144 



NATURE 



[April 19, 19 17 



A chapter is devoted to the important operation 

 of cutting iron and steel by means of the blowpipe, 

 in which iHustrations of different types of cutting 

 blowpipes are given, arid the application of the 

 process to new work, repairs, and demolitions is 

 considered. 



The book contains a large number of illustra- 

 tions of practical value and can be very strongly 

 recommended to all interested in the subject, 

 especially as it contains a large amount of informa- 

 tion not otherwise obtainable in the English 

 language. C. O. Banxister. 



Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (Mythology). 

 Collected and translated from the Haw^aiian by 

 W. D. Westervelt. Pp. xv + 205. (Boston, 

 Mass. : Ellis Press ; London : Constable and 

 Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 65. net. 



Many of us became first acquainted with Pele, the 

 goddess of Kilauea, in the fascinating description 

 of the Sandwich Islands by Miss Isabella Bird 

 (Mrs. Bishop). The filaments of glassy lava, 

 spun out by the wind from blobs thrown up into 

 the air, have since become familiar to generations 

 of students under the name of "Pele's hair." Mr. 

 Westervelt now reveals Pele to us as a beautiful 

 and wayward princess, warmly passionate, yet 

 ready to consume her lovers, and dominating the 

 long volcanic slopes with sheets and whirls of 

 flame. The main interest of the legends lies in 

 the evidence they provide of the constant and 

 terrible menace under which the Haw-aiians drew 

 up their system of natural theology. The insist- 

 ence on Pele's arrival from a distance suggests 

 that the first settlers knew volcanoes elsewhere, 

 but found Hawaii peaceful during their earliest 

 years of occupation. 



The author has illustrated his charmingly pro- 

 duced book by photographs of notable volcanoes, 

 which greatly increase its attraction for the geo- 

 logist, and include such rare scenes as the ideally 

 shaped and snow-covered cone of Mount 

 Shishaldin, in Alaska. Mont Pel6e of Martinique 

 (p. 160) recalls, by an odd coincidence, the name of 

 the impulsive and beautiful devil of Hawaii. 

 Humane anthropologists will take some comfort 

 from Hii-aka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele, the youngest sister, 

 who was literally incubated "in the bosom of 

 Pele." G. A. J. C. 



Fungoid and Insect Pests of the Farm. ■ By 

 F. R. Petherbridge. Pp. vi+174. (Cambridge: 

 At the University Press, 1916.) Price 45. net. 



The author tells us this book has been written 

 for those who wish to acquire some practical 

 knowledge of farm and garden pests. It 

 naturally does not aim at dealing with all the 

 numerous enemies which affect crops, but rather 

 at giving an accurate account of some of the com- 

 moner forms. It is a pity a great many more of 

 the common pests were not included, especially 

 amongst the Arthropods, for then it would have 

 been of very considerably greater value. The 

 accounts also of many of the pests treated in the 

 book are far too short to be really helpful. 

 NO. 2477, VOL. 99] 



Part i. deals with fungoid diseases, including' 

 the potato disease, damping off, onion mildew,, 

 etc. Chap. iii. (pp. 35-47) describes the well- 

 known finger-and-toe disease and the important 

 wart disease of potatoes. In other chapters the' 

 author deals with rhildews, ergot and clover sick- 

 ness, rusts and smuts. Altogether nearly half 

 the book is taken up with fungoid pests. A 

 chapter is given on moths and butterflies, which 

 deals almost entirely with the surface caterpillars. 

 To the diamond-back moth five lines are devoted,, 

 in which one is told how to try to destroy it, 

 without the slightest hint as to how to identify it. 

 \\^ireworms and turnip-flea beetles (chap, x.) 

 are better dealt with, and also the chafers ; errors 

 occur in the references to the figure here. The 

 chidf flies mentioned are the frit and gout flies, 

 the Hessian fly, the cabbage-root flies, daddy- 

 long-legs— the parents of leather-jackets — and the 

 warble-flies. The last chapter deals with the 

 eelworms, the accounts of which are far too short 

 and vague to serve any useful purpose. There 

 are fifty-four figures, most of which are good, but 

 not nearly enough of the Arthropods for the book 

 to be of much help to "those who wish to acquire 

 some practical knowledge." 



Fred. V. Theobald. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

 opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 

 can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 

 the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 

 this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken of anonymous communications.] 



Adjustable Clock-dials. 



To gain daylight by adjustment of the clock is a 

 brilliant practical idea, but the present method of 

 realising it by moving the hands of the clock is 

 grossly unscientific, and should, I think, be changed 

 for the alternative one. 



Let the circular disc of the clock-dial be put in 

 place by screws in curved slots. In spring and 

 autumn, when changing time, we should rotate the 

 dial backwards and forwards respectively, leaving the 

 hands untouched. The advantages of this procedure 

 are many : — 



. (i) The zenith and nadir of the sun are the natural 

 turning-points in the day. These would still occur, as 

 they should, at the top of the dial, though the time 

 would then be one o'clock (for summer time). 



(2) The times of rising and setting of the sun at 

 the equinoxes are other natural points of time. These 

 would occur, as they should, at the bottom of the 

 dial. < 



One's concepts of time in the day are conditioned 

 by the sun's movements, and the adjustment of the 

 clock as here suggested would at least give pride of 

 place to Nature's time signals; all the other points 

 of time in the day could be varied without disturb- 

 ance to one's instincts. As we are doing at present, 

 the top and bottom of ^ the clock are losing their 

 special significance, and they mean one thing for 

 several months and something different for the rest 

 of the year. 



(3) Some clock hands — e.g. in strikers — cannot be 

 moved back. Hence in autumn we should avoid the 

 painful necessity of standing bv the clock during the. 



