NATURE 



505 



THURSDAY. MARCH 28, 1889. 



THE 



TO 



NEW TRAVELLER'S GUIDE 

 SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY. 

 Anleitung zu wissenschaftlichen Beobachtungen auf 

 Reisen. In Einzel-Abhandlungen, herausgegeben von 

 Dr. G. Neumayer. Second Edition, Two Volumes 

 (Berlin, 1888.) 

 r •'"T^O provide the numerous German travellers and 

 ' J- dwellers in foreign lands with a simple introduc- 

 tion to scientific investigation in the various departments 

 of natural science " was, in their own words, the object 

 of the promoters of the present work, and this notice 

 is an endeavour to point out, in the first place, the mode 

 in which it has been carried out ; and, in the second, 

 to consider how far the effort has been crowned with 

 success. 



In its new shape, the book appears with a somewhat 

 smaller size of page, and the matter is so disposed in two 

 volumes, that the one contains the physical, and the other 

 the biological, articles. Thirty-one collaborators have 

 contributed as many different chapters on the various j servations 



common-sense : — to use only instruments by the most trust- 

 worthy makers ; to enter in the note-book the uncorrected 

 observations ; and not to modify, even though it were 

 apparently to improve, a scheme of observations once 

 commenced. 



Prof. Weiss treats of the zodiacal light, meteoric 

 showers, refraction, and other " Phenomena which can 

 be observed without the use of Instruments"; but his 

 disquisition seems to us of rather needless length, and 

 the more so because, as the author himself reminds us, 

 " the circle of observations of this kind, which promise a 

 profitable harvest to the traveller, is becoming continually 

 smaller." 



Concise, but thoroughly scientific, is the statement of 

 the principles and practice of " Nautical Surveying," by 

 Dr. Hoffmann. We cordially agree, amongst other 

 things, with the dictum that instruments which serve a 

 variety of purposes are always to be distrusted, and that, 

 though they may be taken by land-travellers when con- 

 siderations of space and weight are paramount, they are 

 quite inexcusable on board ship. 



In three succeeding chapters the subject of " Tidal Ob- 

 is treated by Dr. Borgen, and the " Deter- 



subdivisions of the subject, and, strictly speaking, each 

 of these ought to have a detailed critique to itself. Con- 

 siderations of space, however, forbid this mode of treat- 

 ment ; and hence it must suffice to enumerate the headings 

 of the articles, and to add a few remarks explanatory of 

 their contents in those cases where it seems advisable, 

 premising that no disparagement is implied regarding 

 any which are passed by without comment. 



The first chapter, on " Determination of Geographical 

 Position," by Prof. Tietjen, is eminently practical in tone ; 

 the instruments employed are briefly characterized, and 

 instructions given for using and correcting them. The 

 same may also be said regarding Dr. Jordan's " Topo- 

 graphical and Geographical Observations." We are glad 

 to observe that both these authorities advise the traveller 

 to depend less upon the fine graduation of his instruments 

 than upon his ability to estimate divisions : work accom- 

 plished by the latter means is incomparably more rapid 

 and decidedly less liable to error than that carried out by 

 the aid of more complicated apparatus. 



A most important section is that on " Geology," by 

 Von Richthofen, of which we need only now say that it 

 is an abstract of an independent work by the same author, 

 which was reviewed in these columns a few months ago 

 (Nature, vol. xxxvii. p. 603). 



Prof. H. Wild, of the Central Observatory at St. Peters- 

 burg, gives, within the compass of about thirty pages, an 

 adequate summary of the present state of our knowledge 

 regarding " Terrestrial Magnetism," as well as a de- 

 scription of an apparatus suitable for travellers, with 

 directions for its use. Observations upon land only are 

 here discussed, those on board ship being reserved for 

 special treatment in the sequel. The article " Meteorology," 

 by Dr. J. Hann, of Vienna, is commendable, amongst other 

 things, because it informs the traveller what he need not 

 do. A passage of this nature comes upon the traveller, 

 overwhelmed by the multitude of minute instructions, like 

 an oasis in the desert. Nevertheless, the directions re- 



garding what ought to be done are none the less explicit, 



and the concluding observations are dictated jby sound j Political Geography, and Statistics 

 Vol. XXXIX.— No. 1013. 



mmation of the Amount of Water flowing in Rivers " by 

 Von Lorenz-Liburnau ; whilst a very useful general sketch, 

 entitled " Hints for the Observation of the Intercourse 

 of Nations," is contributed by Dr. Moritz Lindeman. 

 A short, but interesting article, entitled " Some Oceano- 

 graphic Problems," which, by a strange oversight, is 

 omitted from the table of contents, has been written by 

 Dr. O. Kriimmel, whose work on the currents of the Falk- 

 land Islands is well known, and whose little text-book 

 has been favourably noticed in these columns (Nature, 

 vol. XXXV. p. 6). 



The editor's own contribution to the series is of a very 

 modest character, and consists of a series of supple- 

 ments to some of the chapters above referred to, showing 

 under what limitations, and with what special precau- 

 tions, such observations must be carried out on board 

 ship. It is subdivided into two sections, the first of 

 which is hydrographic in its scope, and handles some 

 very interesting topics ; for instance, the action of the wind 

 upon the sea, the application ofmeteorology to navigation, 

 materials carried by currents, and so forth. These are 

 treated with great care and precision ; and, as an instance 

 of the way in which the whole is brought up to date, it 

 may be mentioned that the Hon. Ralph Abercromby's 

 invaluable photographic work upon clouds, though only 

 published very shortly before the present volume, is duly 

 noticed. The second subdivision is devoted to magnetic 

 observations, and deals fully with the mode of making 

 these on board ship, and also of determining the appro- 

 priate coefficients for their correction. 



In the new edition this concludes the physical division 

 of the work, for the chapter on " Earthquakes " has been 

 omitted, on the ground that seismology has now developed 

 into such a special and complex study that the traveller 

 cannot be expected to undertake it. What is essential 

 for him to know on this head has been incorporated in 

 the chapter on " Geology." 



The biological volume opens with an introductory 

 essay by Dr. A. Meitzen, headed " General Topography, 



the bulk of which is 

 z 



