362 



NATURE 



[May 26, 1910 



boundary between mechanics and mathematics, 

 on the one side, and between mechanics and 

 physics on the other, must have given some 

 trouble, but this kind of problem seems to 

 have been dealt with fairly satisfactorily. The 

 difficulties of internal classification, on the other hand, 

 are most perplexing and baffling. One constant 

 source of difficulty is that the mere title of a paper often 

 gives a wholly inadequate, or even a misleading, 

 notion as to its real scope ; the same paper may, more- 

 over, contain matters which in any complete system of 

 classification would fall under quite distinct headings. 

 As regards papers published since 1883, the editors 

 have attempted to deal with this point, and we are 

 told that in all such cases the contents have been ex- 

 amined by experts. It is unfortunate that the same 

 process could not be extended backwards so as to 

 cover the whole century, but the labour involved would 

 have been enormous, and the result at the best im- 

 perfect. 



The schedules adopted as the basis of classification 

 are those of the International Scientific Catalogue, 

 but a number of subheadings have been introduced. 

 These are printed in a somewhat aggressive type, and 

 distract attention perhaps as much as they assist it ; 

 indeed, we have found that some little practice is 

 necessary before the volume can be used with effect. 

 It is possible to set oneself some rather interesting 

 problems in hunting up known papers ; we may sug- 

 gest, for instance, a search for references to Hamil- 

 ton's memoirs on varying action, KirchhofT's theory of 

 the vibrations of a circular plate, or his experimental 

 method of determining elastic constants, and Hertz's 

 paper on the pressure of elastic solids in contact. 

 These are, of course, all in the book, but they may 

 take some finding. 



It would be ungracious to dwell further on imperfec- 

 tions which must occur on almost any practicable 

 system. It is pleasant to turn to points which can be 

 commended without reserve. The list of serials which 

 have been used for the purposes of the work, and the 

 indication of the more important British libraries 

 where these are to be found, will save much trouble to 

 scientific workers. Very welcome, also, as well as 

 important from the point of view of scientific history, 

 are the references to biographical articles ; these seem 

 to be especially full and complete. The lists of general 

 treatises, tables, public addresses, and books on 

 apparatus strike us, on the other hand, as somewhat 

 meagre. Possibly they are merely receptacles for a 

 few odd items for which place could not be found else- 

 where. 



When all is said, an index to the mechanical litera- 

 ture of the whole nineteenth century, drawn up on a 

 consistent plan, cannot fail to be an enormous boon 

 to students and investigators. These are once more 

 under a deep obligation to the Cambridge University 

 Press, which has undertaken the complete risk of 

 printing and publishing the work. We would endorse 

 the closing words of the preface, which express a hope 

 that the scientific world generally will "use their best 

 endeavours that this public-spirited action shall not 

 result in financial loss." 



NO. 21 17, VOL. 83] 



SHELL-FISH INDUSTRIES. 

 Shell Fish Industries. By Prof. J. L. Kellogg. Pp. xvi + 

 361. (New York : Henry Holt and Co., 1910.) 

 Price 1.75 dollars net. 



IN this work Prof. Kellogg gives a very interesting 

 account of the shell-fish industries of the United 

 States, and also a very valuable summary of our 

 present knowledge of the morphology and life- 

 histories of the edible molluscs which form the 

 material of those fisheries. The keynote of the book 

 is the insistence on that waste of great natural re- 

 sources, and indifference to the needs of the future 

 which have characterised American exploitation. Past 

 generations may have believed that the natural wealth 

 of the continent was inexhaustible, but the present 

 one, bv mercilesslv clearing up what remains, has 

 established a record of waste \Vhj^ is probably with- 

 out parallel in the history of peoples. The picture of 

 wastefulness and lawlessness presented by the account 

 of the great Chesapeake oyster fishery given in this 

 book will seem almost incredible to European readers 

 — even to those who know how State control of the 

 sea-fisheries has generally given origin to a mass of 

 futile and vexatious legislation. We read of in- 

 sufficient surveys resulting only in insecure titles; of 

 conflicting laws ; of the utilisation of political 

 machinery to secure immunity from State interfer- 

 ence ; and of an entirely inefficient fishery police. 

 The earlier oyster-dredgers are described as being 

 commanded by " as merciless a band of pirates . . . 

 as ever ruled a deck on the high seas," and manned 

 bv "vagrants, thieves, and murderers," or by newly 

 arrived and ignorant foreigners. The crews of these 

 vessels suffered "abject slavery" and "unspeakable 

 cruelties." They formed " one of the most depraved 

 bodies of workmen to be found in the country." The 

 Baltimore vessels "established a record of crime and 

 cruelty such as has rarely been equalled." The fishery 

 was entirely the exploitation of originally very rich 

 natural beds, and it is not surprising that depletion 

 of these has taken place to such an extent that many 

 areas are now barren. 



The natural reaction to such a condition of affairs 

 is scientific investigation, competent and honest sur- 

 veving, and the study of methods of cultivation. This 

 side of the question is illustrated by an account of 

 the great oyster fisheries in Long Island Sound and 

 adjacent waters. Here State control has suppressed 

 disorder, and has established security of tenure in the 

 case of the partition of the sea-bottom among the 

 holders. Methods of cultivation — seeding, culling,, 

 deposition of cultch, and destruction of starfish and 

 other oyster enemies — have made the sea vastly more 

 prolific than in natural conditions ; and so we find 

 an output of enormous proportions, and steam dredg- 

 ing vessels without parallel elsewhere among fishing 

 nations. The same line of development is already 

 indicated in the case of other American shell-fisheries. 



The parts of the book dealing with these matters — ■ 

 the history of the industry and the methods of cultiva- 

 tionj — will prove most interesting to general readers 

 and to those who study fishery questions, but the 

 purely scientific chapters in Prof. Kellogg's book are 



