June 23, 1921] 



NATURE 



519 



game regulations, has discriminatingly shot 

 elephants in Central, South-east, North Central, 

 and West Africa), about a sub-fossil relic of the 

 small forest elephants of West Central Africa, the 

 tsetse-flies, the giant gorilla in the Lake Kivu 

 region, and the vast herds of cattle to be found 

 in Ruanda, a region which since the Great War 

 has been handed over to Belgium to administer. 

 The author thinks that the cattle in Ruanda — of 

 .an exaggerated straight-backed Indian type, with 

 immense horns — must amount to two and a half 

 millions. They die away (I might add) when 

 brought down from the upland region to the 

 countries of the tsetse-fly at lower levels. Unfor- 

 tunately, the Watusi of Ruanda, once the 

 " great " people of all that region and under other 

 names of the lands between Tanganyika, Vic- 

 toria and Albert Nyanzas, have become deplorably 

 idle and wanton, and circumstances will oblige 

 them to pull themselves together and reform. 



H. H. Johnston. 



Our Bookshelf. 



The Modern Teacher: Essays on Educatioiial 

 Aims and Methods. Edited by A. Watson Bain. 

 With an Introduction by Sir W. Henry Hadow. 

 Pp. XV -1-272. (London: Methuen and Co., 

 Ltd., 1921.) 105. 6d. net. 



This attractive volume contains ten essays, by 

 writers of undoubted authority, on the chief sub- 

 jects of school curricula, including civics, but 

 excluding art and music. As each author has 

 written independently of the others, there is a 

 refreshing diversity in the modes of treatment. 

 These vary from what is almost an apology by 

 Mr. George Smith for the teaching of classics to 

 Mr. A. W, Lucy's confident assurance, which 

 allows him to plunge straight into practical details, 

 in the case of mathematics. Even in defining the 

 chief aims of education the essayists give conflict- 

 ing opinions — which is all to the good, for it is 

 when we think alike that we have ceased to think 

 at all. In the section on science, for example, 

 Mr. F. W. Sanderson reaffirms that it is the 

 duty of education to " teach the average man the 

 glory of his daily work and trade." The con- 

 spicuous success which has attended Mr. Sander- 

 son's work at Oundle School makes his contribu- 

 tion to the volume a welcome one ; the more so 

 since, besides stating his ideals, he has indicated 

 the lines along which they may be approached in 

 practice. 



The teacher who reads this book will not fail to 

 find useful suggestions scattered about the more 

 familiar paths of his knowledge ; but probably its 

 chief value for him will lie in the restoration of a 

 true perspective, an appreciation of the com- 

 plementary nature of the various branches of 

 learning. 



NO. 2695, VOL. 107] 



The Yearbook of the Universities of the Empire. 

 192 1. Edited by W. H. Dawson. (Published 

 for the Universities Bureau of the British 

 Empire.) Pp. xiv-i-571. (London: G. Bell 

 and Sons, Ltd., 1921.) 155. net. 



We are glad to be able to extend a welcome to 

 the fifth edition of this useful volume. The plan 

 adopted in the fourth edition of arranging the 

 universities in groups— England, Wales, Scot- 

 land, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and so on — has 

 been adhered to, and a brief introductory note pre- 

 cedes each group. A feature of the new edition 

 is the numerous appendices, into which a vast 

 amount of useful information has been incor- 

 porated. Short accounts are given of the insti- 

 tutes of accountants, architects, auctioneers, engi- 

 neers, pharmaceutical chemists, and chartered 

 secretaries, and of numerous other societies such 

 as the Institute of Chemistry, the various colleges 

 of physicians and surgeons of the United King- 

 dom, together with the regulations as to admis- 

 sion to these bodies. Particulars are also 

 included of the matriculation examinations by 

 joint boards and of inter-university scholarships, 

 fellowships, etc. In Appendix xviii. an account 

 is given of the conditions under which under- 

 graduates and research students are admitted 

 to foreign universities. The facilities for 

 foreign students . in most of the principal 

 universities in America and in Europe, with 

 the exception of the German and Austrian 

 universities, are included in this section. The 

 records are necessarily brief, but the information 

 brought together is not readily available in any 

 other single volume, and it makes the book 

 invaluable as a work of reference. 



Laboratory Manual of Organic Chemistry. By 

 Dr. H. L. Fisher. Pp. x-f-33i. (New York: 

 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chapman 

 and Hall, Ltd., 1920.) 125. 6d. net. 

 Full experimental details and numerous practical 

 hints which should be found very helpful form an 

 unusual feature of manuals of practical organic 

 chemistry. The theory of the preparations is not 

 given, even in outline, but references to other text- 

 books are provided. This method does not seem 

 likely to be so successful as that in which a brief 

 but clear account of the reaction is given before 

 the experiment is described. The section on 

 organic analysis, which takes up 92 pages, is out 

 of proportion, and far too detailed for a book of 

 this kind. 



Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry for 

 1920. Issued by the Chemical Society. Vol. 

 xvii. Pp. x + 264. (London: Gurney and 

 Jackson, 192 1.) 75 6d. net. 



The annual reports of the Chemical Society are 

 valued as accurate and concise summaries of the 

 main lines of advance in all branches of the pure 

 science made during the year. The present 

 volume maintains the high standard associated 

 with previous issues. 



