36 



NATURE 



[March ii, 1920 



More than fifty excellent black-and-white maps, 

 most of which show relief, and as many finely 

 reproduced illustrations add considerably to the 

 value of the book. One or two small points might 

 be corrected in the next edition. The number of 

 emigrants entering Asiatic Russia was scarcely 

 250,000 a year immediately before the war. The 

 figure given for Siberia on p. 264 is much too high. 

 It would be more correct to say that the Kara 

 Sea is navigable for two months than that it is 

 ice-free for that period. The railways to Kuznetsk 

 and Minusinsk should be noted. The use of a 

 volume like this must result in raising the standard 

 of geographical teaching, and, incidentally, in 

 justifying full attention to the subject in the school 

 curriculum. 



Submarine Warfare of To-day. By Lieut. Charles 

 W. Domville-Fife. (Science of To-day Series.) 

 Pp. 304. (London: Seeley, Service, and Co., 

 Ltd., 1920.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 

 The Allied peoples, to whom the defeat of the 

 German submarine campaign has meant so much, 

 cannot fail to be interested in the means by which 

 that defeat was consummated. Hitherto they 

 have had to rely on scraps of information — per- 

 haps true, perhaps not — whispered in the ear or 

 appearing furtively in the Press. An urgent 

 demand undoubtedly exists for a comprehensive 

 statement of the case. Lieut. Domville-Fife has 

 given us that — and more. His book is full of 

 romance as well as of facts. The victory over the 

 submarine was won, not by any sovereign remedy 

 for their depredations, or by a single weapon 

 invincible in attacking them, but by the cumula- 

 tive effect of a multitude of devices, each itself 

 imperfect, but employed systematically and in spite 

 of numerous failures. To which must be added- — 

 and the author gives this its proper proportion by 

 telling actual incidents in a fine literary style — the 

 bravery and pertinacity of the' men on the ships. 



The only criticism which is permissible is that 

 the book is somewhat lacking in detailed descrip- 

 tion of the instruments used — the directional 

 hydrophone, for example. Possibly this omission 

 is due to the continued maintenance of official 

 secrecy in such matters. This probably also 

 accounts for the lack of all reference to certain 

 new devices which were used with considerable 

 effect, or to the development of others which will 

 in future render the action of the submarine 

 increasingly difficult. 



Hidden Treasure : The Story of a Chore Boy who 



Made the Old Farm Pay. By J. T. Simpson. 



Pp- 303- (Philadelphia and London : J. B. Lip- 



pincott Co., n.d.) Price 6s. net. 



Mr. Simpson has woven many of the features of 



modern farming into a story of an American 



college youth who went to a Pennsylvanian farm 



owned by a very conservative uncle just about to 



marry and set up housekeeping. The young man's 



suggestions for improvements are received with 



the usual incredulity, the uncle even declining to 



oil the wheels of the grindstone, because he has 



NO. 2628, VOL. 105] 



never done it before. But before the onslaught 

 of the boy's "git up and git," and the insistence 

 of the up-to-date wife, the uncle's prejudices slowly 

 break down, and in one way and another the old 

 run-out farm is gradually improved. New con- 

 crete buildings are put in, the tractor is intro- 

 duced, the dairy herd is improved, and in course 

 of time the farm becomes a completely modern 

 establishment. The young man receives his 

 reward ; the local banker becomes interested in 

 him, a desirable farm falls vacant, and in 

 chap. xiii. (ominously enough) an eligible young 

 woman turns up equipped with brown eyes and 

 shy glances, and although the recorded conversa- 

 tions all relate to agricultural improvements, the 

 perspicacious reader will have no difficulty in fore- 

 casting the end. 



Flora of the Presidency of Madras, By J. S. 



Gamble. Part iii. Leguminosae — Caesal- 



pinioideae to Caprifoliaceae. Pp. 391—577. 



(London : Adlard and Son, and West Newman, 



Ltd., 1919.) Price los. net. 

 The third part of Mr. Gamble's handy little 

 flora contains the remainder of the polypetalous 

 dicotyledons. It includes the Caesalpinia and 

 Mimosa sections of Leguminosae, containing many 

 forest-trees and shrubs, and, among others, the 

 important families Combretaceae, Myrtaceae, 

 Melastomaceae, and Cucurbitaceae. As in previous 

 parts, descriptions are given of families and 

 genera, but the determination of the species 

 depends on the keys in which the characters of 

 the principal organs are fully contrasted. No 

 typographic distinction is made between native 

 and introduced genera, such as Parkinsonia 

 (tropical American) and Eucalyptus (Australian) ; 

 E. globulus, the blue gum, is largely grown in 

 forests on the Nilgiris and other hills, and is fre- 

 quently found self-sown. Another alien genus 

 appears under the name Delonix, an unnecessary 

 revival from Rafinesque ; it includes the familiar 

 "flamboyant" generally known as Poinciana 

 regia. As with the previous part, the author has 

 been restricted in the preparation of the work to 

 material available in the great herbaria in this 

 country, but for future parts the Indian collections 

 will again be available. 



La Theorie Atomique. Par Sir J. J. Thomson. 

 Traduit de I'Anglais par le Prof. M. Charles 

 Moureu. Nouveau tirage. Pp. vi + 57. (Paris: 

 Gauthier-Villars et Cie, 1919.) Price 2.40 

 francs net. 

 This is a translation of the Romanes lecture of 

 1914, made during the war under the full inspira- 

 tion of the Anglo-French comradeship in arms. 

 The translator stipulated that the proceeds should 

 go to the British Red Cross; Sir J. J, Thomson 

 insisted that they should go to the French Red 

 Cross ; and, as neither would give way, they finally 

 agreed that they should benefit the Belgian 

 wounded. Prof. Moureu has given an excellent 

 translation, which fully preserves the " intirH 

 passionnant " of the original lecture. 



