September 1, 1890.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



215 



pursue his hobby thoughtfully, keeping one eye on the egg 

 and another on its surroundings, that their mutual bear- 

 ings may be noted, and the causes of peculiarities, if 

 possible, traced out. Under such circumstances, it is the 

 more to be regretted that no attempt has been made at 

 classification, the eggs being described simply as they occur 

 in the plates, where they are ai'ranged with a view to 

 artistic effect rather than to affinity. The descriptions 

 might easily have been arranged according to some system 

 of classification, and we venture to think tliat thereby a 

 really beautiful book would have been made considerably 

 more valuable. 



British Fossils, and where to seek them. By Joseph W. 

 Williams. (Swan, Sonnenschein & Co.) This new 

 volume of the marvellously cheap " Young Collector 

 Series," maintains the reputation its predecessors have 

 deservedly gained, and well supplies a want that every 

 tyro must often have felt. " What to look for, and where 

 to look " — the two burning questions that perplex the 

 amateur fossil-hunter when he sallies forth, hammer and 

 bag in hand, to explore a new district — these form Mr. 

 Williams' text, and in terse language he endeavours to 

 solve the difficulties, by pointing out where each formation 

 is best developed, and detailing the characteristic fossOs of 

 each. He has thus produced a imdtum in jmrro, which no 

 young collector can aiford to be without, and which should 

 prove a valuable pocket companion in the field. The illus- 

 trations are numerous and good, especially of the fossils of 

 the older formations. Workers in the Tertiaries would 

 probably have been grateful for a few more figures of the 

 abundant Mollusca of the period. 



Tlie Story of Cheiiiistr;/. By Harold W. Picton, B.kic. 

 ( Wm. Isbister.) In this useful and compendious handbook 

 we have a clear and simple account of the progress of 

 chemical research from the times of the alchemists to the 

 present day. Mr. Picton wisely makes no assumption of 

 initial technical Imowledge on the part of those whom he 

 addresses, and his book is, in the main, as intelligible to the 

 general reader as to the student or the specialist. It is in 

 itself a wonderfully fascinating tale, this, of the long struggle 

 through the centuries between the human intellect and 

 Dame Nature, till, after many unfruitful efforts, her secrets 

 were finally, one by one, wrung from her grasp. But one 

 of the most attractive features of the " story," as the author 

 tells it, is the judicious proportion and the apt connection 

 in which the biographical element has been introduced. 

 To the ordinary student, the great discoverers in chemical 

 science are too often little more than names ; Mr. Picton 

 has invested them with a living personahty ; he has not 

 been so intent on detailing the gradual growth of the solid 

 mass of facts which form the modern chemist's inheritance 

 as to leave out of sight the human agencies by which the 

 triumphs were achieved. We are shown what sort of men 

 they were whose names figure so largely in ordinary text- 

 books of chemistry, and in consequence the additional 

 interest of life is imparted to the science which deals with 

 dull, dead matter. Those who are puzzled by tlie inlerde- 

 (lendrnce of the facts of chemistry, and have found it diflicult 

 therefore to realise how the foundations of knowledge were 

 laid down, will appreciate the service Mr. Picton has 

 rendered in clearly detailing, and yet compressing within 

 moderate limits, the story of the progress of discovery and 

 the course by which the essentials of chemical truth were 

 established. 



Museuiii.i and Art (lalleries. ]?y Thomas Cukknwood, 

 F.R.G.S. (Simpkin, Marshall k Co.) This companion 

 volume to the author's Free I'lildir Libraries ought to be 

 in the hands of all who are practically concerned with the 



advancement of the Museum and Art Gallery movement, 

 and will, we trust, help to stimulate public interest in these 

 invaluable adjuncts of the Public Library. With com- 

 mendable industry, Mr. Greenwood has compiled a mass 

 of information about the various Museums and Art 

 Galleries of all characters scattered throughout the 

 United Kingdom, as well as the chief ones on the Con- 

 tinent and in America. Some additional chapters are 

 devoted to such very important branches of the subject as 

 the " Classification and Arrangement of Objects," " Sun- 

 day Opening," " Museum Lectures," etc. We would 

 specially call attention to the latter subject. There can 

 be no doubt that the utility of a Museum or Art Gallery 

 is immensely increased by the establishment in connection 

 with it of series of good lectures on different gi'oups of the 

 objects exhibited ; and jKovided the two main difficulties 

 of suitable lecturers and necessary funds can be got over, 

 no institution of the kind should be considered complete 

 without some such provision. The author urges the 

 adoption, whenever practicable, of the " Public Libraries 

 Act," arguing that the only remedy for the neglect under 

 which most of them suffer, and the unsatisfactory con- 

 dition under which they exist, is to be found in adopting 

 the Act, and making them rate-supported. But he neglects 

 the educational effect of the interest called forth in those 

 who subscribe and associate themselves together for the 

 management of such institutions. He is perhaps inclined 

 to over-estimate the ethical influence of Museums and Art 

 Galleries on the holiday-making section of the community. 

 It would appear to be soimder policy to advocate their 

 establishment as a means of intellectual culture for a 

 class which, though very important to the communit}", 

 does not generally look to the rates for help, and had 

 better not be encouraged to do so unless it is willing to 

 accept the control by the State, as weU as State-aid, with 

 its attendant red-tape and stereotyped methods. 



Xorthern 'Ajlun, " within the Decapolis." By G. Schu- 

 macher, C.E. (A. P. Watt.) Herr Schumacher has 

 already made his mark as a painstaking and able explorer 

 by the work he has done as a member of the staflf of the 

 " Palestine Exploration Fund." His operations have been 

 carried on in the northern part of the " country beyond 

 •lordan," and several memoirs detailing the results have, 

 during the last few years, been published by the '• Fund." 

 The present modest little volume forms a further contri- 

 bution to the topography and archeology of that region, 

 issued under the same auspices. To none but Palestinian 

 experts will the title be likely to convey much informa- 

 tion — a matter of no great consequence, however, as the 

 book is evidently intended rather for students of the 

 antiquities and ancient history of the Holy Land than for 

 the reading public generally. Under the name " Xorthern 

 'Ajlun," Herr Schumacher includes a small district of 

 about 220 square miles in extent, lying S.E. of the sea of 

 Galilee, and immediately south of the river Yarmuk, and 

 therefore just beyond the limits of the region which has 

 achieved notoriety as the site of the " Giant Cities of 

 ]5aslian." It is interesting chiefly as being part of the 

 Decapolis of Biblical times, and as containing the town- 

 ship of Umm Keis, which is believed to bo on the site of 

 the ancient Gadara. A detailed description of the ruins 

 in this neighboui-hood is given, showing the situation and 

 form, so far as can be ascertained, of theatres, temples, 

 and tombs belonging to the city which Josephus describes 

 as " a place of strength, containing many rich citizens." 

 A plan of the site is added, and many neat and careful 

 drawings show plans and details of the ruins, accom- 

 panied in every case by all needful measurements. The 



