384 



NA TURE 



{March 16, 1876 



form his theory of the formation of the parallel roads of 

 Glen Roy. We have a glimpse of his well-known tone of 

 thought in the question which he says, in one of these 

 essays, one naturally asks, " What was the use of this 

 great engine set at work ages ago to grind, furrow, and 

 knead over, as it were, the surface of the earth?" and 

 finds as an answer that it was a special provision for 

 making the surface fertile by ploughing it deeply and 

 preparing it as a grain-growing soil. Perhaps we 

 could not have a better justification for calling tele- 

 ological arguments " barren virgins," with Prof. Hux- 

 ley, than this instance, for if the glacial period were 

 a special provision for the wants of man, we should 

 be cut off from the conclusions, now almost proved by 

 evidence, first that man existed in these isles before the 

 glacial epoch, and second, that this epoch should rather 

 be called the last glacial epoch, as there have been 

 similar ones throughout geologic time. This last con- 

 clusion, involving the extension of glacial conditions 

 through a long range of time, at various intervals, a con- 

 clusion largely due to Prof. Ramsay, will be only second 

 in importance, when fully established to its extension in 

 space so conclusively proved by Agassiz and others. The 

 longest of the five papers in this collection is the most 

 recent : " On the Physical History of the Valley of the 

 Amazons," in which he gives his reasons for considering 

 the whole of that valley to have been filled with ice, and 

 to have extended much further to the east at that period. 

 This is scarcely the place for discussing conclusions that 

 have been made known in a larger work with tha evi- 

 dence stated ; but we may call attention to the fact that 

 no furrows, strise, or polished surfaces are anywhere to be 

 found there, and the evidence, therefore, is not of that 

 positive character that so remarkable a conclusion would 

 seem to demand. The country is so little known that at 

 any time fresh observations might modify any conclusion 

 drawn from negative or secondary evidence. 



To the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi. Translated from 

 the Original German of Edw. Mohr. By N, D'Anvers. 

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

 In noticing the German edition of this work (Nature, 

 vol. xii. p. 231) we said that it was well worth translating 

 into English, and we are therefore glad to see that Messrs. 

 Low and Co. have put it within reach of the English 

 reading public. The work is full of interest, and is a 

 really valuable contribution to our knowledge of the 

 region traversed — from D'Urban to the Victoria Falls of 

 the Zambesi. Mr. D'Anvers has done his work of trans- 

 lating very satisfactorily, judiciously omitting a few pas- 

 sages which deal with matter already brought before 

 English readers. All the original illustrations seem to 

 have been retained, including the brilliant but tasteful 

 chromo-lithographs. A new route- map, on a larger scale 

 than the one in the German edition, has been constructed 

 for this translation. 



Sport in Abyssinia, on the Mareb and Tackazzee. By 



the Earl of Mayo. (London : John Murray, 1876.) 

 The Earl of Mayo seems to have published this book to 

 show intending sportsmen in Abyssinia how not to do it. 

 His expedition, organised solely for sport, was rather an 

 unfortunate one. Very little sport was obtained by the 

 author, and ere he had well set to work, he was taken so 

 ill that he had suddenly to return to Massowah to catch 

 a homeward-bound steamer. The work contains sonie 

 shrewd obsei-vations on Abyssinian people and affairs, 

 and will no doubt be appreciated by sportsmen. 

 Health in the House. By Catherine M. Buckton, Member 

 of the Leeds School Board. Sixth edition. (London : 

 Longmans and Co.) 

 This useful book consists of twenty-five lectures on Ele- 

 mentary Physiology in its application to the daily wants 

 of Man and Animals, delivered to the wives and children 



of working-men in Leeds and Saltaire. It will be found 

 a great help to national schoolmasters and others engaged 

 in education, who may desire to give their pupils clear 

 ideas of the structure and life of man, together with a 

 practical knowledge of the necessity of fresh air and 

 cleanliness in their daily life. At the end of the book 

 will be found questions on some of the lectures, a list of 

 works useful for preparing lectures, and tables of foods 

 most suitable for health. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 



\The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

 by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, 

 or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications.^ 



Corrections in the Address of the President of the 

 Royal Microscopical Society (Vol. xiii. p. 332) 



By some unaccountable oversight in copying out the data for 

 calculating the number of molecules of liquid water, the factor 

 expressing the specific gravi'.y of the vapour of water was omitted, 

 and afterwards overlooked. The number of atoms of a gas 



should really be multiplied by -| X 770 X ^^-^ Xi = 6i7. But 



moreover, on reflecting on the relative reliability of the deter- 

 minations by the various authors of the number of the atoms in 

 gases, it appears that in taking the mean, greater weight ought 

 to be allowed to that by Clerk-Maxwell, since founded oa more 

 recent and accurate data. If his results be considered as of 

 equal value to those of Store/ and Thomson Tcombined, the 

 mean would be reduced to so nearly the same extent as the mole- 

 cules of liquid water would be increased by the above-named 

 correction, that the numbers given in the address may be con- 

 sidered to be as good an approximation to the truth as can be 

 determined in the present state of the question, and none of 

 the general conclusions need be modified. H. C. Sorby 



Vivisection 



I HOPE that you will permit me to call attention to a passage 

 in the " Statement of the Society for the Protection of Animals 

 liable to Vivisection on the Report of the Royal Commission on 

 Vivisection" (published by the Society, i, Victoria Street, West- 

 minster). Under the heading " Extracts of Evidence on Exten- 

 sion of the Practice of Vivisection, and Abuses connected there- 

 with," the following words occur (p. 22) : — 



" Dr. Crichton Brown describes : 



" Forty-six animals sacrificed in trying if chloral were antago- 

 nistic to pycrotoxine. Cases of poisoning by pycrotoxine are of 

 very rare occurrence. Twenty-nine animals used in Ferrier's 

 series." 



I will leave your readers to judge of the kind of impression 

 which this passage tends to give ; I will only ask, is it in accord- 

 ance with the ordinary principles of justice that the following 

 important details (also gathered from Dr. Crichton Brown's 

 evidence) should be entirely omitted by. the compilers of the 

 Statement ? 



1. " Pycrotoxine is sold in large quantities as Barber's poisoned 

 wheat for the destruction of birds" (3218). Concealed in an 

 edible substance, this poison must therefore pass largely through 

 the hands of an ignorant and careless class of persons. 



2. Dr. Crichton Brown "succeeded in proving that after a 

 poisonous dose of pycrotoxine has been given to an animal, if a 

 dose of chloral be given subsequently the animal will recover " 

 (3163). 



3. The operation to which the animals sacrificed were sub- 

 jected "consisted in the introduction under the skin of a little 

 fluid by means of a perforated needle .... the pain is infini- 

 tesimal" (3218). 



4. The after effects are convulsions and death, and "convul- 

 sions themselves are not necessarily painful" (3218). This is 

 proved by direct and distinct evidence. 



5. In consequence of the use made of Barber's poisoned 

 wheat, "numbers of animals die of it in convulsions every 

 year" (3218). It is almost mcredible that a course of action 

 which may result in saving human life should be mentioned in 

 the manner above quoted ; while a course of action identical^ as 

 far as the ultimate effect on the animals is concerned, in which 



