56o 



NA TURE 



[April ii, 1901 



end of the book is better thought out, and will suffice for 

 the needs of a popular work. 



A characteristic of the book to which we must take 

 serious exception is the frequent omission of references to 

 passages on which Mr. Day bases his deductions. It is 

 not enough to say " suicide was not discountenanced " 

 (p. 172) ; if the statement is to be fully accredited, all the 

 arguments, with chapter and verse, should be given in 

 full. Moreover, we cannot congratulate Mr. Day on his 

 attempt to provide us with a translation superior to that 

 of the Authorised Version of the words 'a^^r^/A d'bhdrim, 

 or of I. Sam. ii. 8 ; the former he renders by " the Ten 

 Words," a most infelicitous choice of the meanings of 

 ddbhdr open to him, while the latter is translated " He 

 taketh the needy from the city-dump" (p. 144) ; surely the 

 old English word "dunghill" is not too outspoken for a 

 popular book? Again, we must protest against such 

 barbarisms as " pled " for " pleaded " (p. 28) ; " demonic " 

 for " demoniac " (p. 56) ; " a few nearby men " (p. 62) ; and 

 " he was the power back of nature " (p. 88) ; or such a 

 hybrid as " David ben Jesse " (p. 63). We could wish, too, 

 that Mr. Day's thirst after " local colour " (p. 225) had not 

 led him to describe Samson as "being peculiarly suscep- 

 tible to female charms" (p. 53) ; or his labours as " deeds 

 of a purely personal character, in which a man of great 

 strength got a little needed exercise, and at the same 

 time revenged himself upon his personal enemies" (p. 66) ; 

 or to refer to the rich of Samaria as " wealthy nabobs " 

 (p. 102). The use of modern colloquialisms is unpar- 

 donable in all descriptions of Biblical events, challenging, 

 as they do, the classic English of the Authorised Version. 

 What can be said in defence of the following : " It is 

 probable that the star-gazing of the society belles of 

 Jerusalem, a Babylonian importation, was, like similar 

 attempts to acclimate (!) foreign cults, in the nature of a 

 fad, as was charioteering in the capital in the days of 

 Absalom and Adonijah " (p. 116), or, " It was a long way 

 ... from the city-dump to a seat among the nobles of 

 the land ; but Yahweh knew thfe way " (p. 1 5 1 ) ? Moreover, 

 we are not by any means convinced that the " modern 

 picnic" (p. 45) is the survival of the ancient sacrificial 

 feast, even with the limitation " though seldom of such an 

 exclusive character." It is a great pity that Mr. Day has 

 thought fit to include such colloquialisms as the above 

 in a work on which he has evidently spent time and care. 

 We think, however, that he has not made the most of 

 his opportunities. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 The Table of British Strata. By Dr. H, Woodward and 



Mr. H. B. Woodward. (London : Dulau and Co., 



1901.) 

 This table will be welcome to students and teachers, for 

 the existing charts are now quite out of date. To compilfe 

 such is a laborious and somewhat thankless task, for it 

 is impossible to please every one ; indeed, the authors 

 admit that in two respects, retaining the Permian in the 

 Palaeozoic and placing the Wealden in the Jurassic, they 

 " seek to assert general rather than individual opinion." 

 As to the former, the question seems to be largely one of 

 locality ; but in the latter we should have preferred 

 the conservative side, at any rate till better cause is 

 shown for the change ; especially since it has led to the 

 virtual suppression of the Neocomian as a system. For 

 the same reason we are glad to see the Tremadoc group 

 NO. 1 64 1, VOL. 63] 



left in the Cambrian system. The latter they allow to 

 be an important geological system, though we should 

 have liked to see the alternative title, " Primordial 

 Silurian," entirely suppressed, for it is commemorative of 

 nothing less than an unwarrantable usurpation. The 

 authors include the Solva Beds of St. Davids with the 

 Menevian, which no doubt is justified by the presence of 

 Paradoxides ; but in that case too small a thickness is 

 assigned to the system, for this addition would make 

 it at St. Davids over two thousand feet. Remembering 

 its importance on the Continent, we should have ventured 

 to exalt Rhsetic, thin as it may be in Britain, to the 

 dignity of a system, and we think that over much impor- 

 tance is conceded to the subdivisions of the Tertiary 

 series. Are theThanet Sands or the Oldhaven Beds — not 

 to mention others — more important than the Lower Cal- 

 careous Grit or the Stonesfield Slate ? Yet we find the 

 former among Formations and the latter in Subdivisions. 

 Does not the statement that the glacial deposits contain 

 only derived fossils beg a disputed question? It would 

 be well to add " slates " to the economic products of 

 Charnwood, for the " honestone," which is mentioned, is 

 very local. A notable feature is the recognition as forma- 

 tion of Torridonian, Uriconian, Dalradian and Lewisian 

 in the Archaean rocks, though some objection may be 

 taken to the third name, on the ground that as originally 

 defined it was a much too heterogeneous assemblage, 

 and we may doubt whether the Moine schists, having 

 regard to their history, form a good type. These 

 criticisms, however, affect only points of detail, and some 

 may even regard them as excellences, while as to the 

 general excellence of the table and its high value to 

 students there cannot be the slightest question. 



Differential and Integral Calculus for Beginners. By 

 Edwin Edser, A.R.C.S. Pp. vi 4- 253. (London : 

 Nelson and Sons, 1901.) 



This is a book written to supply the wants of students ia 

 advanced physics who require some knowledge of the 

 calculus to enable them to read treatises on physical 

 science, but who have not time to devote to a thorough 

 study of higher mathematics. It is the outcome of a 

 series of articles printed some time ago in the pages of 

 the Practical Teacher. Most of the text-books which 

 have been written on the subject of the calculus treat it 

 too fully, and deal with examples of too complex and 

 difficult a character to be really suited to the needs of 

 students, who chiefly want the calculus to enable them to 

 understand the theory of comparatively simple experi- 

 mental problems in mechanics and physics. The present 

 little book is one of several that have been written in 

 recent years with the object of supplying this want. The 

 author has treated the subject in a very simple manner, 

 and does not assume the reader to have more mathema- 

 tical skill than is involved in a familiar knowledge 

 of elementary algebra and geometry. The opening 

 chapter deals with the elements of coordinate geometry, 

 and explains the nature of the circular and exponential 

 functions sufficiently to render it needless for the ordinary 

 student to refer to other books. This is further ensured 

 by* the addition of an appendix dealing with trigono- 

 metrical ratios and formulae. Two chapters are spent on 

 the differentiation of simple and complex functions, two 

 others on maxima and minima and expansions, and two 

 more on simple integrations by direct and special methods. 

 This is followed by a section devoted to applications to 

 problems in geometry, mechanics and, more especially, in 

 physics. The final chapters deal with double and triple 

 integration and simple differential equations. 



In general the book is well written, and suitable for 

 beginners, A good feature is the introduction of several 

 numerical problems. The subject in this way is more 

 vividly brought to the student's mind than when the 

 examples, as is ordinarily the case, begin and end in 





