November 24, 19 10] 



NATURE 



lOI 



general, we are given an admirable, if condensed, 

 summary of the subjects dealt with, though in places 

 a critic may pick out a carelessly written sentence, 

 e.g. the dictum (p. 2) that "no substance can at once 

 possess both vectorial and scalar properties." Any 

 work treating of a new and rapidly developing sub- 

 ject must inevitably contain statements which have 

 become obsolete even before their publication, and in 

 a second edition Dr. Elsden will doubtless revise such 

 passages as those relating to quartz and tridymite 

 (p. 104), amphibole and pyroxene (pp. 11 1 et ^eq.), 

 and lime-olivine (p. 203). Meanwhile, the book, in 

 addition to its intrinsic value, will attain the author's 

 expressed desire to stimulate interest in this important 

 branch of geology. A. H. 



THE MAKING OF GARDENS. 

 Hardy Plants for Cottage Gardens. By Helen R. 

 Albee. Pp. vi + 309. (New York: Henry Holt and 

 Company.) Price 1.60 dollars net. 



THIS volume forms part of the American Nature 

 Series : Group iv., Working with Nature. From 

 the title one would expect to find the work severely 

 technical and somewhat dull — "'dull and useful as 

 work clothes and garden boots," as the author herself 

 describes a certain chapter. But the title, though 

 appropriate for a section of the work, is to some 

 extent inadequate, as the book proves to be an essay 

 on garden-making, written in a light and racy stjie, 

 reminiscent of Charles Dudley Warner's delightful 

 "My Summer in a Garden." 



The greater part of the volume is devoted to a 

 detailed account of the evolution of the author's gar- 

 den, through the various stages " In the beginning," 

 •An incipient garden," "The garden grows," " My 

 ambition grows," and gliding on bv easy transition to 

 such apparentlv inconsequent subjects as " the vices 

 of plants " and " some gardeners I have known." 

 But though the author in her narrative of the six 

 years' labour involved in the formation of her garden 

 ranges over a wide field of horticultural economy, the 

 sequence is so easy and natural that the reader's 

 interest is not allowed to flag, and it is with regret 

 that one reaches the classified lists which occupy the 

 last 122 pages of the book. 



These lists are conventional, and call for little com- 

 ment. The method of classification adopted, though 

 at first sight somewhat complex, will probably facili- 

 tate reference. The lists comprise a selection of 

 shrubs and perennials, with descriptions and brief 

 cultural directions, and are arranged primarily under 

 colour headings, and, secondarily, according to the 

 months in which the plants flower. A selection of 

 annuals arranged according to the same system fol- 

 lows. It may be pointed out that this might have 

 been incorporated with the shrubs and perennials, 

 thereby avoiding a somewhat bewildering multiplicity 

 of headings. The work is profusely illustrated with 

 views^ of the author's garden at various stages, and 

 a copious index is provided. 



The author has not laid down hard and fast rules 

 for the formation of a flower garden. Nor does she 

 desire that others should follow slavishly the lines on 

 NO. 2143, VOL. 85] 



which she has worked. " It is not well to imitate 

 another's work, but to follow where your own condi- 

 tions lead." Her experiences are related with a view 

 to stimulating others who may have the opportunity 

 and the desire to create a garden after their own 

 heart, but who may lack the courage to break away 

 from the conventional or who are diffident as to their 

 ability to shape a new course for themselves. By 

 such the book will be found rich in suggestion. Above 

 all is it a plea for the free play of imagination in the 

 garden. 



" No one should have a garden which grows nothing 

 but flowers, and yields no other recompense to the 

 gardener except successful plants. Over, beyond, and 

 above must hover the spirit of poetry, of wonder, of 

 mvster\'; otherwise there comes a day of disillusion 

 when you awaken to the weariness, anxiety, and 

 watchfulness, and begin to measure the reward. You 

 need a larger insight, something that connects your 

 efforts with the universal in nature, the ideal, the 

 soul of things. Into this you may lift the garden, 

 and at once drop the tired body and soiled hands, and 

 the whole material aspect of labour." 



PHARMACEUTICAL PRACTICE. 

 The Extra Pharmacopoeia of Martindale and West- 



cott. Revised by Dr. W. Harrison Martindale and 



W. Wynn Westcott. Fourteenth edition. Pp. 



xxvii + 1054. Price 12s. net. With supplement, 



Organic Analysis Chart. By W. H. Martindale. 



Pp. 80. (London : H. K. Lewis, 1910.) Price 



3s. 6d. net. 

 HIS handbook, which is so familiar to medical 

 and pharmaceutical practitioners, appears in its 

 fourteenth edition in a slightly altered form, the size 

 of the pages having been enlarged so as to allow of 

 the inclusion of new matter without increasing the 

 thickness of the book. It will, however, still fit com- 

 fortably in the coat pocket, which is not an altogether 

 unimportant advantage. 



The two years that have elapsed since the appear- 

 ance of the thirteenth edition have yielded an unusual 

 amount of valuable therapeutic literature, a judicious 

 condensation of which forms, for the most part, the 

 new matter of the fourteenth edition. There are new 

 chapters upon lactic acid bacilli therapy, organic 

 arsenic compounds, the electrical introduction into the 

 tissues of medicaments in the ionised condition, and 

 radiology. In addition, the most recent information 

 relating to a number of new pharmaceutical and 

 chemical preparations is incorporated, and recent pro- 

 gress in vaccine therapy, cancer research, trypano- 

 somiasis, and the treatment of tuberculosis is noted. 

 The results of the chemical and bacteriological in- 

 quiry into the value of disinfectants undertaken by 

 The Lancet commission are summarised. 



The above is a brief outline of the extent of the 

 revision in so far as it is of direct interest to the 

 medical practitioner, but it may be added that 

 throughout the book there is evidence that the authors 

 have scrupulously followed the medical literature of 

 the past two years. Alterations which enhance the 

 usefulness of the book to pharmacists are by no means 

 inconspicuous. Details are given of about a hundred 

 more patent or proprietary medicines than in the last 



T' 



