^i6 



NATURE 



[December 17, 1914 



throughout the country ; in promoting technical 

 education ; in reference to national musical train- 

 ing ; in regard to postal reforms ; in the institu- 

 tion of public examinations for various purposes, 

 and numerous other subjects of public interest. 



In later years the "Cantor" and other lectures 

 by eminent scientific men on all manner of sub- 

 jects have more and more become one of the chief 

 ^elements of the society's well-known usefulness. 



This is made evident by the author, who also 

 "gives accounts of other of the society's manifold 

 activities in various directions, which cannot here 

 be mentioned for want of space. 



It should be added that Lord Sanderson, 

 G.C.B., chairman of the council of the society for 

 the years 1911-1913, contributes an illuminating 

 preface. A. A. Campbell Swinton. 



HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE. 

 Physics of the Household. By Prof. C. J. Lynde. 

 Pp. xi + 313. (New York. The Macmillan Co.; 

 London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 

 5.T. 6d. net. 



THE author of this book is professor of 

 physics in the Macdonald College, an 

 affiliated college of the McGill University, Mon- 

 treal, where a school of household science is one 

 of the branches of the institution, and it is for 

 students of household science that the book is 

 written. It presents the subject of physics in 

 close relation to its domestic applications, and 

 abounds in illustrations and examples of house- 

 hold appliances and processes. It should be of 

 great use to science teachers, especially those who 

 have to teach girls, in reminding them of the 

 range of familiar things and topics of physical 

 interest that lie in the home environment, and 

 that often lie unheeded and unexplained. 



The suitability of the book for students them- 

 selves is, perhaps, more open to discussion, and it 

 is more than likely that it will come under the 

 censure of teachers who are wedded to the con- 

 ventional form of text-book. The chief ground of 

 attack would no doubt be that so far as the 

 general principles of physical science are con- 

 cerned, the elucidation is cramped and obscured 

 by the weight of illustrations of their practical 

 application. To treat the subjects of mechanics, 

 heat, electricity and magnetism, light and sound 

 and their applications in three hundred pages has 

 led to a certain breathlessness of style, and some 

 topics are treated very vaguely. 



The gaps in the knowledge of those in con- 

 trol of the household that are the most con- 

 spicuous and seem to call most loudly for repair, 

 do not relate so much to the design and principles 

 of construction of appliances, as to the conduct 

 NO. 2355, VOL. 94] 



of operations. An increased apprehension of the 

 application of the lever principle or of the con- 

 struction and modus operandi of an electric bell 

 is all to the good, but it is not to be compared 

 with a real live knowledge of the laws of heat 

 and the capability of thinking and acting within 

 them in the great field of household operations to 

 which they apply. It is extraordinary to see the 

 woodenness with which a woman armed with the 

 conventional "heat" of the school or college text- 

 book will face simple problems of heating or cool- 

 ing as they arise in the household. This defect is 

 not to be repaired merely by a rational account 

 of the principles on which heating appliances are 

 constructed. To instil real activity of mind it is 

 necessary to teach in terms of problems with a 

 wide range of experimental exercises. 



For the reasons indicated above, it is fair to 

 say that the value of Prof. Lynde 's book to 

 students must depend very largely on the labora- 

 tory work that accompanies it, and on the con- 

 stant raising of questions and corollaries by the 

 teacher. This, however, is true of most text- 

 books, and it must not lead us to undervalue one 

 that has so large an element of originality and 

 is so likely to be useful. A. S. 



HOG-SPEARS AND FISHING-RODS. 

 (i) Modern Pig-Sticking. By Major A, E. 

 ^^'ardrop. Pp. xii + 304. (London: Mac- 

 millan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price los. net. 

 (2) Fishing and Philandering. By A. Main- 

 waring. Pp. 254. (London : Heath, Granton 

 and Ouseley, Ltd., n.d.) Price 6s. net. 

 (r) VT THAT fox-hunting is to England, pig- 

 VV sticking is to India, with the differ- 

 ence that the latter has that spice of personal 

 danger from attacks on the part of the quarrj- 

 which, to the • regret of many sportsmen, is 

 entirely lacking in the former. Both, too, have 

 nowadays this in common, namely, that in their 

 headquarters they depend to a greater or less 

 degree on protection for their quarry — a fact 

 which may come as a surprise to those un- 

 acquainted with India at the present day, and 

 the great diminution in the numbers of its big 

 game which has taken place in many districts. 

 The headquarters of pig-sticking are the 

 "khadirs," or river-valleys, of the Ganges and 

 Jumna in the respective districts of Meerut and 

 Muttra ; and to old Anglo-Indians who have 

 ridden or shot in the khadir. Major Wardrop's 

 gossipy book will come as a delightful reminis- 

 cence of bygone days. To the newcomer in India 

 it will serve as an incentive to rival the deeds of 

 his predecessors in one of the most noble and 

 exciting of all field-sports. 



