September, 1903.] 



KNOWLEDGE, 



209 



deepens, while men pale and faint in presence of these mighty 

 problems.'' After this it was a distinct disappointment to find 

 that a statement on p. "231, "The planetary heavens would burn 

 as heated brass, and the heats of Pelee and Soufrirre would pile 

 and faint," was not similarly indexed. The book is distinctly 

 original, very amusing, and though we would not recommend it 

 as a text-book to the young and innocent aspirant to scientific 

 honour, we note with the most pleasurable anticipation that the 

 author says in the " Introductory " that " enough material is 

 now on hand to fill another volume like this.'" 



"frEdi.ORiOAL R.\Mr.r.ES IX East Yorkskire." By Thos. 

 Sheppard, v.n s. Pp. xii. and 2^6. With about 50 illustrations 

 and a coloured geological map. (London : A. Brown and Sons, 

 Ltd.) — This handsomely printed book is dedicated to Messrs. 

 P. F. Kendall and G. W. Lamplugh, and the frequent 

 references to the work of these geologists shows under what a 

 powerful spell the author has fallen in his rambles on the York- 

 shire coast. On ]). 31 he writes, with a welcome and just 

 enthusiasm, " to such an extent is Mr. Lamplugh connected with 

 the geology of this district, that to speak of the latter without 

 the former would be equal to playing ' Hamlet ' without the 

 Prince of Denmark." Throughout the de.scriptions, the reader 

 feels that ho forms one of a friendly party, to which the un- 

 tiring zeal of Mr. Kendall, or the ]ienetrating geniality of Mr. 

 Lamplugh, furnishes a continuous inspiration. Mr. Sheppard 

 is content to act as the recorder, and there is no reason to doubt 

 his accuracy in so doing. 



The author makes, perhaps, too much claim on the knowledge 

 of the reader at the outset. We should have liked to start with 

 a sweeping survey, a comprehensive view, from the great plain 

 of York, fit for the civilisation of imperial Rome, to the bare 

 Wolds eastward, and thence to the strange and shifting coast- 

 laud, which seems to connect Yorkshire with the flats of Holland 

 and the Baltic. The course of the Derwent, again, excites the 

 imagination when set down upon the map. We have a right to 

 look for some geographical grasp from those who offer them- 

 selves as geological guides in so interesting a country. 



The remarks on jjp. 110 — 111 as to the value of fo.ssils in 

 recording the history of a district are clearly addressed to the 

 untrained visitor. But we want more such explanations, and 

 to find them in the opening chapters, if the book is aimed at 

 the majority. What will the ordinary reader make of the 

 zoning of the Speeton clay (p. G7), or the terms Cretaceous, 

 Oolitic, and Liassic on p. 38, or the phrase "oolitic sandstone " 

 on p. 13(), where "oolitic" is ])robably used in its unfortunate 

 stratigraphical sense, as on p. 109, and in the table on p. 101, 

 and not lithologically, as one would suppose from the statements 

 on p. 92. Surely it is time that the international term Jurassic 

 should displace our local and misleiding terminology. We 

 cannot do away with " Carboniferous Limestone," or "Cretaceous 

 Chert " ; but a way has been opened by which we can avoid 

 " Middle Oolite," " Lower Oolite," and so forth. On p. 92 the 

 author uses the word Jurassic, but, by a slip, as equivalent to 

 the " Oolitic system." 



A few phrases in an otherwise clear and readable book require 

 emendation. On p. 47 we learn that " the discovery referred 

 to consisted of a streak of greenish coloured sand, about 

 24 feet long, and rarely exceeded 4 inches in thickness." On 

 p. I;)3, the whorls of an ammonite arc said to be "divided into 

 a number of septa or cell walls," instead of into a number 

 of chambers. On p. .^)'>, it is implied that great earth-move- 

 ments have not taken place in Britain since Palaiozoic times. 

 A study of the Isle of Wight or the Dorset coast would surely 

 have corrected this impression. Yet a certain ingenuousne.ss on 

 the |)art of the author, and his delight in the features of his 

 chosen locality, disarm the professional geologist, who wants to 

 look at all things from the point of view of effectiveness in a 

 lecture-room. Let us thank Mr. Sheppard for a distinctly helpful 

 volume, and for such fine illustrations as those of Bompton 

 Cliffs (p. 41), the Boulder-clay of Filey (p. 74), and the (iri.s- 

 thorpc coast with its overhanging cornice (p. 89) ; in addition 

 to which many others .should bo mentioned. 



"An Intkoductio.n to Botany." By W. C. Stevens. 

