Nov., 1904.] 



KNOWLEDGE cS: SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



277 



riglits, and ;i more liberal system ot cdueatiuii." No j^roat 

 ability, no extraordinary efi'ort, no costly expenditure oi money 

 is necessary to achieve these results. 



Across the Great St. Bernard. — Mr. A. R. Sennett is pos- 

 sessed of a facile and llnent eloquence, which he exercises 

 with much effect in " .Vcross the Great St. nern.ard " (I'.emrose 

 and Sons). .-Mpine climbing is a subject which naturally 

 affords scope for picturesqueness, and if the reader can over- 

 look a too exuberant tloweriness of style, he will find sincere 

 enthusiasm, much interesting matter, and a genuine gift of 

 observation on the part of his author. Mr. Sennett is a 

 dauntless cyclist, and, wherever it was possible, his journey 

 was performed by that means. Among many curious points 

 of interest he raises is that of the curious physiological pheno- 

 menon, peculiar to high altitudes, known as maldeniDn- 

 tapie. Its symptoms are described as follows: "Within an 

 hour of the hospice I was sei2ed with mal-de-montagne. . . 

 My throat was dry, my head ached, as did my limbs ; 

 in the most unexpected manner I dropped in the snow, 

 with an overpowering desire to sleep there and then." This 

 form of seizure has been investigated by Professor Mosso. of 

 Turin. He found that it generally began at a height of i.;.ooo 

 or 13,000 feet. The symptoms are an extreme lassitude, with 

 panting for breath, and sometimes vertigo, with nausea, and a 

 tendency to syncope. Professor Mosso is of opinion that it is 

 due not only to a deficiency of oxygen in the blood, but also to 

 a lack of carbonic acid caused by diminution of air pressure. 

 and he relieved a sufferer from mountain sickness by giving 

 him carbonic acid gas to breathe, but M. de Thierry, on the 

 other hand, states that carbonic acid gas exists in nearly the 

 same proportion at a height of 12,000 feet as it does 5,ooo feet 

 lower. It is curious that Mr. Sennett was recommended, by 

 " the good father of the hospice at Simplon, if we felt faint, to 

 eat the snow I Because," said he, " you may become faint for 

 lack of oxygen, and mountain snow contains much air." 



An Optical Dictionary. — "The Optical Dictionary" (Gutenberg 

 Press), edited by Mr.Charles Hyatt-Woolf, is a useful glossary of 

 optical and ophthalmological terms. It is intended for the use 

 of students and others ; and includes, in addition to strictly 

 optical terms, a large numberof words relating to photography 

 and instruments of precision, as well as mathematical terms, 

 and a certain number of French and German words in 

 common use. 



A German Grammar. — " Whitaker's Modern Method of Learn- 

 ing German " (Whitaker and Sons), by C. W. Whit.iker and 

 H. G. Braun,is intended primarily for the use of students who 

 are teaching themselves. It contains much useful matter, a 

 simplified grammar, examples of correspondence and con- 

 versation, exercises and translations. In our opinion the 

 authors are mistaken in supposing that a student could obtain 

 any idea how to pronounce the German language from the 

 accompanying phonetic spelling in the reading lessons. What 

 open-minded person, for instance, would imagine that " fair- 

 gnea-goonks-rry-zer "represented the correct pronunciation of 

 " Vergniigungsreise " ? While the spelling Mesch for Ich and 

 leesh for lich are surely unnecessarily misleading. 



Trees. — The first volume on Buds and Twigs, Professor 

 Marshall Ward's series on "Trees" (Cambridge University 

 Press), is well calculated to fulfil the purpose for which it was 

 intended — that of providing students of forest botany with a 

 guide to the study of trees and shrubs from the point of view 

 of the outdoor naturalist. The author seeks to rectify the 

 existing neglect of the older methods of observation of the 

 living plant, " which rendered the study of botany so exhila- 

 rating to the naturahst of pre-labor.atory days." It is a most 

 attractive little volume, filled with excellent illustrations. It 

 is so far exempt from unnecessary technicalities as to make it 

 suitable for the use of the amateur student of Nature, while 

 at the same time it also includes an introduction to the study 

 of systematic botany and morphology, and to what its author 

 describes as " the expert study of forest botany." 



