November 4, 1920] 



NATURE 



309 



the median side of the axillary artery ; in Fig. 13 

 the coraco-brachialis muscle is shown on the 

 median side of the musculo-cutaneous nerve ; and 

 in Fig. 51 the outer head of the musculus acces- 

 sorius is omitted. These matters can be readily 

 amended in any further edition, and scarcely 

 detract from the value of the book, which in its 

 length and simplicity is a not inadequate riposte 

 to the larger and more elaborate manuals. 



W. W. 



Splendours of the Sky. By Isabel Martin Lewis. 

 Pp. vii + 343. (London: John Murray, 1920.) 

 Price 8s. net. 



This book can be warmly recommended to readers 

 who desire to obtain a popular non-technical sum- 

 mary of the advances made in physical astronomy 

 in the present century. The author's position as 

 a computer for the American Nautical Almanac 

 ensures an accurate knowledge of geometrical 

 astronomy and of problems relating to distances 

 and motions ; and she writes in an enthusiastic 

 tone that evinces a deep admiration for the " splen- 

 dours of the sky." 



The planets are reviewed in order. In discuss- 

 ing the vexed question of the rotation of Venus 

 the author's judgment leans to the twenty-four- 

 hour value, which implies a physical condition not 

 unlike that on the earth. Prof. W. H. Pickering's 

 explanation of the Martian canals as being due 

 to the deposition of moisture by storms following 

 fairly definite tracks is favoured as the most 

 plausible one, but Lowell's irrigation theory is 

 also described. 



The remarkable solar work accomplished at 

 Mount Wilson comes next, including the study of 

 the sun's magnetic field, vortices round sunspKJts, 

 and the recently named "hydrogen bombs." 

 There is also mention of Einstein's prediction of 

 the gravitational deflection of light, and the pre- 

 parations made to test it at the eclipse of 1919- 

 But the book went to press before the results 

 were available. 



The chapters on the stars include such recent 

 work as Dr. Shapley's determination of the dis- 

 tances of clusters. It is necessary to criticise the 

 suggestion on p. 247 that the M and N types are 

 alternative routes to extinction. The galactic con- 

 centration of the N stars is proof of great dis- 

 tance and high luminosity ; they are therefore 

 giants, not dwarfs. A protest must be made 

 against the use of the words "billion," "trillion," 

 etc., in the American sense in a work published 

 in London. An international agreement on the 

 meaning of these terms would be welcome. 



A. C. D. Crommelin. 



Peclikay : An Essay towards the Abolition of 

 Spelling: Being a Sequel to "Some Questions 

 of Phonetic Theory," part i., igi6. By Dr. 

 Wilfrid Pcrrett. Pp. 96. (Cambridge : W. 

 Heffcr and Sons, Ltd.. 1920.) Price 6s. net. 



It is refreshing to find nowadays a scholarly essay 

 written in a style so attractive as to engage the 

 NO, 2662, VOL. 106] 



interest of even a casual reader. Dr. Perrett, in 

 his quest for a land free from the horrors of ortho- 

 graphy, is a hearty 'might, who will merrily break 

 a lance, if not a crown, with any pedant who 

 comes along. He will have none of your "re- 

 formed " spelling, which is but one more shuffle 

 of the historic pack of twenty-six letters among 

 some forty sounds. He does not want to reform 

 spelling indifferently well, so he creates a new 

 alphabet, which is called "Peetikay," a word com- 

 posed of his three first consonants and three first 

 vowels. The basis of his vowel notation is the 

 pitch of the whispered vowel, and he evolves a 

 system of characters which are "real," giving at 

 once some indication of both vowel quality and 

 vowel length. His classification of consonant 

 sounds starts from the voiceless mutes "p, t, k," 

 being arranged finally in order of their place of 

 formation. Particularly interesting, and fre- 

 quently provocative of discussion, are his remarks 

 upon the English sounds "h " and "r." 



By means of his new notation Dr. Perrett aims 

 at a just correspondence between signs visible and 

 signs audible, so that English writing shall be 

 English language in counterfeit. It is a book full 

 of learning, well seasoned with humour, and brim- 

 ming over with originality ; it is a powerful blow 

 at those who bleat about "vulgarity, degeneracy, 

 and corruption of English," and an earnest appeal 

 for "less professorism, and a little more shrewd 

 insight and informed, constructive teaching." 



A. Ll. J. 



A History of English Philosophy. By Prof. W. R. 

 Sorley. Pp. xvi + 380. (Cambridge : At the 

 University Press, 1920.) Price 20s. net. 



In this very useful and handy volume we are 

 given, in chronological order, a short record and 

 brief epitome of the men of British birth who have 

 a claim to be remembered on account of their 

 philosophical writings. It begins with the 

 medieval scholastics who wrote in Latin, and 

 whose British birth is merely of biographical 

 interest, and it ends with writers several of whom 

 are still living, and among whom the author of 

 this book is himself entitled to take rank. The 

 attempt, however, to present this succession of 

 British-born philosophers as a history of, or as 

 material for a history of, English philosophy is 

 not, and in the nature of the case cannot be, a 

 success. In the history of philosophy English 

 philosophy has denoted two distinct movements at 

 definite periods. In the eighteenth century it de- 

 noted, throughout the intellectual world, the 

 system of Newton and the principle of Locke. At 

 the end of the nineteenth century English philo- 

 sophy meant the evolution theory of Charles 

 Dnrwin and the method of Herbert Spencer. In 

 this book Newton and Darwin arc mentioned as 

 having given a direction to philosophy, but they 

 are given no place among the philosophers. On 

 the other hand, William Gilbert (quite rightly) is 

 included, but this makes the omission of the two 

 former only the more remarkable. 



