2.^0 



NATURE 



[October 29, 1914 



beauty of calla-lilics, heaths, poppies, and ferns ; 

 the likeness between frost-flowers on the window- 

 pane and the snow-laden forest-trees ; the flower- 

 like corals; the individuality of shells; the ex- 

 quisiteness of hidden organic architecture ; the 

 conscious beauty of Argus pheasant and bird of 

 paradise ; and much more besides. Who is suffi- 

 cient for all these things? The pages are too 

 crowded to do full justice to the various pictures, 

 the table of the beauty-feast is overloaded, but 

 no one can fail to get an impression of subtle 

 and exuberant beauty. The text accompanying 

 the album consists of two essays. The first is 

 by Haeckel, entitled, "Nature as Artist," and in 

 it the veteran expounds his theory of a "plastic 

 instinct " in protoplasm. Every organic product 

 arises in accordance with physical and chemical 

 laws, but it is none the less an expression of the 

 "cell-soul." Many naturalists have said the 

 same thing in difterent words ! The second 

 essay is by Dr. W. Breitenbach and deals with 

 the universality of beauty in nature, its manifold 

 expression, and the enrichment of human life 

 which it may afford. 



(9) We have nothing but praise for the 

 Regional Survey which has been compiled and 

 published by the Bournemouth Natural Science 

 Society under the able editorship of Sir Daniel 

 Morris. It is a model of what such a book should 

 be — dealing with the topography, geology, 

 zoology, and botany of the district, and not for- 

 getting the works of man, both past and present. 

 The society is to be congratulated on having so 

 many members able to co-operate competently 

 in a work of this kind ; and those who have the 

 good fortune to reside in an area with so many 

 interesting features are to be congratulated on 

 the possession of this excellent aid to a fuller 

 appreciation of their opportunities. 



(10) Prof. Bastian Schmid has done a useful 

 piece of work in compiling a manual on the 

 technique of natural science, and he deserves our 

 thanks. The book had, of course, to be writtfen 

 co-operatively, for only experts could deal effec- 

 tively with the great variety of technical methods 

 now in use in nature study in the wide sense. 

 Prof. H. Poll deals with zoological microscopy. 

 Dr. H. Fischer with botanical microscopy, in- 

 cluding bacteriological and mycological methods, 

 Prof. P. Claussen with experiments in vegetable 

 physiology. Prof. R. Rosemann with methods in 

 animal physiology, Dr. C. Wagler with hydro- 

 biology, Dr. O. Steche with collecting and pre- 

 serving insects, Dr. Paul Kammerer with collect- 

 ing molluscs and vertebrates. Prof. Schoeler 

 with herbaria. Prof. B. Wandolleck with preserv- 

 ing animals and setting them up, Prof. F. Urban 

 with vivaria. Dr. P. Esser with school-gardens, 

 Dr. H. Fischer with the microscope. Prof. B. 

 Wandolleck with photography, Prof. R. Fricke 

 with excursions, the editor with practical arrange- 

 ments and devices in schools and colleges, Dr. 

 A. Berg with geological school-collections, and 

 Prof. Bock with the care and appreciation of what 

 is beautiful and instructive in open nature. The 

 result of this collaboration is a very remarkable 



■Kfr\ o -» /1 8 Trr^T r\A\ 



and valuable book which ought to be utilised by 

 those teachers of natural science who wish to 

 make their instruction more effective. Where 

 we have been able to test the work, we "have found 

 it to be altogether to the point — detailed, precise, 

 and up to date. 



(11) Drs. B. Schmid and C. Thesing have made 

 a brave attempt to combine a Who's Who in 

 Biology, a directory of institutes, gardens, and 

 technicians, an obituary, a list of the most im- 

 portant recent biological publications, and a 

 number of short essays dealing with present-dav 

 problems. It is the first issue, and we sym- 

 pathise with the editorial appeal for suggestions 

 rather than criticisms. We would suggest that 

 the editors should re-cast their net. A list of 

 contemporary biologists which omits Bateson, 

 Delage, Wilson (to take an instance from each 

 of three countries), obviously requires revision, 

 and the same remark applies to the pages devoted 

 to the almost impossible task of giving a list 

 of the most important publications. The biblio- 

 graphies of the works of not a few of the 

 biologists, are much in need of pruning: others, 

 such as Sir Ray Lankester's, are as much in need 

 of being brought nearer completeness. The intro- 

 ductory essays on bird-marking, symbiosis, 

 phenology, natural science in schools, problems 

 of modern zoology, microscopic technique, and 

 the like are admirable. As the calendar makes 

 for co-ordination, we wish it success. 



THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 

 AUGUST 21, 1914. 



(i) The Royal Observatory Eclipse Expedition 

 TO Minsk, Russia. 



THE programme of observations of the Royal 

 Observatory Eclipse Expedition to Minsk, 

 Russia, was in the main the same as that planned 

 for the Brazilian eclipse in 191 2, but which rain 

 had prevented from being carried out. The in- 

 struments comprised : (i) the Thompson corona- 

 graph, consisting of a lens of 9 in. aperture and 

 of 8 ft. 6 in. focal length, in conjunction with a 

 Dallmeyer negative enlarger, giving an equivalent 

 focal length of 36 ft., for the purpose of taking 

 large-scale photographs of the corona, on a scale 

 of 4 in. to the sun's diameter. (2) Two telescopes 

 of 6 in. aperture, and of focal lengths 2 ft. 3 in., 

 and 6 ft. 6 in. respectively, used in conjunction 

 with green colour filters (Wratten and Wain- 

 wright's mercury monochromat), which let 

 through a band in the green in the region of the 

 coronium line A. 5303, the object of these being to 

 obtain evidence as to the presence and distribu- 

 tion of coronium in the corona. In order to 

 disperse such continuous light from the corona 

 as the filter transmitted, a prism was placed 

 before each object glass. (3) The Hills' quartz 

 spectrograph for obtaining the ultra-violet spec- 

 trum of the flash and of the corona. For (i) and 

 (2) 16 in. coelostats were used, and for (3) a 

 coelostat with a 9-in. speculum mirror, in com- 

 bination with a speculum condensing mirror. 

 Provision was also made for obtaining iron arc 



