DISCOVERY 



111 



of King Zer' and the very doubtfully " imported " pots 

 of the predynastic period. We should all probaby lose 

 some of our cherished illusions. 



We have nothing but praise for the book. The general 

 discussion and the masses of references show what care 

 and affection the author has devoted to his subject. The 

 plates are excellent. 



T. E. P. 



SHORTER NOTICES 



A Star Atlas and Telescopic Handbook. By Arthur P 

 Norton, B.A. (Gall & Inglis, Edinburgh, 105. 6d.) 



Astronomical Photography for Amateurs. By H. H. 

 Waters. (Gall & IngUs, 65.) 



The atlas is intended for people described as " amateur 

 telescopists." It covers the whole Star sphere, and shows 

 over seven thousand stars, nebulae and clusters. The 

 maps are drawn for the epoch 1920. It should be a useful 

 guide to the night sky. 



The second book is a handbook for beginners, for those 

 who are neither great astronomers nor great photographers, 

 which will enable them to make the best use of the 

 apparatus at their disposal in photographing the heavenly 

 bodies. 



Edinburgh's Place in Scientific Progress. Edited by 

 C. G. Knott, D.S.c, F.R.S. (Chambers, 6s. 6d.) 

 In praise of the great men of the different sciences who 

 have worked and received inspiration in Edinburgh. The 

 work accomplished in each science is described by a 

 separate living authority on it ; the whole edited by Dr. 

 Cargill Knott. The joint-authors give an interesting story 

 of Edinburgh's contribution to Science without attempt- 

 ing to prove that all light and learning emanated from 

 within the four-miles radius from Prince's Street. 



The Seven Ages of Childhood. By Ellen Lyman Cabot. 

 (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 12s. 6d.) 



Mrs. Cabot's book is not so much a study of childhood 

 as a description, written with great sympathy and often 

 lyrical enthusiasm, of the doings and feehngs of American 

 children. The seven ages into which the author divides 

 childhood are the dependent, dramatic, angular, and 

 paradoxical age, and the age of the gang, of romance, and 

 of problems, but some of these ages seem to be coexistent 

 phases rather than successive stages of development. 



The characteristics of each " age " are illustrated by 

 a wealth of description and quotations from letters and 

 conversation, but there is little or no attempt to seek for 

 what may lie behind these changes of temperament and 

 behaviour. 



The Psychology of Medicine. By T. W. Mitchell, M.D. 

 (Methuen & Co., Ltd., 6s.) 



Dr. Mitchell's clearly and carefully written outline of 

 recent developments in psycho-therapeutics, and in parti- 



1 The tomb of KingZer, of the First Dynasty (about 3300 B.C.), 

 was found many years ago at Abydos, some 350 miles up the 

 Nile from Cairo. 



cular of the growth and scope of psycho-analysis, is 

 recommended to those who, though they have had no 

 professional training in Medicine or Psychology, are 

 desirous to read a concise genera) account of these new 

 departments of knowledge. 



Literature and Life. By E. B. Osborn. (Methuen 

 & Co., Ltd., 75. 6d.) 



Mr. Osborn is the literary editor of the Morning Post. 

 It must be admitted that we opened his book expecting 

 to find a much-needed treatise on literature as an inter- 

 preter of and influence upon Ufe, and that we were momen- 

 tarily disappointed. Only momentarily, though. We 

 soon found ourselves being vastly entertained by a dis- 

 cussion of the verse-productions of lunatics. Thence 

 we drifted on to a review of the literature of " beer," 



beginning with John Still, Bishop of Bath and Wells, 

 whose lusty song is the familiar treasure of all devout 

 beer-drinkers : 



' Now let them drink till they nod and wink. 

 Even as good fellows should do ; 

 They shall not miss to have the bliss 

 Good ale doth bring men to.' " 



"Christmas Presents," "Love or Eugenics," and 

 "Wills" followed, and some short, serious, and eloquent 

 pieces on "The Greatest Poetry" and "The Unknown 

 Muse." A most pleasant assortment of literary odds and 

 ends, enhanced by a shrewd knowledge and suggsstivensss . 



The Islanders of the Pacific. By Lt.-Cgl. T. R. St.- 

 Johnston. (T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., 25s.) 



Twenty-five Years in East Africa. By John Roscoe, 

 M.A. (Cambridge University Press, 25s.) 



These are not books of travel, but books on anthropo- 

 logy. The first is by an administrator, the second by a 

 missionary. Both authors write from long acquaintance 

 of the men they describe, and each has succeeded in pro- 

 ducing a book that is readable and informative, and that 

 contains a body of information which is a genuine con- 

 tribution to knowledge. 



Col. St. -Johnston's main theme is that present-day 

 Polynesians are derived from a nation which originated 

 from the country north of Mesopotamia — the Armenoid 

 people — and poured forth into Egypt and India, and 

 thence to Polynesia, several thousands of years before the 

 beginning of our era. In support of this he discusses the 

 available evidence derived from a study of language, 

 monuments, legend, totems, sun-myths, and the like, with 

 wide knowledge and intelligent sympathy. The book 

 should appeal both to ethnologists and those interested 

 in the peoples of the Pacific. 



Mr. Roscoe went out to Central Africa as a missionary 

 in the eighties, and for twenty-five years ministered to 

 the peoples of the lake region of Uganda. His book is a 

 popular account of these people, their social customs, 

 ceremonies, laws, habits, and religion. 



