704 



NATURE 



[August 5, 1920 



However, Col. Fuller makes no comment on 

 these points, but doubtless he would agree that 

 in the future the Tank Corps in the field should 

 confine itself to the problem of fighting the 

 machine most effectively, and to giving the fullest 

 possible information to the Headquarters Staff on 

 which it may base its tactical requirements 

 for the future classes of machines, these re- 

 quirements to be conveyed to the designing de- 

 partment. How far such requirements can be met 

 is for the designing and production departments 

 to decide. 



Much has been said about the use of tanks in 

 small numbers at the battle of the Somme, and 

 Col. Fuller is evidently of opinion that, had we 

 held them back until large numbers were avail- 

 able, the element of surprise would have been so 

 great as to have led to an overwhelming victory. 

 The same might be said of the German use of 

 gas for the first time against the Canadians. Per- 

 sonally, the present writer does not hold this view. 

 A new weapon that is going to produce an over- 

 whelming effect requires not only its use on a 

 large scale, but also close co-operation with all 

 other arms. This requires time and elaborate 

 training, and training without the experience of 

 actual battle is apt to be very misleading. 



Mk. IV. tanks successfully took part in the 

 decisive battles of the summer and autumn of 

 1918. It was this mark of machine that in 1917 

 the Tank Corps refused to accept, considering 

 it useless. A little training in the proper way 

 to fight with the new weapon had made all the 

 difference. It was the TVIk. IV. tank which 

 carried out the brilliant operations with the 

 Canadians in crossing the Canal du Nord in Sep- 

 tember, 1918 (see pp. 268-69). The officer in 

 command of the Canadians after the battle sent 

 for the officer in charge of these tanks and com- 

 plimented him on the handling of the " new " type 

 of tank and on the way in which all objectives 

 were reached ; the officer was silent, for they were 

 the old Mk. IV. machines. The Mk. V. machine 

 was a very great advance on the Mk. IV., but 

 the greatest improvement of all was the realisation 

 of how to use the new weapon in co-operation 

 with the infantry. 



Col. Fuller's book naturally deals chiefly with 

 the fighting tank, and he clearly sets forth the 

 claims of armour propelled by petrol as a pro- 

 tection and means of transport for the infantry 

 against the machine-gxin ; but, as the author 

 also points out, the German offensive of March, 

 1918, came to an end not so much on account of 

 our resistance as because of the impossi- 

 bility of bringing up artillery and supplies fast 

 enough by the limited roads. The army of the 

 NO. 2649, VOL. \0<\ 



future will be independent of roads and rails. Its 

 artillery, supplies of shells, food, ambulances, 

 etc., will be moved by petrol and caterpillar 

 tracks. 



The chapter on scientific warfare makes interest- 

 ing reading. It might lead one to suppose that 

 the wars of the future will be waged between 

 small but highly trained armies, and that civilians 

 will be carefully evacuated and safeguarded. 

 The lesson of the late war seems to show that 

 it will be impossible to protect civilians and 

 increasingly difficult ' to discriminate between 

 the trained warrior and women and children. The 

 use of gas over large areas, of explosive dropped 

 by aircraft, of huge tanks and tractors dashing 

 over hill and dale, in their course passing over 

 hamlets and villages, seems to make the lot of 

 the non-combatant an unenviable one. Possibly 

 this is all for the best, and certainly so if it acts 

 as a deterrent to future wars. 



In conclusion, one must say that the book is 

 most excellent reading and remarkably free from 

 controversy or axe-grinding. It has been said 

 that the indication of the object of a war book 

 can be got from the frontispiece. Many have a 

 portrait of the writer, but this starts with a picture 

 of the weapon which had such an effect on 

 history, and the book is a valuable tribute to it 

 (see p. 48). 



Physiology of Farm Animals. 



Physiology of Farm Animals. By T. B. Wood 

 and Dr. F. H. A. Marshall. Part i. General. 

 By Dr. F. H. A. Marshall. Pp. xii + 204. 

 (Cambridge : At the University Press, 1920.) 

 Price 16s. net. 



SUCCESS in the rearing and feeding of animals 

 depends to a large extent upon the practical 

 application of the principles of physiology. Yet, 

 although the breeding of farm animals and the 

 production of meat and milk are of such great 

 economic importance, the study of the physiology 

 of farm animals has received comparatively little 

 attention. The appearance of this text-book is, 

 therefore, welcome. The reputation of the writers 

 is likely to secure a wide use of the book in agri- 

 cultural teaching centres. 



The first volume deals with the general prin- 

 ciples of physiology. It is lucidly written, and 

 the illustrations are well chosen. The parts of 

 the subject most fully treated are those which 

 are of special practical importance, viz. the 

 digestive system, the organs of locomotion, and 

 the organs of reproduction. A clear account is 

 given of the digestive system. The chapter on 

 the organs of locomotion contains a very useful 