 Pp. viii. and 43G and 127. Ff. 350. (Heath & Co.) Price 6s.— 

 In this excellent textbook the author emphasises the importance 



of practical work. The chapters open with observations for 

 guidance in this, followed by a discussion on the leading points. 

 Preliminary remarks on laboratory work precede a series of 

 chapters dealing with the various parts of plants, beginning 

 with seeds and seedlings and passing on to flowers. The 

 remaining chapters will afford the beginn§i^-3>-^^eneral view of 

 the subject. The book is written ^lyfArf^Amerioan Professor, 

 primarily for American stpd^ept^'hence the "^Flora ;!|at.th«! end 

 is naturally a selection of AmericttB plants. ^> ,,. y Vt 



" A.STRONOMY FOR EvERViH<>uY.'/ .1^^' Popwar ExDCffiition of 

 the Wonders of the Heawtl'W ^^.Y P^f . Simcmjre»eotab, ll.d. 

 (London : Isbister & W!) 1?03. T^^^mSil. 7s. 6d.— 

 Despite the great promise of tjae, introductory chapter, we must 

 confess to a feeling of disa^rointment with this book as a 

 whole. While giving an orderly elementary account of astro- 

 nomical phenomena and ths uses of the principal astronomical 

 instruments, it seems to us to deal inadequately with the kind 

 of observations which everyone may make, and also with the 

 revelations of the telescope. It is besides difficult to understand 

 why Prof. Newcomb has not availed himself to a greater extent 

 of the wealth of material now available for the purpose of: 

 illustration. Many of the diagrams are unattractive, and the 

 reproductions of photographs, which are only four in number, 

 are not by any means excellent. NebuUe, of which so many 

 magnificent |)hotographs have been taken in recent years, are 

 not pictorially represented in any shape or form, and the forms 

 of comets are only exhibited by three very inferior drawings of 

 Donati's comet of 1858. It may also be pointed out that the 

 path of the rays in a Newtonian reflector is incorrectly shown 

 in Fig. 13. As might be expected, the text is thoroughly trust- 

 worthy and interesting so far as it goes, and the reader who 

 masters it will have but little to unlearn if he should happily be 

 induced to pursue his studies. It should be noted, however, 

 that the doubt expressed on p. 148 as to the presence of dark 

 lines in the spectrum of the corona is no longer justified, and 

 also that no considerable proportion of the lines in the spectra 

 of the Orion stars are now to be attributed to unknown 

 substances (p. 295). 



"Ox THE DiSTRIliUTION OF RaIN OVER THE BRITISH ISLES 



DURING TiXE Year 1902." Compiled by H. Sowerby Wallace 

 and Hugh Robert Mill, D.sc, i.l.d. (Stanford.) 10s. — No 

 country in the world possesses so excellent a corps of rainfall 

 observers as the British Isles. There are no less than 3500 of 

 them, and their observations are here given for the year 1902. 

 "British Rainfall" is as familiar as household words to 

 meteorologists, but it is a publication that engineers, agricul- 

 turalists, sanitary authorities, and others will also find of service 

 and interest. If such refer to this book they will find no diffi- 

 culty in learning whether anj- statistics are available for any 

 given locality, because the excellent way in which the stations 

 are grouped into counties makes the search easy. With such a 

 multitude of stations it is, of course, not feasible to give detailed 

 observations for them all, so that in the majority of cases only 

 the total fall for the year is given, together with the number 

 of days during the year on which rain fell. But it is not enough 

 merely to know the amount of rain that fell, since for many pur- 

 poses it is desirable to learn what happens to the rain when it 

 reaches the ground. To this end, therefore, this book includes 

 for a few stations observations concerning evaporation and per- 

 colation, although it could be wished that still more figures 

 concerning these important factors were available. The tables 

 showing the number of droughts experienced during the year 

 will jirove of great utility, fifty representative stations being 

 chosen for investigation. Another important point concerning 

 water-courses and their cai>acity for carrying off storm water 

 is elucidated by the note on heavj- rains experienced during short 

 periods, and also by the table which records the number of days 

 that had unusually heavy rains. jMr. Wallace would appear to 

 think that the interest in the record of a year's rainfall must to 

 some extent wane in the six months necessiiry for its publica- 

 tion ; but he and Dr. Mill are to bo congratulated on the quick- 

 ness with which they have published this volume, a quickness, 

 it may be said, that could be imitated by other meteorologists 

 with advantage. 



"The Structure ov the Noci.EfS." A continuatio-i of 

 " Experiments with Ionized Air," by Carl Barns. (Smithsonian 



