May 31, 1900] 



NATURE 



lO] 



wire fences, must be used to balk prowling cats. As to 

 the best means of dealing with the human foes of birds, 

 these, as already said, are mainly left to the powers that 

 he ; but the formation of "bird-leagues," by members of 

 the female sex who are willing to forego the ornamenta- 

 tion of their head-gear by the plumes of songsters, is 

 strongly urged, as is the repression of the ordinary col- 

 lector. Education, and the establishment of an annual 

 " bird-day," are also regarded as important factors in 

 the scheme. 



The author has performed his task in a manner calcu- 

 lated to interest his readers,, and his work should be 

 acceptable to those on both sides of the. Atlantic who 

 love to hear bird-music around their homes. R. L. 



Der Urspruti!^ der Kultur. Von L. Frobenius. Bd. i. 



Der Ursprung der Afrikanischen Kulturen. Mit 26 



Karten, 9 Tafeln, sowie ca. 240 Text illustrationen. 



Pp. xxxi -f 368. (Berlin : Gebriider Borntraeger, 1898.) 

 This is the first volume of an ambitious work. The 

 author proposes to seek out the Origin of Civilisation 

 on what he considers to be a new plan. , But in reality 

 Mr. Frobenius can only work on the old lines ; he 

 can only compare one custom with another, and use the 

 same old weak argument from analogy to prove con- 

 nection between tribes who have similar customs : "er 

 lehrt alte Weisheit als neue." ("Programm": p. xii.). 

 He proclaims the virtues of his "new plan," however, 

 in the very manner of the Teutonic Gelehrte : he con- 

 siders himself to be laying the foundations of a new 

 science (p. xiv.) : "Was bedeuten alle Entbehrung und 

 Enlsagung, wenn sie auch noch so herb sein mogen, 

 gegeniiber dem grossen Gliicke, schafTend und Schopf- 

 erisch bei der Griindung einer Wissenschaft teilnehmen 

 zu konnen. Ich habe die bitteren Stunden und herben 

 Obel nie so stark empfunden, wie die Freude iiber die 

 Erfolge, das stolze Gefiihl des selbststdndigen Schbpfers. 

 Und ich habe den herzlichen Wunsch, dass etwas von 

 jener Spannkraft, die Mudigkeit und alle sonst vielleicht 

 verzeihlichen und berechtigten Wiinsche vergessen lasst, 

 aus diesen Blattern dem Leser bemerkbar werden und 

 in ihn iibergehen moge." The italics are our own : we 

 greatly fear that Mr. Frobenius, like so many of his 

 " Fachgenossen," has no sense of humour. He does not 

 forget to castigate his predecessors in ethnological study, 

 some of whom are apparently prone to set fool's caps on 

 their heads and give them out to be academical costume 

 (p. ix.). The whole "Programm" which precedes the 

 book is a typical product of what the author himself 

 calls the " uberhitzten Gelehrtenkopf " (p. ix.). 



Apart from the rather ridiculous pretensions of its 

 introduction, the book as a whole is useful enough as a 

 series of essays on various phases of African ethnology, 

 which are often very interesting, e.g. the chapter on 

 building-styles (p. 194 ff.). They cannot, however, be 

 said to prove much with regard to the origin of African 

 civilisation, which is presumably what they are intended 

 to do. The author's arguments in favour of his theory of 

 the " Malayonigritish " origin of West African culture are 

 interestingly put forward. 



Absolutely nothing whatever is said about Ancient 

 Africa : not a word with regard to the Zimbabye ruins, 

 which we had expected to find exhaustively discussed 

 here : not a word about the wonderful civilisation of 

 Egypt, with the earliest beginnings of which we have 

 now, thanks to the energy of Prof. Petrie and Messrs. 

 Quibell, De Morgan and Amelineau, been brought into 

 close contact, and which appears more and more 

 African in character the further we go back. Not a 

 smgle comparison of the Zulu and Egyptian head-rests 

 even, to take the instance which first comes to mind ; 

 but a curious misapprehension on p. 97, where Fig. 60 is 

 described as a " Sceptermesser der Pharaonen,'' whatever 

 that may be : the object in question is merely the well- 



NO. 1596, VOL. 62 I 



known and commonly-used Egyptian sword called 

 Khepesh (on account of its resemblance to the shape of 

 an animal's thigh., e.g. khepesh)., which had nothing in 

 particular to do with either Pharaohs or sceptres. 



Of the illustrations, while the majority are good, some 

 are certainly very bad, e.g. Plate iv. and Figs. 137, 139. 



The Amateur's Practical Garden Book. (" The Garden 



Craft Series.") By, C. E. Hunn and L. H. Bailey. 



Pp. vi -I- 250. (New York : The Macmillan Co. ; 



London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1900.) 

 Thp: sub-title of this book very aptly indicates the nature 

 of its contents, "The simplest directions for the grow- 

 ing of the commonest things about the house and 

 garden." 



The subjects dealt with are arranged alphabetically, 

 beginning with Abobra and ending with Zinnia. It must 

 not, however, be concluded that the book is merely a 

 dictionary of plant names. It is much more. 



Thus, under the heading "Annuals," we have an ex- 

 planation of the term, the cultural details necessary for 

 their proper growth, together with lists classified accord- 

 ing to the colour of the flower, or the purpose the flowers 

 have to serve. 



The book is written for the climate of New York, but 

 with the requisite modifications it is suitable for gardeners 

 in this country also. It is severely practical, and prin- 

 ciples, though perceptibly diffused, are not so much as 

 mentioned. 



Man and his Ancestor : a Study in Evolution. By 

 Charles Morris. Pp. 238. (New York: The Mac- 

 millan Company. London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 

 1900.) 

 The author has written this little book for the purpose 

 of providing the intelligent person with a good and 

 sufficient reason for the evolutionary faith that is in him. 

 It is true that there is no book of a non-technical nature 

 that quite covers the ground taken by the author, and it 

 is only fair to him to state that he has filled this gap in 

 a most creditable manner. It is obvious that many stages 

 in the evolutionary history of man can only be guessed 

 at by us, and that there is much room for discussion in 

 these hypotheses as well as in the interpretation of ac- 

 cepted facts ; but Mr. Morris is not aggressively dog- 

 matic, nor has he striven to be sensational. There are, 

 however, several statements to which exception can be 

 taken in the chapter on the " Vestiges of Man's Ancestry." 

 If Mr. Morris thinks the function of the thyroid is a 

 " minor and obscure one," let him have his own excised 

 and then he will know. Club foot is not generally re- 

 garded as a reversion to the anthropoid foot. Taking it 

 all round, the book may be safely recommended to that 

 class of readers for whom it was intended, and it may 

 lead such to consult the recognised works on the various 

 topics on which he touches. Owing to no references 

 being given, inquirers will have to seek elsewhere for an 

 introduction to the literature of human evolution. The 

 author has not considered his little book worthy of an 

 index. 



A First Geometry Book. By J. G. Hamilton and 

 F. Kettle. Pp. ii -f- 91. (London : Edward Arnold, 

 1900.) 

 This little book contains a series of elementary exercises 

 in geometry based on the method of allowing the pupil 

 to deduce as many principles as possible after, and from 

 the results of, experiments or exercises dependent on 

 them. The deductions are drawn from the pupil's own 

 measurements of his drawings to scale of the usual 

 geometrical figures. From this it will be understood 

 that the book really consists of a series of graduated 

 exercises which appear to be well chosen and arranged, 

 and likely to prove suggestive to teachers and useful to 

 students beginning their first studies of the subject. 



