826 



NATURE 



[February 24, 192 1 



Florentes ferulas et grandia lilia quassans : 

 this is said of Silvanus and not of Pan — of Sil- 

 vanus, agresti capitis honore, crowned with a 

 wreath of oak leaves, and bearing in his hand, 

 brandishing, quassans, flowering ferules and tall 

 white lilies, leading in a train of weeping nymphs 

 to Pan, over whose ruddled face the bloody juice of 

 the dwarf elderberries trickles down. Cannot we 

 see them all? Panaque, Silvanumque senem, 

 Xymphasque sorores. 



No. The book is not what we had hoped for, a 

 safe guide, a trustworthy friend, a welcome com- 

 panion, in the study or in the garden; it is dis- 

 appointing. Such a book is needed — it has yet 

 to be written. Why should not the author of this 

 one write it? Here he has the first sketch of it, 

 the half-carved block; the design is good, the 

 material is good, they are worthy of further work. 

 On his title-page he tells us that he was prompted 

 by tantns amor florum ; let him not omit to carry 

 plenty of subiirra, and he will be amply rewarded 

 by the geuerandi gloria mellis. 



G. H. W. 



Our Bookshelf. 



William Sutherland : A Biography. By Prof. 

 W. A. Osborne. Pp. 102. (Melbourne : 

 Lothian Book Publishing Co, Pty., Ltd. ; 

 London : The British Australasian, 1920.) 

 Price 7s. 6d. 



The friends of the late William Sutherland will 

 vifelcome this little biography by Prof. Osborne. 

 It is a faithful portrait of the man charmingly 

 conveyed by a judicious selection of incidents from 

 his life. William Sutherland's was a remarkable 

 character, and he was an unexpected product of a 

 new country, where a leisured class scarcely exists. 

 This biographer has done justice to his extra- 

 ordinary versatility and modesty. Many who valued 

 his society on account of his knowledge and appre- 

 ciation of literature, painting, and music will, no 

 doubt, be surprised to learn from his biography 

 that he possessed a world-wide reputation as an 

 investigator in molecular physics, and was the 

 author of upwards of fifty papers dealing with 

 some of the fundamental properties of matter. 



Sutherland had no private fortune, but, never- 

 theless, abstained from devoting more of his time 

 to earning money than was necessary. Occa- 

 sional work for the Press and infrequent examiner- 

 ships produced sufficient income to supply his 

 modest needs. This peculiarity kept him from 

 accepting permanent academic posts. It is a 

 matter for regret, however, that a small chair, 

 which would have provided him with a labo- 

 ratory, and brought him into contact with students, 

 was not available for him. The value of the work 

 he did with such devotion would have been en- 1 



NO. 2678, VOL. 106] 



hanced thereby, and what a gain his inspiration 

 would have been to any institution ! 



At the end of the volume Prof. Osborne has 

 gracefully referred to Sutherland's saintliness. 

 This is no exaggeration of his biographer. 

 Although I loved him well and sought his society 

 frequently, I was never quite comfortable in it 

 because he was so singularly devoid of vices and 

 so tolerant of other people's weaknesses. Not- 

 withstanding his delightful sense of humour, it 

 was scarcely more possible for us to attain com- 

 plete harmony than for a drunkard to be quite at 

 ease in the society of a teetotaler. 



C. J. Martin. 



Maryland Geological Survey: Cambrian and Ordo- 

 vician. Pp. 424+ Iviii plates. (Baltimore : The 

 Johns Hopkins Press, 1919.) 

 The Maryland Geological Survey has always 

 been noted for the educational aspect of its pub- 

 lications, which are by no means a dry record of 

 observations for the use of scientific specialists. 

 They help the ordinary citizen to understand his 

 State, and in so doing to appreciate the aims and 

 methods of research. The results of much careful 

 work in petrology and palaeontology are brought 

 together in the well-known green-covered volumes, 

 so as to be accessible in private libraries and in 

 schools. The present volume, by R. S. Bassler, 

 covers a part of the Atlantic slope from the crest 

 of the -Alleghanies to the sea, thus including the 

 three great belts of contrasted scenery that stretch 

 from New England to Mississippi. The British 

 controversy as to the nomenclature of the older 

 Palaeozoic systems is interestingly re-stated, and 

 the author, on grounds of fairness to the original 

 workers, would like to use Taconic and Cambrian 

 for the systems now styled Cambrian and Ordo- 

 vician respectively. He effects a proper com- 

 promise, however, and fairly discusses Ulrich's 

 Ozarkian and Canadian systems. 



There is certainly no " writing down " to a 

 popular level in the stratigraphical and palaeonto- 

 logical descriptions, though in one place, in a 

 sketch of the life-processes of Cryptozoon, "lime " 

 is accidentally used for "calcium carbonate." The 

 results of investigations in other fields are brought 

 together, and local fossils are illustrated by 

 notable specimens, such as Olenellus Tliompsoni 

 from Vermont, which add interest to those already 

 found in Maryland. Cryptozoon occurs in the 

 Cambrian and Ordovician of Maryland, and its 

 algal nature seems to be established, though the 

 Cambrian fauna is generally poor. Does the 

 author refer to this fact when he makes the 

 general statement on p. 32 that the Pelecypoda 

 appear for the first time in Ordovician strata? 



The numerous photographs of wayside sections 

 and rolling farmland country are a pleasing 

 feature. Plate ii. shows, from the Virginian side, 

 the fine gorge of the Potomac cut across the Cam- 

 brian sandstones at Harper's Ferry, a scene 

 known alike to history, geography, and geology. 



G. A. J. c: 



