3i8 



NA TURE 



[August 4, 1898 



The values of the successive powers of t of course recur in 

 sets of four ; consequently the author boldly affirms that 

 there are only four classes of sensation, and that sens- 

 ations of temperature are identical in kind with sensations 

 of pressure, and smells with tastes. Pain and pleasure 

 ( Wollust) appear as opposite special qualities of touch, 

 and are equated with the taste pair bitter-sweet, and the 

 sound pair e - b). So again the antithesis red-green is 

 said to correspond to cold-hot and c - g. 



It is hard to believe that a mathematical theory which 

 involves these and numerous other equally unmeaning 

 assertions can be turned to any serious account by 

 psychologists. A. E. Taylor. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Elementary Practical Zoology. By Frank E. Beddard, 

 M.A. (Oxon.), F.R.S. Pp. vi + 210 ; with 93 illus- 

 trations. (London : Longmans, Green and Co., 1898.) 

 This little book is written as a guide to the elementary 

 zoology required by the Science and Art Department. 

 There already exists at least one work designed for this 

 special purpose, and several others more or less adapted 

 for these examinations. Most of these have been written 

 by men who though teaching zoology can hardly claim 

 to be specialists in this subject ; consequently, on coming 

 across a book written by such a well-known zoologist as 

 Mr. Beddard, one naturally expects that the work will be 

 something out of the common. We are afraid that any 

 one takmg up this book with such expectations will be 

 disappointed ; for although this book may be better than 

 those already in existence, we do not consider that Mr. 

 Beddard has done either himself or the subject justice in 

 it, the book having the appearance of being turned out 

 in a hurry and without due care. 



In spite of Mr. Beddard's remark we still believe in 

 Huxley's method of working from the known to the 

 unknown, and should rather have seen the book com 

 mence with the frog than with the amoeba. 



One of the most disappointing portions of this book 

 is the chapter dealing with the earthworm. Mr. Beddard, 

 as is well known, is perhaps our greatest authority on 

 the Oligochaeta, and one consequently expects that this 

 chapter would be very superior; but even here we find 

 evidence of want of care, the very illustrations being 

 bad. The first one (Fig. 9), stated to be a side view of 

 the worm, is really a latero-ventral view, and what the 

 row of setce on the left margin of the figure are is 

 difficult to imagine ; they do not tally with the de- 

 scription, nor do they exist in any of our common 

 earthworms. Figs. 12 and 13, too, are curious com- 

 binations of the anatomical characters seen in Lumbricus 

 and Allolobophora, two worms that have been so long 

 confused in the practical text-books ; but the author 

 does not state that they are combined figures, and the 

 student will look in vain for the origin of the lateral 

 oesophageal vessel on the twelfth segment, or for six 

 "hearts" in a worm with three pairs of calciferous 

 glands. 



So throughout the book we find this lack of care 

 in the preparations of the illustrations, which latter 

 should be of the greatest importance in a practical 

 text-book, and especially in one in which the author 

 frequently states that a description of a given set of 

 organs is unnecessary as the illustration will explain the 

 facts. 



Some of the figures are combinations from several 

 published by well-known, teachers, and during the process 

 of combination they have suffered considerably ; so much 

 so, that the originators will hardly care to see their 

 names attached to them. In the diagram of the vascular 



NO. 1501, VOL. 58] 



system of the frog, after Howes, the anterior abdominal 

 is represented as entering the hver quite independent of 

 the hepatic portal system, and the latter is indicated in 

 part as joining directly with the mferior vena cava. 



We have yet to learn that the teeth on the radula of 

 the snail are calcified, and that the rabbit has only one 

 deciduous premolar on either side of the lower jaw. 



We have only drawn attention to a few of the errors 

 which occur in this work, and we cannot congratulate 

 Mr. Beddard on its production. In our opinion the more 

 elementary a book is the more correct should be its facts, 

 and the greater should be the care expended on it. 



M. F. W. 



Elementary Conies. By W. H. Besant, Sc.D., F.R.S. 



Pp. 176. (London : George Bell and Sons, 1898.) 

 Examples in Analytical Conies for Beginners. By 



W. M. Baker, M.A. Pp. 87. (London : George Bell 



and Sons, 1898.) 

 Of these two volumes of the " Cambridge Mathematical 

 Series," Dr. Besant's book is practically a reprint of the 

 first eight chapters of his " Conic Sections treated 

 Geometrically," which has for so many years held its 

 ground as a favourite text-book among teachers. 

 "Geometrical Conies" seems to be rather less "the 

 fashion" now than it was formerly, and we hope that 

 the present issue, containing all the more important 

 propositions in a small compass, will encourage students 

 in looking up geometrical proofs instead of trusting too 

 exclusively to the often cumbrous and ill-understood 

 methods of coordinate geometry. 



Mr. Baker's collection of examples, though intended 

 primarily for the use of Sandhurst and Woolwich candi- 

 dates, will be welcomed by University students as well. 

 Most beginners in coordinate geometry find the want 

 of a thorough drilling in simple examples which are 

 straightforward applications of book-work, before they 

 can fully grasp the significance of the principles involved. 

 Such exercises this book is intended to supply ; but 

 perhaps the most useful feature is the set of questions on 

 " book-work," as these cannot usually be found in any 

 text-book. G. H. B. 



Bobbie's Horticultural Haiidbooks. Edited by William 

 Cuthbertson. Pansies, Violas, and Violets. By Charles 

 Jordan, John Ballantyne, Jessie M. Burnie, William 

 Cuthbertson. Pp. 102. (London : Macmillan and Co., 

 Ltd., 1898.) 

 To all who grow for pleasure or profit the delightful 

 flowers treated of in the book under review, the present 

 work is to be recommended. In the space of about a 

 hundred pages as much information regarding the evolu- 

 tion of the various varieties of the flowers, their botany, 

 the methods of growing for the garden or for exhibition 

 is given as is likely to be necessary for most readers. 

 And the sentimental side is not overlooked, for some 

 thirteen pages are devoted to the poetry of the subject, 

 short extracts from the writings of various poets being 

 gathered together in praise of the flowers under con- 

 sideration. The work is illustrated by several very clear 

 wood-engravings. 



The Mechanical Engineer's Handy Office Companion. By 

 Robert Edwards. Pp. viii -f 70. (London : Crosby 

 Lockvvood and Son, 1898.) 

 This small book is what it professes to be, viz. a " handy 

 office companion," giving, as it does, in a succinct form a 

 variety of information likely to be required by mechanical 

 engineers in their every-day office work. At the end of 

 the volume appears a somewhat invidious list of books 

 on mechanical engineering, and allied subjects, which the 

 author recommends to his readers. We miss from the 

 list the titles of very many books which we should have 

 thought merited inclusion as much as several to which 

 attention is called. 



