764 



NATURE 



[August 12, 1920 



conglomeration of various ethnic elements, and about 

 1500 B.C. a strong* Hittite empire was located in 

 northern Asia Minor which was powerful enough to 

 threaten both Egypt on one side imd Babylonia and 

 Assyria on the other. These Hittites, moving along 

 the historical highway across Asia Minor, left their 

 rock monuments and their fortresses as traces of the 

 power and civilisation which thev developed. Their 

 contact with Assyria appears to have been particularly 

 close, and it is not impossible that the earliest rulers 

 were actually Hittites. The " sons of Heth " asso- 

 ciated in tradition with Abraham are Hittites, and 

 there were Hittite generals in the armv of the Jewish 

 kings. — Prof. M. Bloomfleld : The decipherment of the 

 Hittite languages. — Prof. P. Haupt : The beginning 

 of the Fourth Gospel. John i. i should be trans- 

 lated : " In the beginning was reason." Greek " logos " 

 denotes both "word" and "reason." Logic is the 

 science of reasoning. According to the Stoics, reason 

 CGreek "logos") was the active principle in the 

 formation of the universe. 



Books Received. 



Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. Report on 

 the Scientific Results of the Voyage of S.Y. Scotia 

 during the Years 1902, 1903, and 1904. By Dr. \V. S. 

 Bruce. Vol. vii.. Zoology. Parts 1-13, Invertebrates. 

 Pp. viii-f32_3-t-i5 plates. (Edinburgh: Scottish 

 Oceanographical Laboratory.) 505. 



Le Radium. Interpretation et Enseignements de 

 la Radioactivite. By Prof. F. Soddv. Traduit de 

 I'Anglais par A. Lepape. Pp. iii + 375.' (Paris: Felix 

 Alcan.) 4.90 francs. 



Tracks and Tracking : A Book for Boy Scouts, Girl 

 Guides, and Every Lover of Woodcraft". By H. M. 

 Batten. Pp. 95. (London and Edinburgh : W. and 

 R. Chambers.) 2s. net. 



Criticism of the Nile Projects. Submitted by the 

 Commission of Egyptian Engineers to the Nile' Pro- 

 jects Commission, '1920. Pp. 36. (Cairo.) 



Zi-ka-wei Observatory Atlas of the Tracks of 

 620 Typhoons, 1893-1918. By Louis Froc, S.J. 

 Pp. 4+charts. (Zi-ka-wei.) 



Records of the Indian Museum. Vol. xvii., June. 

 Catalogue of Oriental and South Asiatic Nemocera. 

 By E. Brunette. Pp. 300. (Calcutta : Zoological 

 Survey.) 5 rupees. 



Records of the Indian Museum. Vol. xx., June. 

 A Monograph of the South Asian, Papuan, Melanesian, 

 and Australian Frogs of the Genus Rana. Bv Dr. 

 G. A. Boulenger. Pp. 226. (Calcutta : Zoological 

 Survey.) 6 rupees. 



Western Australia. Astrographic Catalogue, 19000. 

 Perth Section, Dec. —31° to -41°. From photo- 

 graphs taken and measured at the Perth Observatory 

 under the direction of H. B. Curlewis. Vol. xvii. 

 Pp- 55- ^ol. xviii. Pp. 107. Vol. xix. Pp. loi. 

 Vol. XX. Pp. 99. Vol. xxi. Pp. 54. Vol. xxii. 

 Pp. loj;. Vol. xxiii. Po. TOO. Vol. xxiv. Pp. 7::. 

 (Perth.) 



Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 

 Vol. lii., part 4.. New Stelar Facts, and their Bear- 

 ing on Stelar Theories for the Ferns. By Dr. J. M'L. 

 Thompson. (Edinburgh: R. Grant and Son; 

 London : Williams and Norgate.) 5s. 6d. 



Monograph of the Lacertidae. Bv Dr. G. A. 

 Boulenger. Vol. i. Pp. x+352. (London : British 

 Museum (Natural History).) 2I. 



Eugenics. Civics, and Ethics. Bv Sir C. Walston. 

