644 



NA TURE 



[May 20, 1922 



detailed classified description of all minerals likely to 

 be met with in soils. Finally, there is a systematic 

 scheme for the detection and identification of the 

 commoner of such minerals, and a bibliography of 136 

 references. This book and its subject merit the atten- 

 tion of all soil investigators. H. J. P, 



Webbia : Raccolta di scritti botanici. Edita da Prof. 

 U. Martelli. Vol. Quinto, Parte i''. Pp. 355 + xiii 

 plates + maps. (Firenze : Mariano Ricci, 192 1.) 

 The portrait of Odoardo Beccari which serves as 

 frontispiece to the most recent instalment of " Webbia " 

 reminds men of science that the death of that eminent 

 traveller and botanist at the age of 77, on October 20, 

 1920, meant the loss of the chief authority on the 

 natural history of Palms. Much of this part (pp. 5-198) 

 is devoted to two important articles left complete when 

 Beccari died. A " Review of the Old World Cory- 

 phece " is an epitome of the monograph prepared by 

 Beccari for the Annals of the Royal Botanic Garden, 

 Calcutta, in continuation of those on " Asiatic Palms " 

 pubhshed in 1908 and 1911. An account of "The 

 Palms of New Caledonia " is of exceptional interest 

 because the palms of this group of islands, though few 

 in number, are all endemic species. 



In " La Culla del Cocco " (pp. 201-294) Prof. E. 

 Chiovenda reviews the evidence available as to the 

 home of the coco-nut. Historical and ethnological 

 considerations may be adduced in favour of either the 

 Asiatic origin accepted by P. Miller (1752), R. Brown 

 (1818), and A. R. Wallace (1853), or the American 

 origin suggested by von Martins (1840), considered at 

 first by A. de Candolle (1855) to be probable, and 

 regarded by B. Seemann (1873) ^s assured. The 

 taxonomic judgment of von Martins turned the scale in 

 favour of America until Beccari (1877) showed that this 

 judgment was contrary to morphological facts. These 

 facts, indeed, contraindicate an American origin so that 

 Beccari suggested instead a Polynesian one, while A. 

 de Candolle (1883), writing now " with more informa- 

 tion and greater experience," favoured a Malayan 

 rather than an American origin. The renewed ad- 

 vocacy of an American origin by Dr. 0. T. Cook (1900 

 and 1910) left Beccari (1916) indisposed to modify his 

 earlier view. Careful consideration of all the evidence 

 leads Chiovenda to agree with A. de Candolle's later 

 belief. 



" Webbia " since its inception has contained many 

 important results of Beccari's botanical studies, and the 

 editor. Prof. U. Martelli, fittingly concludes this part 

 with a sympathetic " Memoir " (pp. 295-343) of that 

 eminent man of science, to which is appended an in- 

 valuable bibliography (pp. 344-353) of Beccari's con- 

 tributions to botanical literature. 



The Journal of the Institute of Metals. No. 2, 192 1. 

 Vol. xxvi. Edited by G. Shaw Scott. Pp. x + 760 + 

 pi. xxxiv. (London : Institute of Metals, 1921.) 

 315. 6d. net. 

 The growth in size of the half-yearly volumes of the 

 Journal of the Institute of Metals is a striking indica- 

 tion of the increasing attention that is given in this 

 country to the study of the non-ferrous metals. The 

 lecture on the casting of metals by Prof. Turner, which 

 occupies the first place in the present volume, directs 

 attention to the comparative neglect of this important 



NO. 2742, VOL. 109] 



subject of casting by scientific workers, in spite of the 

 high degree of practical skill that has been acquired 

 by foundrymen, proceeding by a method of trial and 

 error. The remaining papers deal with varied 

 questions. A note on the characteristic defect which 

 appears in some bars of extruded brass led to an 

 interesting discussion at the meeting of the Institute, 

 in the course of which laboratory experiments with 

 wax models were cited in illustration of the mode of 

 flow during extrusion. A second note on the casting 

 of brass ingots shows the desirability of an exchange of 

 information between ferrous and non-ferrous metal- 

 lurgists, the device proposed having been long adopted 

 in steel works. Other subjects treated are gun-metal, 

 cold-working, scleroscope hardness, nickel-aluminium- 

 copper alloys, etching methods, and the properties of 

 rolled zinc. An important research by Dr. Hanson 

 and Miss Gayler definitely connects the ageing of 

 duralumin and similar alloys with the varying solu- 

 bility of magnesium silicide in aluminium. The 

 number of abstracts shows an increase on previous 

 years. C. H. D. 



(i) A Short Course in Commercial Arithmetic and 

 Accounts. By A. Risdon Palmer. (Mathematical 

 Series for Schools and Colleges.) Pp. x-i-i7i-fxv. 

 (London : G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 



(2) The Use of Graphs in Commerce and Industry. By 

 A. Risdon Palmer. (Handbooks of Commerce and 

 Finance.) Pp. ix + 47. (London: G. Bell and 

 Sons, Ltd.) 25. net. 



(i) Mr. Palmer's books on the application of ele- 

 mentary mathematics to commerce and industry are 

 a welcome addition to the literature on the subject. 

 His " Short Course " is a brief account of the most 

 important arithmetical methods and processes required 

 in commerce. Those who know Palmer and Stevenson's 

 " Commercial Arithmetic and Accounts " will expect 

 to find the new volume useful and interesting, and 

 they will not be disappointed. There is a touch of 

 real life about most of the chapters, especially that 

 on " The Home Trade " : one only misses the Public 

 Receiver and the creditors' meeting. But are con- 

 tracted methods really used in commercial life ? 



(2) Graphical representation is a useful and important 

 process in industrial and commercial life ; its vogue 

 is increasing, and we have already had the case of a 

 Cabinet Minister using a graph in the House of Commons 

 to illustrate the activity of his department. While 

 the methods are not exactly the same as those used 

 in mathematics as such, the ideas are of course similar. 

 One often wonders whether and how the ordinary 

 newspaper reader understands the diagrams used in 

 connection with price fluctuations or statistical reports. 

 Mr. Palmer's little book will certainly be useful to all 

 who have to deal with such pictorial information : it 

 is indispensable to the business man and economist. 



The book is the third of a series of handbooks of 

 commerce and finance. Co-ordinates are explained 

 and applied to the broken straight-line diagrams used 

 by commercial and other journals, and the rectangle 

 method and the sector method of representation used 

 in books on geography, economics, and commerce^ are 

 then discussed. There are a number of useful exercises. 



S. Brodetsky. 