The Storj' of the World. — A wise selection of an elementary 

 text-book of history for Cape schools has been made by the 

 Government in " The Story of the World " (Wm. Blackwood), 

 by Miss M. B. Synge. It is published in five volumes, each 

 one complete in itself. The first, which is in some ways the 

 best of the series, tells the story of the world up to the time 



1 Julius C;esar. The method adoii[ i :.ii uly 



with well-known events .and incidents likely to i[npress them- 

 selves re.adily on a child's mind ; these are described in a 

 pleasant, popular style, and brielly connected by a historical 

 n.arrative. The illustrations are attractive and instructive. 

 The four successive volumes deal with tlie periods from the 

 Roman Enipire to the Uen.aissance (\'ol. 11.) ; from the Refor- 

 mation to the Seven Years' War (Vol. III.) ; and from the 

 .'Vmericau War to Waterloo, " The Struggle for Sea Power " 

 (Vol. IV.). A volume on " The Growth of the British Empire " 

 (Vol. \'.), covering the period from Waterloo to 1903, completes 

 the series. 



Photography.- '■ How to Photograph with Roll Cut Films" 

 (Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Limited), by John A. Hodges, 

 F.R.P.S. A good manual for the amateur; should be very 

 popular. Price is. net. 



A New Catechism (Watts and Co.). by Mr. M. M. Mangasarian 

 Lecturer of Independent Religious Society of Chicago, is an 

 attempt to give, in (juestion and answer form, a popular com- 

 mentary upon current beliefs, phenomena, and institutions. It 

 deals with such subjects as Reason and Revelation, the Church 

 Creeds and Clergy, Death and Immortality. It appears to be 

 a sincere attempt to face the essential facts of life. 



Key to Godfrey and Siddons' Geometry.— Mr. F. A. Price has 

 done a useful piece of work in ])re|)aring a " Key to Godfrey 

 and Siddons' Geometry" (C. J. Clay and Sons, Cambridge 

 University Press Warehouse). A key is essential to a work 

 of this Kind, and will treble the usefulness of an excellent Text- 

 book of Geometry for Preparatory Schools. 



Philosophy of Herbert Spencer. — Mr. W. H. Hudson has re- 

 vised and partly rewritten his" Introduction to the Philosophy 

 of Herbert Spencer " (Watts and Co.), which now appears in a 

 cheap and popular edition. It is intended as a guide to the 

 study of the Synthetic System, rather than a summary of it; 

 it also includes a biographical chapter. It is written in as 

 clear and popular a style as is consistent with the subject. 



Second-Hand Books. — From Messrs. John Wheldon and Co. 

 we ?iave received a copy of their newly-issued list of miscel- 

 laneous books, in which, we notice, the various branches of 

 science are well represented. 



Physical Apparatus — Messrs. F. E. Becker and Co. (W. & J. 

 George, Limited, Successors) have sent us a copy of their new 

 list of apparatus in the various departments of Physics, in- 

 cluding Sound, Light, Heat, Magnetism, Electricity, Mechanics, 

 iS:c. This exhaustive catalogue consists of over 600 pages and 

 some 4000 illustrations. One of its notewortliy features is 

 that the reciuirements of science teaching in this country and 

 its Colonics are always kept in view, and the articles listed 

 cover the latest developments in their subjects. The method 

 adopted in the list itself, together with the completeness of tlie 

 index, is such as to make reference to it simple and expe- 

 ditious. 



Brooks' riexible Curves.— Mr. 



Street, sends for our inspection 



W. J. Brooks, of Fiti;roy 

 the devices which he has 

 patented for assisting 

 draughtsmen to draw 

 experimental curves. 

 These devices are three 

 in number — a flexible 

 strip of celluloid or 

 steel providc:d .along its 

 length with tabs which 

 can be held down by 

 the fingers, a steel 

 strii) to which any shape can be given by means of a stiff- 

 hinged linkwark that is attached to the tabs and holds them 

 permanently in position, and an elaboration of a siinilar 

 principle suited for drawing long curves. In this third 

 pattern light wooden cross-bars hinged to the tabs slide 

 through brass spring-clamps, and are thereby hcM friction- 

 tight against a long wooden bar running like an abscissa ol 

 the curve. These devices, together with one or two modifica- 

 tions and accessories of thein, are as practical as they are 

 ingenious, and will be found of great service to architects, 

 designers, engineers, or experimenters in mathematical physics 

 and to draughtsmen generally. 



