September 30, 191 5] 



NATURE 



113 



of the Mediterranean vegetation and the various 

 plant communities represented in the Riviera. 

 However, brief as it is, this introduction gives a 

 remarkably clear picture of the vegetation, such 

 points as the relations of soils and the striking 

 effects of exposure and shelter being well brought 

 out. Those who hope to visit or revisit this beau- 

 tiful region, when happier times arrive, should 

 have Mr. Thompson's book on Riviera flowering 

 plants. 



TWO HANDBOOKS OF EXPLORATION. 



(i) Stories of Exploration and Discovery. By 

 A. B. Archer. Pp. x+198. (Cambridge: At 

 the University Press, 1915.) Price 25. 6d. net. 

 (2) The North-West and North-East Passages, 

 1576-1611. Edited by P. F. Alexander. Pp. 

 XX + 21 1. (Cambridge : At the University Press, 

 1915.) Price 25. 6d. net. 

 (i) A/fK- ARCHER'S book supplies a short 

 IV J. history of exploration in simple lan- 

 guage. It opens jierhaps a little uncertainly on 

 the importance of the Eastern Mediterranean as 

 the earliest known centre from which knowledge 



of the world was extended outwards. 



'The 



Egyptians used boats on the Nile, and perhaps 

 along the coasts of their country, but probably 

 the first serious navigators were the people of 

 Phoenicia " — this, in the light of recent research 

 concerning early Mediterranean peoples, is not a 

 wholly satisfactory summary. The subsequent 

 chapters are handled more firmly, and the rather 

 difficult task of balancing between topographical 

 correlation and historical sequence is judiciously 

 carried out. The final chapters on modern polar 

 exploration, however, are less successful. They 

 maintain the interest to the student, but some- 

 times a point is missed : thus, it is an unfortunate 

 version of the dramatic encounter between Nansen 

 and Jackson which states that Nansen and Johan- 

 sen " reached the south of Franz Joseph Land, 

 where to their delight a relief ship was waiting." 

 There is a short bibliography of easily-accessible 

 books of reference, and a good index is provided. 

 There are also some rough but sufficiently clear 

 maps, and some clever adaptations of old maps. 



(2) Mr. Alexander's book contains a series of 

 extracts from original narratives of voyages in 

 search of the north-west and north-east passages, 

 together with an explanatory introduction, a 

 chronology of important dates In geographical dis- 

 covery generally, and notes. The extracts are 

 from George Best's account of Frobisher's first 

 and second voyages, from the narratives of Davis's 

 three voyages and of Hudson's last voyage, and 

 from de Veer's account of Barents's third voyage; 

 which is supplemented by an account of the dis- 

 covery, in modern times, of relics of that voyage. 

 NO. 2396, VOL. 96] 



Hakluyt, Purchas, and the Hakluyt Society's 

 second edition of Phillip's translation of de Veer 

 have been drawn upon. The modernising of these 

 texts, so far as necessary, has been carried out 

 without any of the charm of the original being 

 lost. It is this peculiar charm which makes these 

 narratives most attractive to the student for whom 

 these volumes are designed — for it should be added 

 that this book belongs to a series to be known 

 as " Cambridge Travel Books," of which another, 

 "The Earliest Voyages Round the World," is 

 stated to be in the press. The book is excellently 

 produced, and the original illustrations reproduced 

 are as instructive as they are amusing; there are 

 also a few explanatory maps. It can only be a 

 question whether in a book of this compass, de- 

 signed for the purposes indicated, there should not 

 be shorter extracts from more narratives, but no 

 doubt it would be difficult, if not impossible, to 

 carry out such a plan and maintain the interest 

 of the originals. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 

 Aids' to the Analysis and Assay of Ores, Metals, 



Fuels, etc. By J. J. Morgan. 2nd edition. Pp. 



viii4- 138. (London : Bailli^re, Tindall and Cox, 



191 5.) Price, cloth, 35. net; paper, 25. 6d. net. 

 The first edition of this capital little book has been 

 useful to students of evening classes for a number 

 of years, and the appearance of the s,econd editi,on 

 will be welcome to their instructors in metallurgi- 

 cal analysis. The general arrangement is good, 

 and has been maintained unchanged, but the book 

 has been considerably enlarged. In addition to 

 descriptions of the assay of the ores of the com- 

 mon metals and of the complete analysis of com- 

 mercially impure metals, sections are devoted to 

 special steels and other alloys, fuels, furnace 

 materials, and slags. There is also some account 

 of the analysis of the by-products of coke-ovens. 

 The characteristic of the book is that as a rule 

 only one method of determination is given in each 

 case, but the methods are well chosen as having 

 stood the test of time, and the descriptions are 

 concise and accurate. Little is said about appara- 

 tus and reagents; there are few illustrations, and 

 in general the book seems to be intended rather 

 to remind students of what they have been taught 

 than to take the place of laboratory demonstration. 

 In cases where the more expensive standard works 

 on analysis and assaying are inaccessible, this 

 handy volume will be found to take their place 

 with scarcely any disadvantage. It is small 

 enough to slip into the pocket. 

 Alignment Charts: their Principle and Application 



to Engineering Formulae. By E. S. Andrews. 



Pp. 32. (London : Published for James Selwyn 



and Co. by Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) is. 3^. 



net. 

 Alignment charts have been used to some extent 

 by engineers in recent years, and are capable of 

 being employed to a much greater extent. The 



