DISCOVERY 



231 



IS to provide reproductions of the great masterpieces of 

 science in a convenient form, togetlier witli a fairly com- 

 plete account of tlie action and reaction of ideas whicln, 

 through the process of time, led up to the crucial experi- 

 ments carried out and described by some great master. 

 This account by Dr. Charles Singer of Harvey's discovcrv 

 of the circulation of the blood could hardly be bettere<l. 

 His first chapter tells what the circulation of the blood 

 is in the plain language of to-day ; the second and later 

 ones describe the knowledge of the vascular svsteni in 

 antiquity, and how the revival of learning and the earlv 

 work of such men as \"esalius and Servetus led to 

 Harvev's brilliant work early in the seventeenth ctnturv. 

 The book is astonishingly interesting, partly, no doubt, 

 because of its subject-matter, but partly also because it is 

 written by an authority who knows and loves the subject 

 he is describing. It i^' recommended whole-heartedlv to 

 our readers. 



The Laiii^itai^c ot Anotoiny. Tract No. IX. of thi' 

 Societv for Pure English. By \\'.\i. Cltiih[-:rt 

 Morton, C.B.E., .M..\., M.D., and Robert Bridges, 

 M.B., F.R.C.P. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2s. 6d.) 



The gist of tliis paper by Dr. Morton and the Poet 

 Laureate is to offer practical suggestions for the English- 

 ing of the terminology of anatomical science. Its import 

 is to condemn the action of those who are moving to 

 introduce a formal Latin international terminolog\- into 

 the British Schools of Anatomy; it is argued that such 

 action is wrong in principle and harmful in practice. The 

 authors contend that all scientific nomenclature must h.ive 

 its basis in every national language, and tli;it whatever 

 classical or foreign terms are introduced should be ;is 

 tar as possible adapted to the national speech. 



The Green Ray. By Pnot. M. E. Mii.di'r. (T. Fisher- 

 L'nwin, 6s.) 



.\ monograph on the green ray or green llash seen, or, 

 according to some, alleged to be seen, at the rising and 

 the setting of the sun. Previous descriptions of this rav 

 and opinions about it are discussed. The author is not 

 dead sure of himself, but he favours the '" dispersion "' 

 theory of its existence, and is against believing it to be an 

 " after-image " phenomenon. 



Chemistry for Beginners and Schools. Bv C. T. 

 KiNGZETT, F.I.C., F.C.S. Fourth Edition. (Bailliere, 



TlM).\LL & Cox, 5s.) 



La Notion d'Espace. By D. Nvs, Professor in the 

 University of Louvain. (Brussels: Les Editions 

 Robert Sant ; London: Humphrey Milford, T5S.) 



Mechanics. Part I. By George Thompson' and Georgi: 

 H. Leslie, B.Sc. (Cassel & Co., Ltd., 2s.) 



.\ new volume in a series which has been previously 

 noticed. 



The Report of the Xalioual Physical Laboratory for the 

 Year igj,. (Sold by H.M. Slationerv Office, (js. bd.i 



THE WORf.D-S L.\RGEST TELE.SCOPE AND ITS 

 REXEL.VTIONS. 



The Xeie Heavens. By George Ellkrv H.\le. (Charles 

 Scribner's Sons, 7s. 6d.) 



The general reader, that indefatigab:e person for whom 

 authors strive to write books and reviewers agonise to 

 explain what they are about, will find Dr. Hale's book 

 a revelation and a delight. It is a short book of eighty- 

 eight pages containing in them no less than forty illus- 

 trations, most of them photographs of distinction, but 

 every page is good. The author has a first-hand know- 

 ledge of his subject, for he is the director of the Mount 

 Wilson Observatory (Califurnia) of the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion of \\'ashington. .\nd his method of treatment and 

 style are excellent and well suited to the general reader; 

 indeed, part of the book has already appeared in 

 .Scribner's Magazine. 



The book has three chapters. The first contains a 

 description of the lOo-inch Hooker telescope — the largest 

 telescope in the world — what it is, and what can be dene 

 with it ; the second describes giant stars, and gives an 

 account of the determination of the angular diameter of 

 Betelgeuse by the interferometer method ; the third is 

 entitled Cosmic Crucibles, and deals with the enorm.ou.s 

 pressures and temperatures of certain stars and the 

 relation of these to the buikling up of the heavier elements 

 from lighter ones. 



The photographs reproduced are excellent and 

 instructive. 



A. S. R. 



Correspondence 



R.VDIATIONS FROM SLOW R.\DirM AND THEIR 

 THERAPELTIC A'.XLUE. 



To the Editor of Discox'Erv. 

 Sir, 



VOIR RE]IE\V. 

 The short notice which appeared in your Journal of 

 .May, 1922, page 139, has just been brought to my notice. 

 It deals with an unfair anil incorrect re\ie\v of inv book 

 entitled ; — 



" Radiations from Slow Radium; by John B. Kramer; 

 .\nd their therapeutic value; by Major John F. Hall- 

 Edwards, L.R.C.P. (Edin.), D.M.R.&E. 

 (Cantab.), F.R.S. (Edin.), Hon. F.R.P.S., late 

 R.A.M.C." 



\ our critic, when rexiewing a book, might at least be 

 accurate before he accuses anyone else of "inaccuracy." 

 He quotes the title of my book — I should say, disin- 

 genuously — wrongly. Will you please correct this in vour 

 ne.xt issue ? 



Then he "throws mud" — without uualific.ition : and 

 "runs awav" — anonvmouslv. 



