May 5, 1898J 



NATURE 



I 



features of the East African coastlands— their labyrinth 

 of creeks and backwaters, their miles of waterless scrub, 

 or groves of Hyphane palms, perhaps the most typical 

 tree of a large part of their area. In the more northern 

 districts traversed, on the borders of the Galla territories 

 south of the Jub River, Mr. FitzGerald was actually 

 breaking new ground, and the result of his journeys 

 has been to modify considerably our ideas of the general 

 character of the country, by showing that the vegetation 

 is in parts of the interior much more luxuriant than has 

 been generally supposed. Throughout his residence in 

 the country he was in close touch with the native in- 

 habitants, for whom he shows a genuine liking, and of 

 •whose life and customs many interesting details are 

 given. 



It is, however, in the treatment of the agricultural 

 <:apabilities of the country that the chief value of the 

 book will be found to exist. During the whole of his 

 travels, the author devoted his constant attention to this 

 subject, so that the information collected was unusually 

 varied and complete, and the picture presented of the 

 various aspects of life in the .African " shambas " (plant- 

 ations) is full of interest. The general reader may, 

 perhaps, find the mass of details on agricultural subjects 

 hardly to his taste ; but to all who require a trustworthy 

 j,'uide to the capabilities of British East Africa in such 

 matters, the book will prove of sterling value. A special 

 weight attaches to Mr. FitzGerald's views from his wide 

 •experience of agriculture as carried out in Southern 

 India, and he has done good service in calling attention 

 to what he considers the great possibilities which lie 

 before British enterprise in this direction in the East 

 African coastlands. Much of the country is, in his 

 •opinion, eminently adapted for the growth of cotton and 

 <:oco-nuts, while other products, such as fibre-plants and 

 india-rubber, would also repay attention. Much apposite 

 information regarding all these, drawn from sources not 

 Avidely accessible, is printed in the form of appendices. 



In the second part of the book, Mr. FitzGerald en- 

 larges upon his report, made to the Directors of the East 

 Africa Company in 1892, on the agricultural capabilities 

 of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands. He treats exhaustively 

 of the clove cultivation there carried on, describing 

 minutely the requirements of the clove tree, the present 

 methods erhployed in its culture, and various improve- 

 ments which should be introduced. He also treats of 

 other products to which attention should be paid, in 

 order that the prosperity of the islands may not depend, 

 as it does at present, on one crop alone. In the case of 

 Zanzibar the ground has, it is true, been already covered 

 to some extent by Dr. Baumann's useful monograph, 

 but it is valuable to have also a professed agriculturist's 

 views on the subject, which the German traveller ap- 

 proached rather from the standpoint of a scientific 

 geographer. A point of special interest at the present 

 time, when the slavery question seems to await its final 

 solution, is the discussion of the sources of labour supply, 

 into which Mr. FitzGerald enters fully. He holds that 

 the introduction of Indian coolies will aflTord the best 

 hope of a satisfactory solution of the problem. 



A. useful feature in the book is the lavish supply of 

 maps (compiled by Mr. Reeves, of the Royal Geographical 

 Society), in which the whole of the author's routes can 

 NO. 1488, VOL. 58] 



be followed, and which contain material not hitherto 

 published. The index — also a point of special import- 

 ance in a work intended, like the present, to be used for 

 reference — is particularly full and well arranged. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Notes on Observations. By Sydney Lupton, M.A. 



Pp. ix -f 124. (London : Macmillan and Co., 1898.) 

 The sub-title of this book describes the contents as " an 

 outline of the methods used for determining the meaning 

 and value of quantitative observations and experiments 

 in physics and chemistry, and for reducing the results 

 obtained." It is very important that students of science 

 should be logical in their arguments and sound in their 

 conclusions ; and Mr. Lupton's concise description of 

 the methods which must be followed before a scientific 

 law or any general proposition can be established con- 

 duce to this end. The opening chapters of the book remind 

 us of Huxley's inspiring little "Introductory" Science 

 Primer. After these more or less metaphysical, but 

 distinctly serviceable, statements as to ideas, premisses, 

 and laws, come short chapters on units, averages, inter- 

 polation, the law of error, the method of least squares, 

 the expression of results by graphical and by em- 

 pirical methods, and many othp r subjects of interest to 

 all who are engaged in quantitative physical and 

 chemical experimentation. The treatment is but brief 

 in most cases, and questions involving higher mathe- 

 matics are not introduced. Sufficient is said, however, 

 to show students how to apply to his own results the 

 methods described ; and for those who desire to go into 

 the subjects more thoroughly, a list of references to 

 standard works is appended to each chapter. 



The book should find a place in the library of every 

 physical and chemical laboratory, and all students of the 

 laws and phenomena of nature should make themselves 

 familiar with the principles described ; for they will thereby 

 learn the methods of sound reasoning, and be instructed 

 in the art of computation for the purposes of science. 



Prospecting for Minerals : a Practical Handbook fot 

 Prospectors^, Explorers., Settlers, and all interested in 

 the Opening- up and Development of Ne^u Lands. By 

 S. Herbert Cox. Pp. xi 4- 239. With illustrations. 

 (London : Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1898.) 

 This little work forms the first volume of a new series 

 of handbooks to be edited by Prof. Grenville Cole, and 

 issued under the title of "The New Land Series." Al- 

 though it can hardly be said that the title of the series 

 is very happily chosen, it will be immediately admitted 

 that the object of the series is distinctly good. The ex- 

 plorer or the settler in any new country needs, in most 

 cases, some instruction as to the best means of discover- 

 ing and developing its resources. Of all pioneers of 

 civilisation, the mineral prospector is the most likely 

 nowadays to lead the way ; and the first volume of the 

 series is, therefore, appropriately devoted to the subject 

 of prospecting. The preparation of the work has been 

 entrusted to Mr. Herbert Cox, a well-known mining 

 engineer in London, who has in his day travelled widely 

 and seen much of mines and minerals. Those who know 

 the character of his professional work will feel no doubt as 

 to his ability to lead the prospector in the way he should 

 go ; and an examination of the volume shows that its 

 value is beyond dispute. Mr. Cox has furnished the 

 prospector with a portable guide, which, while essentially 

 practical, contains sufficient geology and mineralogy to 

 explain the scientific principles on which the search for 

 minerals should be based. The rough-and-ready pro- 

 spector may probably think that the science is too much 

 in evidence, and may grow impatient as he turns over 

 pages about such things as "anhydrous silicates of lime 



