January 12, 191 1] 



NATURE 



333 



tion, relying presumably on the title as a sufficient 

 indication of his aim. He deals with the practice 

 rather than the underlying principles of photography, 

 though these and historical details are not altogether 

 neglected. He does not repeat such instructions as 

 are enclosed in every box of plates or packet of paper, 

 and refers without hesitation to various proprietary 

 articles and to expense. As might be expected, the 

 author regards his subject from the point of view of 

 the present-day beginner, and it is in this that the 

 volume differs from the older primers. There is no 

 attempt to indicate methods of manufacture, because 

 no one at the present time prepares his own sensitive 

 material. There are no tables of exposures necessary 

 in various circumstances, because "here the ex- 

 posure meter or guide comes into play." Films are 

 not treated of as if they almost needed an apology for 

 their introduction, nor hand-cameras as if they were 

 inferior in almost everything else but price to the 

 instruments supported in a more stable manner. 



Although no two teachers would make exactly the 

 -ame selection of processes as being best suited to the 

 beginner, and making all due allowance for personal 

 preference, we are rather surprised that the common 

 mercury and ammonia method of intensification is not 

 referred to, the two methods recommended being the 

 uranium and the silver cyanide methods, both of 

 which are more troublesome than the other. 

 The statement that plates are made ortho- 

 chromatic " by bathing ordinary plates in a colour 

 sensitiser " is likely to mislead the beginner in this 

 detail of manufacture. Of course, the sensitiser is 

 added to the emulsion, bathing being quite an excep- 

 tional process. There are a few matters, particularly 

 in the optical part, that might be revised with advan- 

 tage, but these are not of prime importance. The 

 chapter on "Telephotography" explains the manner 

 of using the special lenses constructed for this purpose 

 in a more simple and at the same time complete 

 manner than we have ever seen elsewhere. 



STARS IN SEASON. 

 Round the Year with the Stars. By Garrett P. Ser- 

 ^iss. Pp. 147. (New York and London : Harper 

 and Brothers, 1910.) Price 5s. net. 



THIS volume takes quite a different line from that 

 of "Astronomy with the Naked Eye," by the 

 same author, the points of overlap between the two 

 volumes being infrequent and unimportant. In the 

 arlier work Mr. Serviss described the legends and 

 myths which so profusely surround the old constella- 

 tions ; in the present volume he endeavours to culti- 

 vate a personal knowledge with the chief units of the 

 celestial pageant. 



In the four principal chapters (i.-iv.), the sky is 

 taken at each of the four seasons — spring, summer, 

 autumn, and winter — and is so described that the be- 

 ginner may locate, with but little trouble, the con- 

 stellations and their lucidae. This may sound rather 

 a hackneyed procedure, but in the hands of Mr. Ser- 

 viss, whose poetic enthusiasm for the stars is, on ever^- 

 page, as obvious as his wide knowledge, it becomes 

 most interesting and instructive. For example, he 

 NO. 2150, VOL. 85] 



introduces (p. 25) a discussion as to the most suitable 

 season for the commencement of the year, deprecating 

 January, when nature is asleep, as compared with 

 spring, when the glorious re-birth takes place. A 

 reference to Sir Norman Lockyer's researches on the 

 different years would have further elucidated the sub- 

 ject. The fact that our constellation Virgo is similarly 

 named in ten different and ancient languages is the 

 type of fact that makes the work so interesting. But 

 the physical attributes of the individual objects are 

 not neglected; the powder of science is judiciously 

 mixed with the jam of poetic mythology. The de- 

 scription of Spica's magnitude, intrinsic brilliance, and 

 enormous velocity, given on p. 31, should be appre- 

 ciated by the least scientifically inclined sky-gazer. It 

 is helpful to find the common, countryside names 

 given beside the Arabic names and the Bayer Greek 

 letter. 



In discussing the colours of companions, the author 

 is, we believe, rather too dermatic when he states 

 definitely (p. 89) that the complementary colours are 

 not the effect of contrast. Recent researches rather 

 tend to contradict this, and we look upon the footnote 

 reference to Dr. Louis Bell's work (p. 90) as a nega- 

 tion of the author's dictum. The four seasonal and 

 the six ordinary charts are nicely done, but we fear 

 they are not of sufficient size or contrast to aid the 

 beginner in his actual observations. The appendices 

 are very interesting, and after reading through the 

 first, which gives the Christianised names of the con- 

 stellations, the beginner will probably shudder at the 

 possibility of having to use the genitive singular of 

 "The Red Sea with Moses Crossing It," Schillerius's 

 " improvement " on Eridanus. W. E. R. 



A PAIR OF TIGER BOOKS. 

 (i) Anecdotes of Big Cats and other Beasts. By 



David Wilson. Pp. viii + 312. (London: Methuen 



and Co., Ltd., 1910.) Price 6s. 

 (2) The Life Story of a Tiger. By Lt.-Col. A. F. 



Mockler-Ferrj-man. Pp. iv+253. (London: A. 



and C. Black, 19 10.) Price 3s. 6d. 

 (i) TT has been suggested that one reason for the 

 -1- greater prevalence of man-eating tigers in 

 India, as compared with man-eating lions in Africa, 

 is due to the superiority in courage of the natives of 

 the latter over most of those of the former country. 

 Whatever may be the truth of this assertion as re- 

 gards India, it most certainly does not apply to 

 Burma, where, according to Mr. Wilson, it is a 

 common practice for the relatives or neighbours of a 

 person carried off by a tiger to pursue the murderer 

 then and there, armed only with spears, or other 

 primitive weapons, in order to recover the body. Some 

 faint idea of the courage necessary for such a primi- 

 tive expedition may be gleaned, observes the-author, 

 bv anyone who tries to take a bone from a savage 

 dog. In one instance recorded in Mr. Wilson's book 

 four old men started to rescue the body of the grand- 

 daughter of one of the party, and succeeded in badly 

 wounding the tiger, although with the death of one 

 of the heroic four, and the maiming of a second. 

 But this act of heroism is exceeded in a case where 



