694 



NATURE 



[February 25, 191 5 



land do not know the difference. Here are three 



consecutive quotations illustrating- "The Spring 



Migration and Spring Song " : — 



And new-come birds each morning sing. 



(Lowell.) 

 Two feathered guests from Alabama, two together. 



(Whitman.) 

 And warmed the pinions of the early bird. 



(Thoreau.) 



We will leave our readers to make their own 

 comments. There are a vast number of quota- 

 tions like these, which seem to be stirred in at 

 random. We believe Prof. Martin's countrymen 

 have a prejudice against Greek, but in our opinion 

 his book would have gained enormously in interest 

 and value if he had included some Greek quota- 

 tions, or at least translations of them. For 

 instance, Homer's passage on the nightingale is 

 even liner than Virgil's. (See Odyssey xix., 518.) 

 But " a detailed study of the birds in the Eng- 

 lish poets is, perhaps, our most immediate need " 

 (Preface, p. i). Prof. Martin may be glad to see 

 our own Laureate at his best in "Nightin- 

 gales " : — 



Alone, aloud in the raptured ear of men 



We pour our dark nocturnal secret; and then. 



As night is withdrawn, 

 From these sweet-springing meads and bursting 



boughs of May, 

 Dream, while the innumerable choir of da}' 



Welcome the dawn. 



We gladly acknowledge that Prof. Martin has 

 done a great deal of hard spadework which will 

 serve as a foundation for future writers. He has 

 written a modest, honest, and very painstaking 

 book, displaying a German thoroughness which we 

 should like to have seen turned to better account. 

 Many of his American quotations are extremely 

 pretty, and it is a pity that his gold should suffer 

 from contact with so much dross. Work of this 

 kind should be done, as he confesses in his pre- 

 face, " preferably by a native, on the ground ; and 

 it may well be the task of some future Thoreau 

 or Burroughs." T. F. Royds. 



FACTORY ECONOMICS. 

 The Modern Factory, Safety, Sanitation, and 

 Weljare. By Dr. G. M. Price. (New York : 

 John W^iley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chapman 

 and Hall, Ltd, 1914.) Price 175. net. 



DR. PRICE has been for some years the 

 Director of the Joint Board of Sanitary 

 Control in the mantle, costume, and blouse in- 

 dustries in the United States, a new experiment 

 in the sanitary control of an industry by organised 

 employers, organised workers, and representatives 

 of the public. He was also director of the Inves- 

 tigations of the New York State Factory Com- 

 mission in 1912 and 1913, and his previous ex- 

 Nn. '2^^<i.. VOL. qa1 



perience as a sanitary inspector and as practitioner 

 in a crowded section of the East End of New 

 York entitles him to speak with authority on the 

 close relation between factory conditions and 

 industrial health. His book is one which should 

 especially commend itself to employers, his clear 

 style and practical knowledge enabling him to 

 dispense with the technical terms which so fre- 

 quently deter business men from profiting by 

 scientific studies of health conditions. 



The chapter on the rise, growth, and influence 

 of the factory is as good as any history of all 

 industries in all countries in all times contained 

 in thirty-eight pages can possibly be. The co- 

 incidence of a great increase of population in 

 England with an alleged increase in occupational 

 mortality, both due to the same cause, does not 

 receive either here or anywhere else the attention 

 it deserves. 



The rest of the volume has the freshness and 

 originality which only practical knowledge can 

 give. In a short notice it is only possible to 

 direct attention to the wealth of detailed examina- 

 tion of means of improving factory conditions, 

 and to give a few quotations bearing on questions 

 of pressing importance in the United Kingdom. 



With reference to underground bakeries and 

 other employment in cellars. Dr. Price concludes : 

 "Cellars cannot be kept clean as other parts off 

 the house, for they are semi-dark, contain most 

 of the plumbing pipes and fixtures, and are, as a 

 rule, the dumping-ground of the whole house. 

 Cellars are also the natural habitation of insects, 

 rodents, etc., and are also in proximity to breeding- 

 places of flies, which are attracted to the food- 

 stuffs " (p. 50). 



The desirability of paying attention, to beauty 

 in architecture is urged, but rather from the point 

 of view of the community living in the neighbour- 

 hood than of the worker. It must be remembered 

 that money spent on front gardens and outsides 

 of factories does not necessarily guarantee even 

 good surroundings for the workers inside. 



Fifty-seven pages with twenty-two illustrations 

 are devoted to the causes and prevention of factory 

 fires. The chapter on factory accidents and safety 

 contains 103 pages and eighty-one illustrations. 

 The estimates quoted of accidents in the United 

 States (pp. 133-4) will not bear cross-examination 

 and would be better omitted. The chapter itself 

 is of the highest value. Attention should be paid 

 to the section on accidents due to the physical 

 unfitness of workers : " Not only should there be 

 a routine physical examination of every worker m 

 every establishment before employment, but there 

 should be a periodical examination not less than 

 once in three months, by competent medical men, 



