28 



NA TURE 



{May 12, 1887 



the whole passage. Again, on p. 200, even after carefully 

 considering the meaning of "purchaser," "consumer," 

 the author arrives at the conclusion that " the consumer 

 is simply the purchaser or customer," whereas the con- 

 sumer is the purchaser who does not intend to sell again. 

 If an architect builds a palace (to take Mr. Macleod's 

 first example) to carry out some grand idea of his own 

 which he feels sure will attract him a royal customer for it, 

 but lack of funds compels him to sell it unfinished to a com- 

 mercial company who have a similar faith in his design, 

 they are not consumers, because they intend to sell it 

 again. But if a monarch retired from business buys it of 

 them for his residence, he is the consumer, because, 

 although the palace may stand for centuries, he does not 

 intend to sell it again. To take a much more familiar 

 case, going on under our own eyes : a builder erects a row 

 of villas as a speculation of his own ; as long as he 

 has them on his hands they are stock in the market, 

 but as one purchaser is found who elects to inhabit 

 one, and another to inhabit another, those houses are, 

 as far as economics is concerned, " consumed," and 

 the builder is encouraged to produce more. 



Far more careful printing is required in such a book. 

 On p. 309, Vol. II., line i is quite unintelligible through 

 the misplacing of two commas. On p. 156, no doubt the 

 ** division of labour" should be the "division of employ^ 

 ment " with combination of labour. For the sake of 

 clearness (we suppose) qualifications have been sacrificed 

 in many places, with, we feel sure, mischievous effect to 

 any student inquiring into the " elements " of so intricate 

 a science. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Outlines of Lectures on Physiology. By T. Wesley Mills. 

 (Montreal : Drysdale and Co., 1886.) 



This little work of scarcely 200 pages gives at a glance 

 very precise information as to the kind of instruction 

 provided in the Physiological Department of the McGill 

 University. 



The teaching appears to be both scientific and practical 

 in its character, and of a standard certainly equal to that 

 of the teaching in many of our English schools. Prof 

 Mills most properly insists on the importance of compara- 

 tive physiology and biology, the only keys to many of the 

 most complicated problems in human physiology itself. 

 It is, however, unfortunate that he is obliged to incorporate 

 so much elementary biology in his lectures, suggesting, as 

 it does, that this important subject is, in Canada as well 

 as in England, often relegated to the teachers of physiology, 

 who should be in a position to begin with students already 

 acquainted with the fundamental facts of this science. 

 Pathology, or the application of physiology to disease, 

 is hardly touched upon in this book. It is a most unfor- 

 tunate omission, unless both pathology and therapeutics 

 are taught in other departments of the University far 

 more systematically than with us. From the fact that it 

 is so sketchy it is difficult to understand how Dr. Mills' 

 work can be of any value to the general reader who is not 

 at the same time interested in the progress of medical edu- 

 cation, or to the ordinary student of physiology. Under 

 " Saliva " (page 86), which may be taken as an example, we 

 find the following headings without any explanatory text. 

 " Mixed saliva found in the mouth. Secretion of serous 

 and mucous glands compared. Morphological elements 

 of saliva. Chemical constitution," &c. The work pro- 

 fesses, however, to be only an outline, and such it is. 



Chemistry for Beginners. By R. L. Taylor. (London : 

 Sampson Low and Co., 1887.) 



This little book is valuable as being the outcome of 

 practical experience in the teaching of the first principles 

 of chemistry, and, from its small size and simple statement, 

 is likely to be much used in the sphere for which it is in- 

 tended. It appears eminently suited for the use of pupils 

 in our higher grade Board schools, where the author has 

 gained most of his experience, and may with advantage 

 be used as an elementary class-book, especially as it 

 contains a graduated series of original problems. We 

 are glad to notice the introduction of an undoubtedly 

 beneficial method of representing chemical reactions, 

 which, especially in more complex cases, expresses what 

 really happens in a very clear light. An example extracted 

 from Mr. Taylor's book is as follows : — 



K I NO3 

 SO4H 1 H. 



Of course, the equation written in the ordinary form is 

 given, as is proper, side by side with the above. 



Although it is unfortunate that the illustrations are of 

 so primitive a character, the book is very readable and 

 likely to interest beginners, and the author may be con- 

 gratulated upon the absence of all appearance of cram, 

 which has such a paralyzing influence upon the thinking 

 powers of those from amongst whom our future chemists 

 are to be derived. A. E. T. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions 

 expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he under- 

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

 rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous 

 communications. 



{The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their 

 letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space 

 is so great that it is impossible otherwise to insure the 

 appearance even of communications containing interesting 

 and novel facts. \ 



Thought without Words. 



The recent work of Prof. Max Miiller contains theories on the 

 descent of man which are entirely based on the assertion that not 

 even the most rudimentary processes of true thought can be 

 carried on without words. From this he argues that as man is 

 the only truly speaking animal the constitution of his mind is 

 separated from that of brutes by a wide gulf, which no process of 

 evolution that advanced by small steps could possibly stride over. 

 Now, if a single instance can be substantiated of a man thinking 

 without words, all this anthropological theory, which includes 

 the more ambitious part of his work, will necessarily collapse. 



I maintain that such instances exist, and the first that I shall 

 mention, and which I will describe at length, is my own. Let 

 me say that I am accustomed to introspection, and have practised 

 it seriously, and that what I state now is not random talk but the 

 result of frequent observation. It happens that I take pleasure 

 in mechanical contrivances ; the simpler of these are thought out 

 by me absolutely without the use of any mental words. Suppose 

 something does not fit ; I examine it, go to my tools, pick out the 

 right ones, and set to work and repair the defect, often without a 

 single word crossing my mind. I can easily go through such a 

 process in imagination, and inhibit any mental word from present- 

 ing itself. It is well known at billiards that some persons play 

 much more "with their heads" than others. I am but an 

 indifferent player ; still, when I do play, I think out the best 

 stroke as well as I can, but not in words. I hold the cue with 

 nascent and anticipatory gesture, and follow the probable course 

 of the ball from cushion to cushion with my eye before I make the 

 stroke, but I say nothing whatever to myself At chess, which 

 I also play indifferently, I usually caculate my moves, but not 

 more than one or two stages ahead, by eye alone. 



Formerly I practised fencing, in which, as in billiards, the 

 " head " counts for much. Though I do not fence now, I can 

 mentally place myself in a fencing position, and then I am intent 

 and mentally mute. I do not see how I could have used mental 



