To anyone wishing to have a pretty full, and on the 

 whole trustworthy account of the present condition of 

 Morocco, we can honestly commend Dr. Leared's book, 

 which, we should say, contains a small map and numerous 

 illustrations. 



Tyrol and the Tyrolese : the People and the Land in their 

 Social, Sporting, and Mountaineoing Aspects. By W. 

 A. Baillie Grohman. With numerous illustrations. 

 (London : Longmans, 1876.) 



Whatever other qualities Mr. Grohman's book may 

 possess, it is at least intensely interesting. The author 

 is by birth half a Tyrolese, and he has spent several 

 years in the country, evidently living frequently in all 

 respects as a native, and thus having unusual opportuni- 

 ties of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the country 

 and the people. What we have said in speaking of Dr. 

 Leared's work on Morocco, might be applied with equal 

 force to Tyrol, which, although the yearly resort of 

 hundreds of tourists, is known to most only on the sur- 

 face. Mr. Grohman's chapters give one a very satisfactory 

 idea of the character and customs and general life of the 

 people, and his sketches of the mountain scenery and of 

 the habits of the chamois and black-cock are interesting, 

 and in the latter case may furnish naturalists with a few 

 additional facts. The people themselves are evidently 

 made of splendid stuff, but at present rough and raw, and 

 sorely in need of being polished. They are overridden 

 with superstition, and in many of their customs, especially 

 in the matter of social morality, have a strong resemblance 

 to what the Scotch were generally a generation or two 

 ago, and are still in some remote districts. The book is 

 mostly occupied with Mr. Grohman's personal adven- 

 tures, and one is sometimes inclined to suspect that these 

 have been pieced together so as to tell etifectively. This, 

 however, simply adds to the interest, and does not detract 

 from the value of the work. One of the most interesting 

 chapters describes an ascent of the Gross Glockner in the 

 dead of winter by the author and four guides. The illus- 

 trations are very beautiful, and the book, we should 

 think, is hkely to find many readers. 



