January 17, 19 18] 



NATURE 



o^o 



such g-iiidance one looks to Rothamsted, and the 

 rapidity with which a second edition of Dr. Rus- 

 sell's little treatise on manuring- has been called 

 for is the best evidence of the success with which 

 he has discharged his obligation. In the briefest 

 <:ompass he gives the clearest possible guidance 

 to the practice of manuring, illustrated throughout 

 by what is probably the most complete summary 

 extant of the results of manurial experiments car- 

 ried out in this country. The previous edition has 

 been considerably amplified and a very brief chap- 

 ter added on the breakings up of grassland. 



SIR CLEMENTS MARKHAM. 



The Life of Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., 

 F.R.S. By Admiral Sir A. H. Markham. Pp. 

 xi + 384. (London: John Murray, 1917.) Price 

 155. net. 



IT is not often that the story of a notable life is 

 told by a biographer who is at once sympa- 

 thetic and impartial. Admiral Sir Albert Markham, 

 the author of the work under review, is not merely 

 •closely related to the subject of the memoir, but 

 was his warm and constant friend. Yet he tells 

 hi.s story with the straight simplicity which seems 

 specially to distinguish naval writers, and he leaves 

 his readers to form their own conclusions. Therein 

 lies tlie greatest charm of the book, for we can 

 well construct for ourselves from the incidents of 

 a life overflowing with energ-y and achievement 

 the character of a man who enriched the world by 

 many of those " footprints on the sands of time " 

 ■which serve as indications and guides in the path 

 of generations to come. 



I The opening chapters of the book are devoted to 



the career of young Clements whilst he served as 

 cadet and midshipman in the Royal Navy. Inci- 

 dentally, there is much interesting history of the 

 g-radual extension of our geographical knowledge 

 of the Pacific towards the end of last century, and 

 a very clear conception is given of life in a 

 wooden-sided sailing-ship of the latest and 

 smartest class which preceded the introduction of 

 steam, just about the time when steam was begin- 

 ning to assert a preponderating- influence on naval 

 construction. All this is told with the loving- in- 

 terest of a blue-water sailor, and it is easy to 

 -gather from the story how the foundations were 

 then laid of that deep admiration and reverence 

 for the Royal Navy which towards the end of Sir 

 ■Clements Markham 's career amounted almost to 

 infatuation. In the sailor boy, too, we can mark 

 the germs of the mature character of the man. 

 Full of generous impulse, which landed him now 

 and then in serious difficulty (as when he rushed 

 "headlong, without even the preliminary knock at 

 the door, into the sacred precincts of his captain's 

 cabin to protest against the flog-ging of a man who 

 had been twice convicted of drunkenness), he 

 finally decided to forsake a career of adventure 

 which he really loved for the prosaic prospects of 

 a life on land, because of a mistaken notion that 

 discipline and fair play could not be reconciled. 

 His persistent adherence to that decision, from 

 which no persuasions of his family and many 

 friends could shake him, was quite characteristic 

 NO. 2516, VOL. 100] 



of his subsequent attitude in circumstances which 

 occurred not infrequently when his opinions on 

 more important matters were questioned by those 

 who worked with him in the interests of scientific 

 geography. The word "obstinate" has occasion- 

 ally been whispered of him ; but it is not always 

 easy to say where the line is to be drawn between 

 the firmness which may be essential to the suc- 

 cessful issue of an important scheme and the un- 

 yielding attitude of the autocrat. 



Undoubtedly Sir Clements was able, by reason 



of his determination and his forceful character, to 



carry through schemes for exploration in regions 



of the world where no economic gain could be 



expected in return for great expenditure, and 



i the whole object of research was purely 



j scientific, which would never have matured in the 



I hands of a more feeble advocate. There are some 



I thrilling accounts of Arctic adventure in the book, 



which is, perhaps, most interesting in these earlier 



I chapters devoted to the moulding of the Markham 



i character. 



The author succeeds in carrying our sympathies 

 with his subject from his earliest years of adven- 

 ture in the fields of exploration and literature (the 

 young Clements wrote a book on astronomy and 

 physical geography at the age of thirteen !) until 

 the pitiful tragedy of his death occurred, without 

 ever drawing on any idealistic resources of his 

 own. Full justice is done to the noble qualities of 

 the man. His warm-hearted enthusiasm for the 

 supremacy of his country in the wide field of 

 exploration, and his devotion to historical and geo- 

 graphical literature which resulted in the publica- 

 tion of much valuable information which might 

 otherwise have been lost to the world, are easily 

 to be gathered from the pages of this biography. 

 His kindly nature (which won him hosts of 

 friends), his ready assistance to those who wanted 

 it; his life-long interest in all that might benefit 

 humanity, which included the acquisition for Eng- 

 land of that life-giving remedy for tropical fevers, 

 cinchona, after a difficult and perhaps dangerous 

 quest for the seeds and plants in Peru — all these 

 things combined to illustrate a character which is 

 perhaps unique in these days, and fully deserves 

 the permanent record which has been so ably ren- 

 dered by Admiral Sir Albert Markham. 



As a rule, biographies written by relatives are 

 accepted with a certain amount of justifiable sus- 

 picion. There need be no such suspicion in this 

 case. No one who had the privilege of friendship 

 with the subject of these memoirs will sav that 

 there is a word too much of uncalled-for adulation. 

 It is a fair record all through and a most interest- 

 ing story. T. H. H. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



Food Poisomne. By Edwin O. Jordan. Pp. 



viii-i-iT5. (Chicago, 111.: University of 



Chicago Press : London : Cambridge University 



Press, 1917.) Price i dollar or 4,^. net. 



This little book gives an excellent summary of the 



subject of food poisoning. It is not within its 



scope to consider those cases in which definite 



poisonous substances are added to food with 



