JIO 



NATURE 



[August 4, 192 1 



apparently, largely based upon the experience of 

 the authors as science teachers in schools, it is 

 presumably intended for a higher grade of in- 

 struction than that usually given to schoolboys. 

 Indeed, the authors, at times, think it unneces- 

 sary to mention certain elementary matters, for 

 the reason that they are probably already known 

 to beginners. They have, however, not been very 

 consistent in this respect. Very elementary 

 things are occasionally treated at considerable 

 length, and space is thereby sacrificed to com- 

 paratively unimportant subjects which might well 

 have been devoted to fuller details of more ad- 

 vanced or more difficult matters. The work, in 

 fact, suffers from a lack of a sense of propor- 

 tion; it bears marks of haste in preparation, as 

 if the authors had not thought out with sufficient 

 care the details of their scheme. The general plan 

 of the work is excellent, but it would be quite 

 impossible for any student, however hard-work- 

 ing, to overtake the whole within the period 

 usually allotted to his training. The time given 

 to th^ preparation of substances, if he is expected 

 to make any considerable proportion of those enu- 

 merated, would alone consume a large fraction of it. 



Under the direction of a capable teacher the 

 book is calculated to be of service, if judiciously 

 used, as a laboratory manual. Anyone who had 

 worked through it, with due attention to its 

 directions, would be well equipped with a know- 

 ledge and experience of operative chemistry. 



{3) The little work on " Public Health Chemical 

 Analysis," by Mr. R. C. Frederick and Dr. 

 Aquila Forster, is apparently designed for the 

 use of the Medical Officer of Health who may be 

 called upon to make analytical inquiries, or 

 may desire to inform himself of the methods 

 employed by the Public Analyst in connection 

 with matters with which he is directly con- 

 cerned. After a somewhat bald introduction 

 on the general principles of gravimetric and 

 volumetric analysis, the book deals with such 

 subjects as the chemical examination of air, 

 water, sewage, trade waste, and effluents ; 

 the analysis of ordinary foods, such as 

 milk and milk-products, flour, bread, sugars, 

 jams, confectionery, proprietary foods, alcoholic 

 liquors, tea, coffee, cocoa, and condiments; the 

 detection of metallic poisons in foodstuffs ; disin- 

 fectants; soap; rag flock, etc. The methods de- 

 scribed are those in common use by analysts, and 

 present no features of novelty. They may be 

 accepted as trustworthy, and well within the 

 competence of an officer who may only occasion- 

 ally be required to undertake them. The book is 

 well printed, adequately illustrated, and pro- 

 vided with a good index. 

 NO. 2701, VOL. 107] 



The Nature of Man. 



The Origin of Man and of his Superstitions. By 

 Carveth Read. Pp. xii + 350. (Cambridge : At 

 the University Press, 1920.) 185. net. 



ONE of the legacies left by the Darwinian con- 

 troversy has been an intense interest in the 

 highly speculative questions centring round the 

 transition that took place from our semi-human to 

 our human ancestry. The subject has an intense 

 fascination for many, and they will find ample 

 room for the exercise of their imagination while 

 reading the mass of material brought together by 

 the author in support of his hypothesis. He 

 assumes that our early ancestors were large 

 anthropoid apes which took to hunting and a more 

 carnivorous diet, and thus changed profoundly their 

 "former, peaceable, frugivorous habit." Thus 

 there was a selection of those qualities most 

 effective for hunting game. Some of the Primates 

 used unwrought weapons, co-operated in defence, 

 and could communicate with each other — e.g. the 

 early hunters went in packs, and thus resembled 

 wolves ; indeed, man " became at first a sort of 

 wolf-ape." 



In the course of his reflections upon the nature 

 of man the author concludes that "man, in char- 

 acter, is more like a wolf or dog than he is like 

 any other animal." Hence "the Nordic sub-race 

 [of the Mediterranean, we may suppose] , with its 

 fair hair, . . . has the appearance of an Arctic 

 beast of prey, like the polar bear," The adoption 

 of a hunting life had many consequences : each 

 pack had its own hunting ground ; hence the idea 

 of property ; co-operative hunting increased intelli- 

 gence. The "constructive impulse" thereby be- 

 came an "absorbing passion," and the use of lan- 

 guage was stimulated. The first wars, probably, 

 were waged for hunting grounds; thus the more 

 "virile" and compact of the "wolf-ape" packs 

 predominated, and presumably led to that triumph 

 of Nature, the " Arctic beast of prey " — the Nordic 

 sub-race. Sports and games have been stimulated 

 by the hunting life. Further, "I offer the sug- 

 gestion that the origin of laughter and the enjoy- 

 ment of broad humour . . . may be traced to . . . 

 occasions of riotous exhilaration and licence " fol- 

 lowing on a successful hunt. Hunting life does 

 not explain, says the author, the origin of mag- 

 nanimity, friendliness, etc. 



Mr. Read then turns to the origins of beliefs. 



" Savages of the lowest culture have few beliefs 

 that can be called positively injurious. . . . Taboos 

 do more good by protecting person, property, and 

 custom than they do harm by restricting the use 

 of foods. . . . Many rites and observances are 

 sanitary. Totemism rarely does any harm, and 



