658 



NATURE 



[February ig, 1920 



THE RE-MAPPING OF THE WORLD. 

 The "Times" Survey Atlas of th^ World. Pre- 

 pared under the direction of Dr. J. G. Bartholo- 

 mew. Part i. (London : Office of the Times, 

 n.d.) Price 2S. 6d. net. 



THE first part of this atlas contains four maps 

 numbered respectively 21, 60, 79, and 95. 

 The parts of the world represented are the 

 southern section of Scotland, Farther India, Lower 

 Egypt (from a little above Luxor), and Mexico 

 and Central America (from Costa Rica inclusive). 

 Three of the maps are, and, no doubt, the majority 

 of those in the atlas will be, drawn on the layering 

 principle, which has the advantages of conducing 

 to clearness and indicating the broad distribution 

 of high grounds and low grounds at a glance. 

 This has been done with a skill worthy of the 

 reputation which the map-making firm responsible 

 for it has long held for work of this class. 



The layering adopted is not on a uniform 

 scale. In the same map successive contours repre- 

 sent different intervals of altitude. That, however, 

 we have even in our own Ordnance Survey maps. 

 But there are different scales of altitude on dif- 

 ferent maps otherwise somewhat similar. On the 

 map of the southern section of Scotland the steps 

 in altitude are by 250 ft. up to 1000 ft., then by 

 500 ft. to 2000 ft., and after that by 1000 ft. The 

 only isobath is that of 10 fathoms. On two of 

 the other maps the only isobath is that for 100 

 fathoms, but whereas in Mexico the isohypses 

 represent 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 

 and 6000 ft., and then 8000 and 10,000 ft., in that 

 of Farther India they are at intervals of 500 ft. up 

 to 2000 ft., and then mark altitudes of 3000 and 

 6000 ft. respectively. In the map of Egypt there 

 are no isobaths (in the main map) or isohypses. 

 Hachures are used to indicate the margins of the 

 plateaux on the inset map showing the environs 

 of Cairo on the scale of i : 150,000. 



One noteworthy feature of the maps is that they 

 are so mounted as to be suitable for loose-leaf 

 binding, which will have the important advantages 

 of allowing the replacement of a map without re- 

 placing the atlas and of enabling one to detach 

 a single map at will for close examination and 

 frequent reference. This feature might perhaps 

 be utilised to remedy one of the defects of the 

 maps, the smallness of the lettering where the 

 names are too crowded. New maps might be 

 drawn for those who would prefer them witfi 

 fewer names in a larger letter, the missing names 

 bein"- entered in the index with their compass bear- 

 ing and distance from places that are named on 

 the map, say from railway stations, which are 

 very easy to find. 



NO. 2625, VOL. 104] 



We are promised an index of more than 200,000 

 names, but are not told how the index is to be 

 prepared. Presumably latitude and longitude are 

 to be given, as there is no provision on the border 

 for reference by letter and number to the degree 

 rectangles. But if latitude and longitude are to 

 be the means of reference, or, indeed, in any 

 case, we hope that the maps still to be issued 

 will have the divisions of degrees marked on the 

 border. That is not done in the four maps of the 

 first part, with the result that in Scotland, for 

 example, we have an interval for latitude of one 

 degree measuring 6f in. without any subdivision 

 showing minutes. On each map also the pro- 

 jection used should be named. 



PHYSICS FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS. 



(i) A Manual of Physics. By Dr. J. A. Crowther. 

 Pp. XX 4- 537. (London: Henry Frowde and 

 Hodder and Stoughton, 1919.) Price i6s. net. 



(2) Elements of Physics. By Dr. R. A. Hous- 

 toun. Pp. viii + 221. (London: Longmans, 

 Green, and Co., 1919.) Price 6s. net. 



STUDENTS of medicine are apt to regard 

 physics as a subject outside the range of 

 their medical studies, a subject imposed upon 

 them by certain grandmotherly examining authori- 

 ties, to be forgotten as soon as the examination 

 is over. Teachers of physics have to contend 

 not only with this attitude of mind, but also 

 with the fact that writers of physical text-books 

 for the most part show but little evidence of sym- 

 pathy with the medical applications of their 

 subject. The ideal text-book for medical students 

 would be written by a trained physicist who has 

 specialised in medical work and is imbued with 

 the spirit of research in physics as applied to 

 medicine. Instead of studying the common steel- 

 yard, the medical student might then find the 

 principle of the lever illustrated in the human 

 frame, and instead of having to wade through 

 a chapter on terrestrial magnetism, he might be 

 given further information on the subject of 

 meteorological physics and the conditions deter- 

 mining climate. He might even learn something 

 as to electric oscillations applied in high-frequency 

 treatment, or as to the use of a saccharimeter. 

 Both the volumes under review claim to meet the 

 needs of first-year medical students; but the ideal 

 book on physics for such students has yet to be 

 written. 



(i) Dr. Crowther has given us an excellent 

 manual of physics suitable for beginners who 

 have no special profession in view. He has de- 

 voted considerable space to the subject of 



