January 13, 191 6] 



NATURE 



53S 



and dangerous to indicate in a book of this sort 

 the habitats of plants in the increasing- rarity and 

 threatened extermination of which teachers and 

 students of elementary botany have undoubtedly 

 assisted. At this date, too, it is ridiculous to 

 retain the old plan of inserting- the ConifercU in 

 the Dicotyledons, calling the vascular crypto- 

 grams " Acotyledons," and so forth. 



(3) This pleasant book on the Surrey hills 

 is rather of literary than scientific interest, 

 but nevertheless it oug-ht to be in the hands of 

 all who visit this attractive region with the 

 primary object of studying its flora and fauna. 

 Such readers will find much of the book of real 

 service as a guide to the topography, even 

 though it is only casually interpolated in the 

 author's entertaining chat concerning past and 

 present dwellers in what is, unfortunately, rapidly 

 becoming suburb rather than countryside. 



(4) This book also, though dealing with quite 

 another aspect of country life, is scarcely of 

 scientific interest ; in fact, as the author tells us, 

 the reader who consults these pages for scientific 

 information does so at his peril, though he will 

 certainly find much of interest concerning various 

 aspects of farming. The book is cast in the form 

 of a diary, dealing with all kinds of farm work 

 at different seasons of the year. Though written 

 in a racy and humorous style, the book contains 

 a vast amount of information which will prove of 

 interest and value to a wide circle of readers, 

 but more particularly so to those who, like the 

 author himself, are looking forward to the in- 

 evitable land-hunger which will be one of the 

 results of the present war, and will surely 

 force a solution of the land problem. " Back to 

 the land " is the author's text, and his experi- 

 ences, as here related, will undoubtedly be help- 

 ful to others who are thinking of going back to 

 the land. 



(5) The purpose of this book is indicated in 

 the title; and so practical and thorough is the 

 author's treatment of his subject that it cannot 

 fail to be of value to all who are interested in 

 the planning of suburban gardens and home sur- 

 roundings in general. Even those who cannot 

 begin at the beginning, but must make the best 

 of what the builder has done, will find here many 

 useful hints regarding the laying out and plant- 

 ing of lawns and gardens, the kinds of trees, 

 shrubs, and herbaceous plants' to choose, etc. 

 Some striking photographs are given to illustrate 

 the manner in which well-built and pleasantly 

 situated houses of moderate size may be rendered 

 more attractive, and even ugly and ill-placed 

 houses beautified, by following out the schemes 

 set forth in detail by the author. F. C. 



NO. 2/11 1, vol.. cfil 



OUR BdOKSHELF: ' 



Elementary Practical Metallurgy for Technical 



Students and Others. By J. ^H. Stansbie. 



Pp. viii + 151 (London: J. and A. Churchill, 



1915.) Price 35. 6d. net. 

 Lauoratory courses for metallurgical students 

 have often in practice consisted merely of instruc- 

 tion in assaying. The needs of evening students 

 attending technical classes are not, however, met 

 by such courses, and a complete change from the 

 old methods is observable in most schools. Mr. 

 Stansbie has found at the Birmingham Municipal 

 Technical School that students desire only so much 

 practical instruction as will give them an insight 

 into the properties of the metals in which they are 

 interested. Several special courses were gradually 

 developed to meet the requirements of the various 

 metal trades, and this book is put together from 

 the laboratory notes of these courses. It offers 

 sufficient scope for practical work in general 

 metallurgy extending over the evenings of two 

 years and leading up to the higher stages. 



There is little in this admirable little book to 

 which exception can be taken. It is a good piece 

 of work, and will be very useful to teachers and 

 students of evening technical classes, for whom it 

 is primarily intended. Experiments are described 

 on fuel, refractory materials, slags, fluxes, the 

 formation and reduction of oxides and sulphides, 

 and on the common metals. The last chapter de- 

 scribes the assay of gold and silver. The section 

 on mechanical testing is particularly well done. 

 If the student has previously passed through a 

 course in elementary chemistry, he will find no 

 diflficulty in understanding the experimental work 

 which he is asked to do. 



An Introduction to Ethics for Training Colleges. 

 By G. A. Johnston. Pp. x + 254. (London: 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1915.) Price 35. net. 



Morality of some sort, from the most ideal to 

 the mere " reach-me-down " variety, has been in- 

 directly taught in schools ever since schools be- 

 came an institution. But, like the morality which 

 is taught by all experience, to the primitive as 

 well as to the civilised member of society, such 

 instruction is founded in group-morality, which 

 varies with climate, epoch, and other phases of 

 environment. The various systems of theological 

 morality are not to be excluded from the genus 

 of group. When an attempt is made towards 

 absolutism, whether by the a priori or the com- 

 parative method, we have ethical "science," the 

 " moral philosophy "• of European mental tradi- 

 tion. Ethics is actually a subject in French 

 schools, a fact probably due to the logical bias 

 of the French intellect. There is also a tendency 

 now towards a moral entente between the 

 different interests and racial features of the world. 

 Mr. G. A. Johnston's very complete little 

 volume, designed for those who will teach in 

 elementary schools, aims very sensibly at a 

 psychological answer to the instructional problerh 

 as it is presented to-day. Every moral influence 



