556 



NATURE 



[April 12, 1888 



ence can alone show how far he has succeeded. We 

 should doubt the efficacy of his instrument ourselves, and 

 we certainly cannot indorse his belief that, " however 

 scrupulous the draughtsman may be, however unbiassed 

 he intends to be, errors may creep in, and therefore 

 photo-micrography .... comes in to insure complete 

 veracity with a saving of labour." 



Woodcuts are given of some few of the accessories 

 enumerated. Chief among them is a very monotonous 

 array of scalpels and probes, which form the frontispiece. 

 Strange to say, the author makes not the least mention 

 of most of those in his text, despite a reference in the 

 index. It is clear, however, from the context, that they 

 are to be regarded as aids to the study of insect anatomy : 

 we have here a superfluity, for choice among the knives 

 represented would be so embarrassing that, by the time the 

 operator made up his mind, the subject itself' would be 

 far advanced towards decomposition. The introduction 

 of curved scissors is no less to be deprecated. Apparatus 

 and accessories have a fascination for most people, but 

 the best work has always been done with the simplest 

 tools. It must never be forgotten that it is the head 

 at the one end, and not the mechanical aid at the other, 

 which does the real work. 



We would take exception ;to the introduction of 

 the words "mountant," "semi-hard," and one or two 

 others which might be named. The statement that the 

 mites are " almost the smallest class of created beings " 

 falls very unhappily from a pure microscopist, while the 

 definition given of the Foraminifera needs modification. 



We are pleased to note that the author has been mind- 

 ful of the charms of the tow-net — perhaps the most im- 

 portant instrument in the future of marine zoology. If 

 Mr. White's work be divested of its bugs' heads, and 

 other similar objects which are the mainstay of those for 

 whom he writes, there remains a solid substratum which 

 far excels in merit that of many more pretentious works 

 on the subject. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



A Manual of the Geology of India. Part IV. Mineralogy. 

 By F. R. Mallet. Published by order of the Indian 

 Government. (London: Triibner and Co., 1887.) 



While the third volume of this work possessed a certain 

 interest for the statesman and the capitalist, including as 

 it did descriptions of the minerals of economic value, the 

 present one will only claim the attention of scientific 

 readers. It may be a matter of surprise that nearly all 

 that is certainly known about the minerals of India should 

 be capable of compression into less than two hundred 

 pages. But, as the author points out, excavations for 

 mining or other purposes have not, as a rule, been super- 

 intended by men possessing the knowledge requisite to 

 enable them to record facts of scientific importance ; 

 further, there is no demand for non-economic minerals, 

 and consequently no mercenary incentive to collect 

 specimens. 



In looking over the book we are at once struck with 

 the meagre character of much of the information given. 

 Numbers of questions occur which we should like to see 

 settled, but which are unanswerable in the present 

 state of our knowledge, or rather ignorance, of Indian 

 mineralogy. But our author is certainly not to blame for 

 this. He has made the most of the scanty materials at 

 his command, and the result is a valuable contribution to 

 mineralogical science, which will serve as a basis for 



a future work on the subject worthy of our Indian 

 Empire. The classification adopted is that of Dang., 

 as given in his " System of Mineralogy." 



In the collection of materials for the book which we 

 hope will grow out of this, English residents and educated 

 natives might do science much service. The study of 

 mineralogy was extensively pursued in England until 

 displaced by the more attractive subject of stratigraphy, 

 but as India presents such a vast field there is no 

 reason why the subject should not become popular 

 again. Workers in this department will find Mr. Mallet's 

 book of the greatest service. 



Through the Yang-tse Gorges. By A. J. Little, F.R.G.S. 



(London: Sampson Low, 1888.) 

 Mr. Little recently undertook a two months' journey 

 from Shanghai, the metropolis of the Chinese coast, to 

 Chung- King, the commercial metropolis of Western China. 

 The present volume consists of the journal kept during his 

 travels, and an admirable journal it is, full of the results 

 of careful and minute observation, and written in a fresh, 

 lively, and entertaining style. Few travellers, with the 

 exception of " the ubiquitous missionary," have ascended 

 to the highest navigable point of the Yang-tse, the only 

 road of intercommunication between the eastern and 

 western districts of the Chinese Empire. Most readers, 

 therefore, will find in this book much that is new to them 

 about the Chinese people and their country. There 

 are many vivid descriptions of the varied scenery 

 through which Mr. Little passed, and his notes on 

 industries, social customs, and popular religious ideas are 

 invariably interesting and suggestive. Upon the whole, 

 he has no very exalted opinion of the intellectual and 

 moral qualities of the Chinese, and he is not disposed to 

 believe that the empire, under the influence of Western 

 ideas, is about to enter upon a new and momentous stage 

 of political and social development. Everywhere he 

 found the bureaucracy intensely conservative, and bitterly 

 prejudiced against foreigners. They are willing enough 

 to adopt superior mechanical appliances, so far as imple- 

 ments of war are concerned ; but in all other matters they 

 prefer to move along the old lines, which, having been 

 good enough for their forefathers, must, they think, be 

 good enough for themselves. 



Home Experime7its in Science. By T.O'Conor Sloane, 

 Ph.D. (London : Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and 

 Rivington, 1888.) 

 The author of this work has produced a very readable 

 and useful book for those who wish to employ their 

 leisure hours in gaining knowledge and information about 

 the elementary parts of the various branches of science. 

 The volume consists of a collection of experiments that 

 can be easily performed with home-made apparatus ; 

 good detailed instruction as to the necessary mechanical 

 operations is given, together with ninety-seven woodcuts 

 of the experiments and the apparatus employed. The 

 branches of science included in these experiments are 

 mechanics, general and molecular physics ; the chapter 

 on soap-bubbles contains some very interesting experi- 

 ments about them ; and the concluding chapter consists of 

 hints to those who are about to begin scientific lecturing. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions 

 expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he under- 

 tctke to return, or to correspond with the writers of, 

 rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part 

 of Nature. No notice is taken of anonymous communi- 

 cations. ^ 



Prof. Rosenbusch's Work on Petrology. 

 Of the great value of Prof. Rosenbusch's work on petrology, 

 so excellently reviewed by Dr. Hatch, to which your corre- 



