112 



NATURE 



[September 22, 192 1 



English worker in aeronautics would have been 

 able to supply the usual terms for "frontal re- 

 sistance," "end of climb," "gigantic plane," etc. 



S. Bkodetsky. 



Handbook of Instructions for Collectors. Fourth 

 edition. Pp. 222. (London : The British 

 Museum (Natural History), 1921.) 55, 

 The present edition of this valuable little hand- 

 book contains several material alterations. 

 Chapters have been added on the preparation of 

 mammalian skeletons, with special notes on the 

 collection of specimens of Cetacea, on the collect- 

 ing and preservation of worms, and on alcohol 

 and alcoholometers ; while the chapters dealing 

 with soft-bodied and other invertebrates, birds, 

 reptiles, batrachians, fishes, and insects have been 

 considerably modified. The trustees of the 

 British Museum are well advised in issuing the 

 handbook at a low price and in portable form (it 

 measures 7 in. x 5 in. x | in.), for it constitutes 

 an authoritative manual of instructions on the 

 collecting and preservation of all objects included 

 under the comprehensive title of " natural his- 

 tory." The hunter of big game is told how to skin 

 his " kills " and to preserve the pelt and skeleton 

 to the best advantage; indeed, collectors of every 

 kind receive instructions enabling them to render 

 their captures of real scientific value when brought 

 home for detailed examination. The handbook 

 should lie on the work-table of the curator of 

 every museum, and be in the kit-bag of everyone 

 who is prepared during his travels to preserve 

 objects for the enrichment of our national or other 

 public collections. There are very few curators 

 who will not learn something of value to their 

 museum from these pages ; and probably none 

 who have not at one time or other been compelled 

 regretfully to scrap material presented because 

 the well-meaning donor has not known how to 

 collect intelligently or to preserve usefully. 

 In future there need be no such mistakes. 



Sun, Sand, and Somals : Leaves from the Note- 

 book of a District Commissioner in British 

 Somaliland. By Major H. Rayne. Pp. 223+12 

 plates. (London : H. F. and G. Witherby, 

 192 1.) 125. 6d. net. 

 The conversational style and highly amusing 

 nature of Major Rayne 's lively book by no means 

 obscure the light that it throws on 'the Somali 

 character, particularly that side of it which could 

 be observed only by one occupying an official 

 position similar to that of the author and largely 

 concerned with the administration of justice and 

 the settlement of disputes in the patriarchal 

 fashion alone understood by the Somalis. \o 

 less interesting are the narrative portions. The 

 description of the trek to Hargeisa is so vivid 

 that the reader almost imagines himself one of 

 the party. The chapter that recounts the end of 

 the Mad Mullah illustrates the universal law of 

 history, that when the means of force are dis- 

 pelled the end of the tyrant is inevitable. An 

 error of date has slipped into p. 214: it was at 

 NO. 2708, VOL. 108] 



the beginning of April, 1903, that Col. Plunkett 

 and his force were ambushed, leaving as survivors 

 only thirty-eight natives of the K.A.R. ; Cough's 

 action was on April 22, about a fortnight later. 

 Since those days much more has been learned 

 about Somaliland and its inhabitants, and it may 

 be that the use of the word " Somals " as a col- 

 lective noun for the various tribes, though not to 

 be found in Swayne's standard work, is the 

 modern convention. 



Geology of the Non-Metallic Mineral Deposits 

 other than Silicates. Vol. i, Principles of Salt 

 Deposition. By Amadeus W. Grabau. 

 Pp. xvi-h435. (New York and London: 

 McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1920. j 305. 

 Geologists owe a, debt of gratitude to Dr. 

 Grabau for the preparation and publication of this 

 volume. It is a mine of information on the occur- 

 rence and characters of deposits of mineral salts, 

 exclusive of silicates. 



The theories which have been advanced for 

 their formation are fairly stated, and there are 

 ample references to the literature of the subject. 

 The author includes in his survey not only the 

 salts of the halogens, but sulphates, nitrates, and 

 phosphates, as well as certain elements, oxides, 

 and hydrates associated with them. He acknow- 

 ledges the sea as the great source of salt deposits, 

 but is inclined to give rather undue importance to 

 the salt enclosed in marine sediments in com- 

 parison with that transported by the wind. He 

 terms the former "connate " salts, and the latter, 

 not very happily, "cyclic" salts. Salts due to 

 chemical changes in situ are termed "meta " salts, 

 in spite of the fact that chemists have used the 

 prefix in more than one other distinct sense. 

 Naturally special attention has been given to 

 American deposits, but the other continents are 

 not neglected, though we have been unable to 

 find any reference to the important " Magadi " 

 soda lakes in East Africa. An interesting account 

 is given of the "salt domes " in different parts of 

 the world. J. W. E. 



Bibliographic des Series Trigonometriques : Avec 

 un Appendice sur le Calcul des Variations. By 

 Maurice Lecat. Pp. viii-hi68. (Louvain : 

 M. Lecat, 192 1.) 

 A very considerable debt is owing to M. Lecat 

 not only for the labour which has been put into 

 the compilation of this most valuable bibliography, 

 but also for undertaking the publication of it with- 

 out the help of any subvention, especially at so 

 difficult a time. The main list is in alphabetical 

 order according to authors, and gives full biblio- 

 graphical details. It appears to be remarkably 

 complete and up to date. A second list gives the 

 titles of all the periodicals quoted in the first. 

 .An appendix provides a supplement to a similar 

 bibliography on the calculus of variations (pub- 

 lished 1913-16), and refers mainly to items which 

 have appeared in the last five years. Those who 

 specialise in the subject of trigonometric series 

 will- find M. Lecat's work invaluable. 



