OCTOHER 



1898] 



NA TURE 



615 



With regard to diet and disease much is said, and 

 much that is both interesting and instructive. For 

 instance, we are informed that although bacilli may 

 occasion disease, they only play a subordinate part. 

 The essential cause of all disease is "dyssemia," or a 

 deficiency or wrong proportion of the "vitalised" mineral 

 constituents in the blood. All dysasmia is dietetic, and 

 arises from too much water (the author, by the way, 

 seems to have an objection to water baths : air baths are 

 the things to have), too much common salt, or the too 

 limited consumption of uncooked fruit and vegetables. 

 Mankind in general, except the author, his children and 

 the inmates of his sanatorium, appear to be suffering 

 from this "dietetic dysa^mia," and will be a ready prey 

 to the first bacillus that settles on them. The whole 

 book is unfortunately pervaded by the spirit of fanaticism, 

 but nevertheless is well worth reading. Although doubt- 

 less the importance of the so-called inorganic salts in 

 their combination with organic substances is greatly 

 exaggerated, still the physiological chemistry of the 

 subject is well considered, and the author has spared no 

 pains to collect the results of erudite researches which 

 tend to support his theory. His remarks upon the 

 cooking of vegetables are well worthy of attention, 

 especially in this country. F. W. T. 



V. Elsden, B.Sc. (Lond.). 

 (London: "The Quarry" 



Applied Geology. By J 



Part I. Pp. vii -f 96. 



Publishing Co., Ltd., 1898.) 

 The author of this work states in his preface that cir- 

 cumstances have made it necessary to publish the earlier 

 chapters separately, and that, therefore, these chapters 

 scarcely give an adequate idea of the scope of the com- 

 pleted work. 



The part thus published contains little but what can 

 be found, often in much more detail, in such well- 

 known books as the work on field geology by Sir A. 

 Geikie, Mr. \V\ H. Penning's "Field Geology" and his 

 " Engineering Geology," and the " Treatise on Ore 

 Deposits " by J. A. Phillips and Prof. Louis. 



The first chapter deals chiefly with geological survey- 

 ing, but far too briefly to be of much use. Outcrops are 

 then illustrated by figures resembling those of Sopwith's 

 geological models. 



The rule given on p. 14 for ascertaining the thickness 

 of beds by multiplying the breadth of the outcrop, in a 

 direction at right angles to the strike, by the sine of the 

 angle of true dip, should be supplemented by the proviso 

 " having, in case the surface is not horizontal, first re- 

 duced the observed outcrop to that which would be 

 observed if the surface were horizontal." 



The second chapter is devoted to problems relating to 

 dip and strike, the method of solving which, both by 

 trigonometry and by construction, is clearly explained. 

 In the third chapter unconformity, overlap, curved strata 

 and normal faults are defined and illustrated. In the 

 fourth chapter problems relating to faults are dealt with 

 in a similar method to that made use of in the chapter on 

 dip and strike. 



The fifth and last chapter of the part published 

 describes, in the space of twenty pages, stratified ore 

 deposits of gold, platinum, tin, iron, manganese, alu- 

 minium, copper, &c., at various typical localities. 



Taking the volume as a whole, it is obvious from the small 

 number of pages devoted to so great a variety of subjects 

 that some matters are inadequately dealt with. On the 

 other hand the book is well illustrated by fifty-seven 

 figures, the explanations are clear, and the work is calcu- 

 lated to be of considerable practical use, more particularly 

 in the case of dip, strike and fault problems. 



An ideal work on applied geology should, in addition 



to taking hypothetical cases, discuss, as far as possible, 



problems in mining, tunnelling, water supply, &c., which 



have been actually met with, and should be illustrated 



NO. I 5 13, VOL. 58] 



by concrete example*: from definite localities in which the 

 theory of the geologist has been tested by ihe execution 

 of the engineering work. May we hope that we shall 

 not have long to wait for such a work ? 



Flora of the County Donegal. By Henry Chichester 

 Hart. Pp. xxiv -I- 392 ; with a map. (Dublin : Sealy, 

 Bryers, and Walker, 1898.) 

 The publication of a flora of one of the dampest parts 

 of our islands — one of the most uniformly peat-buried, 

 and one of the hitherto least worked — is pleasing ; and 

 the pains evidently bestowed on this book make it wel- 

 come. Less than one half of the " Flora " is taken up by 

 the enumeration of the phanerogams, ferns and Characece 

 of Donegal ; of the rest, over sixty pages are occupied by 

 a long report on the climate, and one hundred by a dis- 

 cussion of the distribution in Ireland and Great Britain 

 of the plants of the county. New observations on the alti 

 tudinal range of plants, and new statements of their times 

 of flowering are things pleasant to see : from the latter, it 

 appears that the " perpetually recurring storms " and the 

 " deficient summer heat " retard the vegetation, so that 

 blossoms appear even later than in the East Highlands. 

 Mr. Hart does not call attention to this ; it is a point de- 

 serving inquiry. Too long have authors of works such as 

 this been content to copy or to make approximations at 

 dates of flowering. In discussing the vegetation, the 

 lines laid down long ago by H. C. Watson are carefully 

 followed. As a common basis for comparison of different 

 floras they are valuable ; but one can only wish that the 

 splendid chance which so uniform a vegetation offers had 

 led to a consideration of vegetative formations— a subject 

 only just touched upon. This discussion of the veget- 

 ation contains several suggestive observations, of which 

 by no means the least in interest is that on the poverty 

 of Donegal in Cruci/era;, Leguminosa:^ Umbelliferce^ Com- 

 post ice and Orchidaceo' : of the last order. Orchis macu- 

 lata, we are told, alone is able to live on the outlying 

 islets ; yet these plants, with their tuberous roots, might 

 be expected to be able to tide over bad seasons. 



It is a pity that the old error of calling Neottia a 

 parasite should appear here ; but such errors are rare ; 

 and the book, if not strikingly original, will at any 

 rate be serviceable to all who find an interest in the 

 botany of North-west Ireland. I. H. B. 



The Reliquary and Illustrated Archaologist. Edited by 

 J. Romilly Allen. New Series. Vol. iv. Pp. 288. 

 (London : Bemrose and Sons, Ltd., 1898.) 

 This attractively produced quarterly review of archae- 

 ology is "devoted to the study of the early Pagan and 

 Christian antiquities of Great Britain ; mediaeval archi- 

 tecture and ecclesiology ; the development of the arts 

 and industries of man in the past ages ; and the sur- 

 vivals of ancient usages and appliances in the present." 

 The volume now before us, containing the numbers 

 published this year, is well up to the high standard of its 

 forerunners. The articles will interest students of the 

 archaeology of Great Britain ; and they are so well illus- 

 trated that all who are interested in antiquities may derive 

 pleasure from reading them. Many of the articles are 

 noteworthy. Mr. Leader Scott describes a Gallic necro- 

 polis discovered in Italy, on a tract of land at the foot of 

 an indentation of Mount Montefortino, near Arcevia 

 (Ancona). In addition to the archaeological aspects, the 

 necropolis affords an interesting study from an ethno- 

 logical point of view. Mr. Henry Balfour contributes a 

 short paper on the modern use of bone skates and 

 sledges with bone runners. The editor writes on 

 primitive anchors, pot-cranes and their adjustments, 

 and other subjects ; Mr. R. A. Gatty describes the 

 objects found in the Barrow at How Tallon ; Mr. H. 

 Ling Roth contributes a paper on Benin art, and there 

 are numerous notes on archaeology and kindred subjects. 



