444 



NATURE 



[AuGusi 7, 1919 



Badische Anilin catalytic process, or by the 

 agency of cold and pressure, as in the Linde- 

 Frank-Caro process. All these methods have 

 been carefully worked out, and all are in actual 

 use on the large scale. Major Teed gives a suc- 

 cinct account of them, and of certain other less 

 important processes, with such theoretical explana- 

 tions as seemed to him necessary. A chemical 

 engineer with actual experience of the working 

 of hydrogen plants will probably find little 

 in the description with which he is not already 

 familiar, but the student and the ordinary 

 chemical manufacturer who are desirous of learn- 

 ing something concerning the mode of producing 

 hydrogen on the large scale for manufacturing 

 purposes will find the book of considerable 

 service. It is simply and concisely written, and 

 well illustrated. The bibliography is fairly 

 full, and the references to patent literature are 

 ample. It would, however, have added to the 

 value of the book as a work of reference if an 

 attempt had been made to give a short analysis 

 of this literature. 



ORGANIC READJUSTMENTS. 

 Man's Supreme Inheritance. Conscious Guidance 

 and Control in Relation to Human Evolution in 

 Civilisation. By F. M. Alexander. Second 

 edition. With an introductory word by Prof. 

 John Dewey. Pp. xxviii + 239. (London: 

 Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1918.) Price 75. 6d. 

 net. 



''PHIS book, strongly recommended by 'Prof. 

 -•- John Dewey, philosopher and educationist, 

 will intrigue the reader. It gives the weary 

 traveller a vista of a promised land, in which he 

 may walk with light steps, and breathe freely, 

 and enjoy physical perfection. The particular 

 path into the promised land is not precisely re- 

 vealed, but one of the sign-posts is "respiratory 

 re-education," and the general idea is that of 

 substituting for carelessly acquired habits and out- 

 of-date instinctive promptings a regimen — or, 

 rather, an art-^— of conscious control and scientific 

 guidance. Man is hampered by maladjustments 

 to the complex artificial environment which he 

 has evolved around him ; return to Nature and to 

 the simple life is impossible and undesirable; to 

 rely on mystical breezes and emotional gusts to 

 give the ship a prosperous voyage is to invite 

 disappointment ; what is needed is more intelligent 

 seamanship. 



Human evolution has been environmental as 

 well as organismal, and the changes that are 

 enregistered in the social heritage (city life, for 

 instance) imply much that is unnatural for 

 creatures who are zoologically open-air mammals, 

 much to which the human body is far from being 

 well adapted. To lessen the discomfort and hind- 

 rances implied in this imperfect adjustment all 

 sorts of palliatives are tried ; the author has faith 

 in none. He believes only in a serious discipline, 

 in conscious control. It is in vain to fall back on 

 deeply rooted subconscious or instinctive prompt- 

 NO. 2597, VOL. 103] 



ings, for these were wrought out in relation to> 

 a very different order of things, and instead of 

 being dependable guides they may be at times 

 positively misleading. Habits of the body, such 

 as ways of walking and breathing, which once 

 served passably well, have to be superseded by 

 something better, and Mr. Alexander's experience 

 has led him to a large faith in man's educability. 

 Well-thought-out discipline in conscious guidance 

 and control will lead to the development of a 

 new subconsciousness — cultivated, not inherited. 

 The discipline indicated "will enable the in- 

 dividual to stand, sit, walk, breathe, digest, and,, 

 in fact, live with the least possible expenditure of 

 vital energy. This will ensure the highest 

 standard of resistance to disease." It is- claimed 

 that it will do more (and we can well believe it),, 

 that it will develop a new sense of bodily freedom, 

 and relief from strain, and that it will react on. 

 the inner life of thought, feeling, and will. 



This is not the place for any discussion of what 

 Mr. Alexander half reveals of his methods of 

 neuro-muscular training in general, and "respira- 

 tory re-education " in particular; we must be con- 

 tent with directing attention to what is a very 

 interesting contribution to the old question of 

 "nature" and "nurture." The central idea is 

 that man's supreme inheritance — to wit, a capacity 

 for rational control — should be more deliberately 

 utilised in the education of the body, in saving 

 us from handicapping habits which artificial con- 

 ditions all too readily induce, and in leading us 

 to the realisation of powers which, in default of 

 appropriate nurture, are all too likely to remain 

 latent or half-developed. We forgive the author 

 his very frequent repetitions and his frank self- 

 advertisement, for we think that he has some- 

 thing very valuable to say. "We must break 

 the chains which have so long held man to that 

 directive mental plane which belongs to the early 

 stages of his evolution. The adoption of conscious 

 guidance and control (man's supreme inheritance) 

 must follow, and the outcome will be a race of 

 men and women who will outstrip their ancestors 

 in every known sphere, and enter new spheres as 

 yet undreamt of by the great majority of the 

 civilised peoples of our time." This is a large 

 order, but if we begin, Mr. Alexander assures 

 us, we shall soon have abundant payment to 

 account. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



A Geography of America. By T. Alford Smith. 



(Macmillan's Practical Modern Geographies.) 



Pp. x + 329. (London: Macmillan and Co., 



Ltd., 1919.) Price 4s. 6d. 



The writing of a short text-book is as much an 



art as the writing of a short story, and little 



latitude for self-expression can be allowed to 



those who work for schools. Mr. T. Alford 



Smith explains this limitation when he appends 



selected examination questions to his conscientious 



treatise. The details on which geography is 



founded still remain more important in the eyes 



