September 29, 192 1] 



NATURE 



H3 



the care with which it is edited and the consequent, 

 absence of errors. As in previous editions, the 

 volume consists of three parts dealings respectively 

 with the British Empire, the United States, and 

 other countries. The States of the world, enjoy- 

 ingf more or less independent rank, now number 

 sixt>'-four, counting the British Empire as one. 

 Since the last edition of the book the list has been 

 increased by Esthonia, Georgia, Latvia, and 

 Fiume, while Montenegro has been sunk in Yugo- 

 slavia, or, to use its unwieldy official name, the 

 Serb, Croat, and Slovene State. Irak, Palestine, 

 and Armenia, as well as some of the amorphous 

 States in process of emerging from the Russian 

 ruin, are still placed under the countries of which 

 formerly they were constituent parts. The infor- 

 mation respecting Russia has been furnished from 

 official Soviet sources, but that Government 

 seems unable to provide recent statistics for 

 Siberia. Of the two maps, one shows the 

 Baltic and adjacent States, including the new 

 access of Finland to the Arctic Ocean, and the 

 other shows the Slesvig boundary' adjustment 

 The introductory tables give statistics of the 

 British Empire for 1919-20, the world's production 

 of gold, silver, sugar, etc., the distribution of 

 shipping and naval strength, and other useful in- 

 formation. The covenant of the League of 

 Nations is given in full, and there is a list of the 

 treaties of peace and official publications thereon. 



Advanced Lessons in Practical Physiology for 

 Students of Medicine. By Dr. R. Burton-Opitz. 

 Pp. 238. (Philadelphia and London : W. B. 

 Saunders Co., 1920.) 185. net. 

 No subject in the medical curriculum affords so 

 great a variety in the scope and manner of its 

 presentation as does that of experimental physio- 

 logy. Probably no two schools are alike in their 

 treatment of this fundamental branch of medical 

 training. 



Dr. Burton-Opitz's text-book describes a 

 course which strikes one as being too compre- 

 hensive. Omitting physiological chemistry, it 

 takes the student over a range of experimental 

 work beginning with the nerve-muscle prepara- 

 tion of the frog and passing to more advanced 

 experiments, such as cerebral localisation and 

 gastro-enterostomy in the living mammal. The 

 course is adapted to the requirements of Columbia 

 University, and, if faithfully followed by the 

 student, takes him far into the practical details 

 of medicine and surgery ; but most teachers in 

 this country are satisfied if they give the student 

 a good grounding in some part of the subject and 

 illustrate the more important animal experiments 

 by demonstration. Our laws, indeed, prevent the 

 student from carrying out much of the experi- 

 mental work which is possible in America. 



The course is divided into fifty lessons, for each 

 of which the author states in his preface three 

 hours should be available. One may be permitted 

 to doubt if the student can digest the amount of 

 material prescribed, an3 few medical schools are 

 NO. 2709, VOL. 108] 



in possession of the staff and equipment neces- 

 sary. The book contains little theory, and the 

 practical directions are in some instances very 

 brief, but they are intended to be supplemented 

 by lectures and demonstrations. The book is not 

 one that will be much used in this country, but it 

 contains valuable suggestions, and will be a use- 

 ful addition to the Hterature of the laboratory. 



P. T. Herring. 



Papers Set in the Mechanical Sciences Tripos, 

 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1919. Pp. iv-r57- 

 (Cambridge: At tt^e University Press, 1920.) 

 4s. net. 

 The student of engineering is by implication a 

 student of branches of science such as mechanics, 

 thermodynamics, electricity, etc., but he studies 

 these subjects from a point of view differing widely 

 from that of the student of pure science. In view 

 of the vast importance of engineering and other 

 technological practice in modern life, there may 

 be some danger of the claims of science as such 

 being somewhat disregarded, and it is therefore 

 of interest to see in what way representative 

 schools of engineering in this country deal with 

 the pure science that enters into their curricula. 

 We get an insight into this by means of the exam- 

 ination papers that are set for honours students 

 in engineering, and the Cambridge University 

 Press affords us an opportunity of doing so in 

 connection with the Cambridge school of engin- 

 eering. The papers included in the present pub- 

 lication are on applied mechanics, heat, theory of 

 structures, and electricity. The questions demand 

 a sound knowledge of the physical theory of each 

 subject and of its mathematical development, 

 while at the same time they presuppose a close 

 acquaintance with the practical applications for 

 engineering purposes. 



Insanity and Mental Deficiency in Relation to 

 Legal Responsibility : A Study in Psychological 

 Jurisprudence. By Dr. W. G. H. Cook. 

 Pp. xxiv-j-192. (London: George Routledge 

 and Sons, Ltd. ; New York : E. P. Dutton and 

 Co., 1921.) los. 6d. net. 

 Much has been written on the responsibility of 

 insane and feeble-minded persons for criminal 

 offences, but Dr. Cook has broken more novel 

 ground in bringing together all available evidence 

 on the difficult question of civil responsibility, a 

 subject which has been rarely dealt with as a 

 whole. In doing so he makes a survey of more 

 than two hundred leading cases and of the laws 

 of many foreign countries. The results thus sum- 

 marised may, as Sir John Macdonnell, late Senior 

 Master of the High Court of Justice, states in a 

 foreword, "prepare the way for a re-statement of 

 our law in accordance with the teaching of modern 

 psychology." It would be beyond the scope of 

 Nature critically to review this work, but we 

 may agree with the words from the foreword 

 already quoted, that it will "educate professional 

 opinion, and help to reconcile the lawyer, the 

 physician, and the psychologist." 