 Pp. 56. (Cambridge : University Press.) 4<;. net. 



Essays on Earlv Ornithology and Kindred Subiects. 

 By T.' R. McClvmont. Pp. vii + 35 + 3 plates. 

 (London : B. Quaritch, Ltd.) 6s. 



NO. 2650, VOL. 105] 



The Sugar- Beet in America. By Prof. F. S. Harris. 

 Pp. xviii+3424-xxxii plates. (New York : The Mac- 

 millan Co.; London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 12s. 

 net. 



British Museum (Natural History). Furniture 

 Beetles : Their Life-History and How to Check or* 

 Prevent, the Damage Caused by the Worm. By Dr. 

 C. J. Gahan. (Economic Series, No. 11.) Pp. 23 + 

 I plate. (London : British Museum (Natural His- 

 tory).) 6d. 



British Museum (Natural History). British Ant- 

 arctic (Terra Nova) Expedition, 1910. Natural His- 

 tory Report. Zoology. Vol. ii.. No. 9, Mollusca. 

 Part iii., P2upteropoda (Pteropoda Thecosomata and 

 Pterota Pteropoda Gymnosomata). By Anne L. Massy. 

 Pp. 203-32. ys.6d. Vol. ii., No. 10, Mollusca. Part iv., 

 Anatomy of Pelecvpoda. By R. H. Burne. Pp. 

 233-56+4 plates. '8.'>. 6d. Vol. iv., No. 3, Echino- 

 derma (part ii.) and Enteropneusta. Larvae of Echino- 

 derma and Enteropneusta. By Prof. E. W. MacBride. 

 Pp. 83-94+2 plates. 7^. 6d. (London : British 

 Museum (Natural History).) 



The Prevention of Tetanus during the Great War 

 by the Use of Antitetanic Serum. By Maj.-Gen. Sir 

 David Bruce. Pp. 27. (London : Research Defence 

 Society.) is. 



Der Aufbau der Materie ; drei Aufsatze ijber 

 moderne Atomistik und Elektronentheorie. By Max 

 Born. Pp. V + 81. (Berlin: J. Springer.) 8.60 marks. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Progress! By Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B., 



F.R.S 733 



Complex Elements in Geometry. By Prof. G. B, 



Mathews, F.R.S 736 



Motion Study and the Manual Worker. By 



H. M. V 737 



Our Bookshelf . . 738 



Letters to the Editor : — 



University Grants. — Sir Michael E. Sadler, 



K.C.S.1 740 



The Carrying Power of Spores and Plant-life in Deep 



Caves.— Edith A. Stoney ... -740 



Curious Formation of Ice.— Alfred S. E. Acker- 



mann ... 74i 



Bees and the .Scarlet-runner Bean. — Harford J. 



Lowe 742 



The Condition of Kent's Cavern.— Edward A. 

 Martin . ... ...... 742 



Calculation of Vapour Densities. — Reginald G. 



Durrant 742 



Use of Sumner Lines in Navigation. — Prof. G. C. 

 Comstock; Capt. T. H. Tizard, C B., F.R.S. 742 

 The Research Department, Woolwich. II. {///us- 



/rated) By Sir Robert Robertson, K.B.E., F.R.S. 743 

 The Romance of Bird Life. {Illustrated.^ . . . . 746 

 Helium : Its Production and Uses. ( Wt/A Diap-atn.) 



By Prof. J. C. McLennan, F.R.S 747 



Obituary : — 



Proif. John Perry, F.R.S.-H. E. A. ; W. E. D. 751 

 Prof. Augusto Righi, For. Mem. R. S.— Sir Oliver 



Lodge, F.R.S 753 



Notes . 754 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



An Interesting Meteorite ... 759 



The Union Observatory, Johannesburg 759 



Galactic Condensation . . 759 



The British Empire Forestry Conference .... 759 



Colloidal Electrolytes. By T. M. L 760 



Plant Culture in Denmark 761 



Short-period Meteorological Variations. By 



W. W. B 761 



University and Educational Intelligence 761 



Societies and Academies 762 



Books Received 7^4 



