March 17, 192 1] 



NATURE 



7' 



region involved. He outlines the periods of 

 Hittite history, and the various movements of 

 peoples connected with it from 2000 to 600 B.C., 

 in a masterly summary, which is very necessary 

 for ethnological study. He then details the varied 

 forms of the seals, and the subjects of the 335 

 specimens in the fine collotype plates. The classi- 

 fication by periods is the fruit of the work. It 

 is notable that the button-badges of the Syrian 

 invaders of Egypt (Sixth to Tenth Dynasties) 

 and the labyrinth and frets of foreign origin 

 (Sixth to Seventeenth Dynasties) seem to 

 have been over and past before the rise of 

 Hittite styles. The doubt (p. 23) as to the 

 early use of the wheel in gem engraving is settled 

 by work in Egypt so far back as the Eleventh 

 Dynasty. The volume has the noble traditions of 

 the Clarendon Press ; but can students afford to 

 support bibliophily as well as archaeology in these 

 times ? 



Zoomikrotechnik : Ein Wegweiser fur Zoologen 

 und Anatomen. By Prof. Paul Mayer. (Samm- 

 lung naturwissenschaftlicher Praktika. Band ix.) 

 Pp. vii + 516. (Berlin: Gebriider Borntraeger, 

 1920.) 64 marks. 

 The treatment of the subject of zoological tech- 

 nique in this book follows closely the lines of Lee 

 and Mayer's well-known "Grundziige der mikro- 

 skopischen Technik," the last (fourth) edition of 

 which was issued in 1910; indeed, the present 

 volume may be regarded as the new edition of that 

 work. 



In the first seventeen chapters directions are 

 given for various methods of killing, fixing, 

 hardening, staining, injecting, embedding, and 

 sectioning organisms and tissues, for mounting 

 whole specimens and sections, and for decalcifica- 

 tion. The six remaining chapters deal with the 

 technique of the cell, of eggs, embryos, and larvae, 

 and with histological methods for vertebrates and 

 invertebrates. In a number of cases the account 

 of a method is too short to be a real guide, and 

 the reader is referred rather too often to "Lee 

 and Mayer," or to some other book, for details 

 which he might reasonably expect to find in this 

 volume. For instance, in a book intended for 

 anatomists, instructions should have been given 

 for making up Kaiserling's solution, but instead 

 there is a reference to "Lee and Mayer." A 

 number of methods which would have been useful 

 to zoologists have not received notice — e.g. 

 methods for the culture of tissue and of Protozoa, 

 the employment of iodine solution during the ex- 

 amination of intestinal amoebae, and the examina- 

 tion and staining of spirochaetes. But the omis- 

 sions are relatively few, and the veteran professor 

 is to be congratulated on the issue of this useful 

 guide, to which he has added an excellent index. 



Meteorological Office — Air Ministry: British 



Rainfall, 1919. Pp. xxviii4-268. (London: 



H.M.S.O., 1920.) 125. 6d. net. 



As a consequence of the absorption of the 



British Rainfall Organization by the Meteorologi- 



NO. 2681, VOL. 107] 



cal Office this volume is, for the first time, printed 

 by the Stationery Office and issued as a Gov- 

 ernment publication. It contains a preface by 

 Sir Napier Shaw and an introductory chapter by 

 Mr. Carle Salter, both dealing with the change of 

 responsibility. The work is divided into four 

 parts. Part i. refers chiefly to organisation. 

 Part ii. gives details as to evaporation and per- 

 colation in 1919, and as to the distribution of rain- 

 fall in time, embracing wet spells and droughts; 

 also monthly and yearly rainfall tables at 348 

 stations in the British Isles, together with monthly 

 rainfall maps and a second monthly map showing 

 the percentage of average fall, and data of the 

 seasonal rainfall of 1918-19. 



Part iii. contains a general table of total rain- 

 fall in 1919 at 4893 stations in Great Britain and 

 Ireland. Part iv. has an article on the effect of 

 rainfall on the saturation-level in the chalk at 

 Chilgrove, West Sussex, from 1836 to 1919, by 

 Mr. D. Halton Thomson, also an article on the 

 exposure of rain gauges by Mr. M. de Carle S. 

 Salter, which should be read by all rainfall 

 observers. There are many features not ordi- 

 narily recognised, especially the exposure 

 during the winter months, when higher winds are 

 experienced than during the summer months, the 

 wind causing a factor detrimental to the correct 

 measurement and calling for care in the position 

 of the gauge so as to safeguard it against over- 

 exposure and to avoid defects due to wind-eddies. 



C. H. 



British Plants : Their Biology and Ecology. By 

 J. F. Bevis and H. J. Jeffrey. Second edition, 

 revised and enlarged. Pp. xii + 346. (London : 

 Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1920.) 75. 6d. 

 The revised and enlarged edition of "British 

 Plants " provides a most useful handbook on 

 general ecology, not only for the trained botanist, 

 but also for the general reader who is interested 

 in plant life. The outlines of the subjects are 

 sketched in a suggestive manner with a minimum 

 of technicalities, and sufficient general morphology 

 is included to make the matters clear to the non- 

 botanist. The first part of the book deals with 

 environment and its influence on vegetation, 

 the effects of climate, water, and soil receiving 

 special attention. The second part gives general 

 biological information, the section on the defensive 

 equipment of plants gathering together a good 

 deal of scattered knowledge. The last part treats 

 of the evolution and present distribution of the 

 British flora, and though one may join issue with 

 the authors on certain points of detail, the broad 

 outlines are clearly presented. 



The book is fully illustrated, though some of 

 the plant drawings would bear improvement — e.g. 

 the underground rhizomes of couch-grass and 

 mint, which lack distinctiveness and clearness. 

 The authors are to be congratulated on bringing 

 up to date a work which puts forward ecological 

 matters in such a simple and attractive stvle. 



W. E. B. 



