NA TURE 



[July 7, 1898' 



collection had been distributed and described by the 

 experts, the account of the arthropod fauna would not 

 have been available until the present interest of Funafuti 

 had passed. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Weather Lore. A Collection of Pro^ierbs., Sayings and 

 Rules concerning the Weather. By Richard Inwards, 

 F.R.A.S. Third edition. (London : Elliot Stock, 1898.) 



Mr. Inwards is to be congratulated on the fact that his 

 industry, exhibited in the collection of quaint sayings 

 concerning the weather, has been rewarded by the 

 demand for a third edition of his book on weather lore. 

 If this popularity indicates a greater taste for an acquaint- 

 ance with unscientific rules to be applied for the purposes 

 of weather prediction over long periods, than an apprecia- 

 tion for the forecasts made on sound principles but for 

 shorter intervals, it would imply a retrograde movement 

 in meteorological education ; but we imagine the demand 

 for the book arises rather from the curious information it 

 contains, and the old-world wisdom it exhibits, than from 

 its scientific teaching and character of guide to weather 

 prophecy. This edition is apparently much increased in 

 size, and some features of a distinctly scientific value 

 have been added. We notice a frontispiece in which 

 the typical forms of cloud are well illustrated, and the 

 average height at which these clouds float is marked by 

 the marginal introduction of well-known mountain sum- 

 mits, calculated to brmg home to us a correct notion of 

 the elevation at which these clouds circulate. Cloud 

 study is deserving of much more attention than it gener- 

 ally receives, and we welcome any attempt to induce 

 more regular examination of the forms and motions of 

 the familiar spectacle clouds present. 



Then the section on the average dates for the first 

 flowering of plants and appearance of migratory birds, 

 which is either new or has been enlarged, should lead to 

 more accurate observation of familiar phenomena. Such 

 sections interest us much more than the proverbs and 

 sayings which go to make up the bulk of the book. The 

 arrangement of these proverbs seems to be much the 

 same as in the first edition. Of the value of these, apart 

 from their literary character, perhaps it is as well to say 

 nothing. We follow the author or compiler in calling 

 these rules proverbs, but the term is scarcely a happy 

 one. A proverb has been defined as the wisdom of many 

 and the wit of one, but in some cases, here preserved, it 

 is difficult to recognise either the wit or the wisdom. 

 They may give some evidence of national customs or of 

 local manners, and sometimes display shrewd observance 

 on the part of the authors ; but this mass of endless detail, 

 collected by many generations of weather-wise people, 

 may become somewhat wearisome if taken in large 

 doses. Yet, if we understand Mr. Inwards correctly, he 

 implies that the persevering labour and continuous ob- 

 servation bestowed on weather signs have resulted in 

 securing some insight into meteorological phenomena, 

 and he recommends us to imbibe the general spirit of 

 these rules and adages, and try to find where similar 

 results have followed similar indications. This would 

 lead to the detection of a number of coincidences no 

 doubt, but it is not easy to see how true science would 

 be advanced thereby. 



First Stage Magnetism and Electricity. (The Organised 

 Science Series.) By R. H. Jude, M.A., D.Sc. Pp. 

 350 4- XV. (London : W. B. Clive, 1898.) 

 Although there are several books on these subjects 

 prepared specially to cover the syllabus of the ele- 

 mentary examination of the Science and .'\rt Department, 

 the one before us has some peculiarities which renders 

 the treatment different in many respects. The chief 

 NO. 1497, VOL. 58] 



difficulty which the author has attempted to overcome is 

 the conception of electrical potential, which so often 

 forms a stumbling-block to the beginner. This he has 

 introduced much earlier than usual, leading appropriately 

 up to it. In this, the first part of the book, the author 

 has further expounded in a simple manner the concep- 

 tions of the ethereal theory, thus bringing it within 

 reach of the beginner. The second two parts deal with 

 magnetism and electrodynamics, the main points of 

 treatment being the emphasis of fundamental principles,, 

 the omission of the disputed points in the theory of the 

 voltaic cell, and, as the author states, "a liberal use of 

 the conception of potential gradient." Numerous illus- 

 trations are inserted in the text, and a great number of 

 examples and examination questions are added. 



As a first course on magnetism and electricity the 

 book should prove serviceable. 

 Problems of Nature. Researches and Discoveries of 



Gustav Jaeger, M.D. Selected from his published 



Writings. Edited and translated by Henry G. 



Schlichter, D.Sc. Pp. ii -h 261. (London : Williams 



and Norgate, 1897.) 

 This small volume has been formed by collecting, 

 together a number of Jaeger's brief essays on various 

 important subjects. They are classified under three head- 

 ings as Zoological, Anthropological, and Varia. The 

 essays are highly ambitious, and lay down the law upor> 

 matters of the deepest difficulty with commendable- 

 brevity. Thus the fourteen zoological essays range fron> 

 "The Origin and Development of the First Organisms" 

 and "The Origin of Species" to "Inheritance," " The 

 Animal Soul," and " The Development of the Vertebrate 

 Type,'' and altogether occupy eighty-three pages. The 

 essays classed as anthropological deal chiefly with the 

 author's pronounced views on physiological processes, 

 infection, immunity, constitutional strength, &c. 



The author is apparently a man with an active original 

 mind and a great respect for his own opinion. Subjects 

 of such intricacy and difficulty are not to be handled so 

 boldly except by those who have not been able to study, 

 or have not cared to study all that has been said about 

 them. Allowing for the dictatorial and peremptory style 

 of the author, much that is suggestive and interesting 

 will be found in many of the essays, as indeed we should 

 expect from the writings of a man who was one of the- 

 first, if not the first, to suggest the continuity of the sub- 

 stance of the germ cells of parent and offspring as the 

 biological basis of heredity. A letter, written to the 

 author by Charles Darwin in 1869, and a second in 1875, 

 are printed, and the latter also reproduced in facsimile. 

 Both are very characteristic in their high appreciation of 

 the work of another. 



The book is well translated and edited. The printing 

 is good, but the few illustrations are not well executed, 

 the representation of a nerve-cell (after Max Schultze) 

 on p. 9 being especially bad. E. B. P. 



Medical Missiofts in their Relation to Oxford. By Sir 



Henry W. Acland, Bart., K.C.B., F.R.S. Pp. 92. 



(London : Henry Frowde, 1898.) 

 This is an address, with a series of notes, delivered 

 by Sir Henry Acland to the Oxford University Junior 

 Scientific Club at the beginning of last December, with 

 the object of showing the valuable work which can be 

 accomplished by men with scientific knowledge acting 

 in connection with foreign missions, either as coadjutors 

 or as appointed religious teachers, as medical practi- 

 tioners, or as health officers. The needs of India for such 

 men are especially referred to, and it is shown that the 

 prevention of disease, or the care of the public health 

 among various races under different conditions of clim.ate, 

 life, and character, as well as the treatment of disease 

 under the same conditions, should be an essential object 

 of foreign missions. The establishment at Oxford of a' 



