82 



DISCOVERY 



(a) The Practical Applications of X-rays. By G. W. C. 



Kaye, M.A., D.Sc. (Chapman & Hall, los. 6d.) 



(b) The Industrial Applications of X-rays. By P. H. S. 



Kempton, B.Sc, A.R.C.Sc. (Sir Isaac Pitman & 

 Sons, Ltd., 25. 6d.) 



(a) The first four chapters of Dr. Kaye's book contain 

 a clear, an authoritative, and, in so far as the subject 

 allows, a simple account of the nature, production, and 

 measurement of X-rays. They summarise the existing 

 knowledge on the theoretical side. The fifth chapter 

 describes and illustrates the medical application of the 

 rays, and the sixth their industrial application. How 

 wonderfully the subject of X-rays has been developed 

 in the past twenty-five years ! A striking illustration 

 of the advance in technique is shown in the frontispiece : 

 a good radiograph of a hand made in 1896 after an 

 exposure of twenty minutes is sliown to compare ill 

 with one made in 192 1 with an exposure of one-hundredth 

 of a second. Many of the photographs illustrate practical 

 applications of the rays made by the author during the 

 war years. All are excellent. Among the many radio- 

 graphs shown are those illustrating dc fective welds in a 

 steel plate, a foot inside a boot, thumb-prints, a crack in 

 the piston of an aeroplane engine, grub holes, forbidden 

 knots, and splices in aeroplane spars, and the " insides " 

 of many objects like golf-balls, fuses, rifle-grenades, 

 automatic pistols, and alarm clocks. The radiographic 

 method is a terror in revealing defective work, poor 

 materials, and fakes of all kinds. These and other 

 applications are described in the text. 



(b) Mr. Kempton's book is an introduction to the 

 apparatus and methods used in the production and 

 application of X-rays tor the examination of materials 

 ani structures. It describes what has been done and 

 what can be done with these rays. It is carefully com- 

 piled, always to the point, and suitably illustrated, 

 although it has not the wealth and beauty of the illustra- 

 tions of Dr. Kaye's book. Like most of Pitman's Technical 

 Primers it is good value for the money. 



A. S. R. 



developed monads, and the unsuitability of inorganic 

 substances, which are more lowly, show that he has not 

 taken into account that inorganic substances play a part 

 in the mechanism of life scarcely second to that of the 

 highly developed " monads " such as boiled beef and 

 cabbage. 



The later chapters deal with Spiritualism ; in fact 

 the book is designed to lead to a scheme of philosophy in 

 which spiritualism finds a place. It comes as a surprise 

 to read of " Ectoplasm " — a substance which emanates 

 from media in a state of trance, as if its existence in fact 

 were as little disputed as the existence of platinum. 



It is of the essence of a true philosophy that it should 

 harmonise all the phenomena of nature. Mr. Richardson's 

 scheme, however, goes even farther — it harmonises all 

 the phenomena of this world and the next and a few 

 which, at least in the opinion of many who have con- 

 sidered them, have no existence in either. 



R. J. V. P. 



Books Received 



(Mention in this column does not preclude a review.) 



ANTHROPOLOGY AXD ARCHEOLOGY 



The Races of England and Wales. By Prof. H. J. Fleure, 



D.Sc. (Benn Bros., Ltd., 5s.) 

 Egypt and the Old Testament. By Prof. T. Eric Peet, 



M.A. (Liverpool University Press, Ltd., and Hodder 



& Stoughton, Ltd., 5s.) 

 History of Roman Religion. By Prof. W. R. H.\lliday, 



B.A., B.Litt. (Liverpool L^niversity Press, Ltd., 



and Hodder & Stoughton, Ltd., 55.) 

 Ancient Man in Britain. By Donald A. Mackenzie. 



With foreword by G. Elliot Smith, F.R.S. (Blackie 



& Son, Ltd., 125. 6d.) 



The Supremacy of Spirit. By C. A. Richardson, M.A. 

 (Kegan Paul, 5s.) 



This book is an exposition for general readers of the 

 author's larger work on the same subject. After explain- 

 ing what philosophy is, and discussing modern philo- 

 sophies in a clear and interesting manner, he introduces 

 his own views, which are founded on those of Leibniz. 

 To quote Mr. Richardson : " Reality consisted (for 

 Leibniz) in an infinite multitude of individuals, conceived 

 of as unitary, indivisible forces or agents, psychic in 

 nature, to whom he gave the name of ' Monads.' " A 

 development of this point of view leads the author to 

 speak later of the assimilation of food as the introduction 

 of new monads into an organism, which are drilled into 

 the part they have to play by monads already there. 



Such a point of view is certainly a novel one to the mere 

 physiologist. Moreover, the author's further comments 

 on the suitability for food of organic substances, highly 



CLASSICAL LANGUAGES AND 

 LITERATURE 



The Making of Latin. By Prof. R. S. Conway, Litt.D., 

 F.B.A., etc. (John Murray, 55.) 



The Claim of Antiquity, with an annotated list of books for 

 those who know neither Latin nor Greek. Issued by 

 the Councils of The Societies for the Promotion of 

 Hellenic and Roman Studies and of the Classical 

 Association. (Oxford University Press, 15.) 



Chanties in Greek and Latin. By W. H. D. Rouse. 

 (Basil Blackwell, 25. 6d.) 



A Plain Guide to Greek Accentuation. 3rd Edition, 

 revised. I By F. Darwin Smith, M.A. (Basil 

 Blackwell, 35.) 



MISCELLANEOUS 



The Book of Religion and Empire. A Semi-Official 

 Defenc; and Exposition of Islam written by order 



