362 



NATURE 



[December 3, 1914 



interesting is the fact that practically all subse- 

 quent educational reformers have been the intel- 

 lectual heirs of the French iconoclast, such as 

 Pestalozzi, Fellenbergf, Froebel, Herbart, and 

 Montessori. While giving prominence to the 

 evolution of education in America, Prof. Graves 

 does not neglect this or other countries, and his 

 account of the German experiments at Neuhof, 

 Konigsberg, and Keilhan is detailed. He has an 

 interesting chapter on the introduction in recent 

 years of scientific subjects into curricula, and 

 another on the application of psychological results 

 to the methods of education. The book includes 

 an excellent selected bibliography, very useful in 

 view of the enormous literature of the subject. 



{5) The series of scientific and mathematical 

 handbooks edited by Dr. Norrenberg is an en- 

 cyclopaedia for teachers. The fifth volume, on 

 methods of instruction in natural history, by 

 Prof. Schoenichen, of Posen, contains more than 

 six hundred pages, crammed with detailed advice 

 and facts. The author attempts, with success, to 

 cover the whole ground of zoology, botany, and 

 biology generally as an educational subject, and 

 from the teacher's point of view. From psycho- 

 logical pedagogy to gardens and vivaria, he omits 

 nothing that can come into the ken of the school- 

 master. Courses are laid down for the various 

 classes in the Gymnasium, the Real-gymnasium, 

 and the Real and Oberrealschule. The sugges- 

 tions about methods of drawing, and those on 

 excursions and collecting are excellent. A notable 

 feature is the description of models, their manu- 

 facture and use. 



Fas est et ab hoste doceri ; the book is a triumph 

 of method. A. E. Crawley. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



The Rubber Industry in Brazil and the Orient. 

 By C. E. Akers. Pp. xv + 320. (London: 

 Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1914.) 6s. net. 

 Mr. Akers contrasts in this book the unscientific, 

 and unbusinesslike, rubber-collecting industry of 

 Brazil with the rubber-planting enterprises of the 

 British and Dutch East Indies, which are con- 

 ducted on more or less scientific lines and with 

 the commercial skill and acumen which dis- 

 tinguishes the two peoples concerned with these 

 East Indian Colonies. 



Compared with their competitors in the East, 

 the rubber producers in Brazil have one great 

 advantage — their trees are mature and in their 

 natural habitat. This advantage is believed to 

 account for the general opinion that Brazilian 

 Para rubber is better than the plantation 

 article from the East Indies. Many com- 

 petent judges maintain that this advantage 

 is illusory, and that properly-prepared East 

 Indian plantation Rubber, from well-established 



NO. 2353, VOL. 94] 



trees of fair age, is just as good as "fine hard 

 Para," and that the premium obtained by the 

 latter in the markets is the result of conservative 

 prejudice on the part of manufacturers. However 

 that may be, the advantage, supposing it is real, 

 is bound to disappear, in view of the increasing 

 age of the plantations in Ceylon and Malaya, and 

 the untiring efforts of the planters there to im- 

 prove and unify their methods of preparation. 



In all other respects, such as cost and efficiency 

 of labour, good administration and government, 

 business skill and foresight, and last, but not 

 least, the realisation of the necessity for scientific 

 and technical research, the advantages lie with 

 the East Indian producers, and Mr. Akers makes 

 it clear that unless there is a drastic change in 

 the conditions of working in Brazil, the rubber 

 industry ^there is bound to disappear in the face 

 of the competition of the East Indian plantations. 



Mr. Akers probably records little that is new 

 to rubber planters, but his book is none the less 

 interesting on that account, and it can be cordially 

 recommended to all who are interested in the 

 development of this great industry, in which 

 British enterprise and technical skill have played 

 so large a part. 



The Beginner's Garden Book: a Text-book for 

 the Upper Grammar Grades. By A. French. 

 Pp. viii + 402. (New York: The Macmillan 

 Company ; London : Macmillan and Co. , Ltd. , 

 1914.) Price 45. 6d. net. 

 There is always much to learn from an American 

 teacher of a rural subject. The science may be 

 superficial, yet he manages to get his students to 

 think about their work and to find reasons for 

 the way in which the work is done. This book is 

 a case in point. It takes the form of an address 

 by a teacher of school gardening to boys engaged 

 in the cultivation of school gardens. The Ameri- 

 can origin of the book little interferes with its use 

 in this country. The English is almost free from 

 Americanisms, and the cultivation of all our more 

 commonly grown vegetables and flowers is de- 

 scribed. The treatment of fruit culture and bas- 

 tard trenching is inadequate, and grafting and 

 budding are not even mentioned, but, on the other 

 hand, several matters are dealt with that do not 

 often find a place in gardening manuals. The 

 chapters on the saving of seed and on gardening 

 under glass are excellent. A good deal of garden- 

 ing can be learnt by merely looking at the numer- 

 ous illustrations. 



An Introduction to Geology. By C. I. Gardiner. 



Pp. xiv+186. (London: G. Bell and Sons, 



Ltd., 1914.) Price 25. 6d. 

 Mr. Gardiner is well known as a field-observer, 

 and has .added largely, both by himself and with 

 Prof. S. H. Reynolds, to our knowledge of 

 Silurian areas. He now attracts others to his 

 favourite studies by a clearly written introduction 

 to geology, which will be of especial interest to 

 dwellers in the English midlands. General prin- 

 ciples are supported by more detail than is usual in 

 elementary works, and this method carries convic- 



