February, igo6.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



355 



five, and hardly ever live to seventy. The only reason which 

 in this bulky and interesting monograph we have been able to 

 discover for their failure to live to a hundred, is in the recipe 

 for one of their beverages. It is called " sa-fu-eng," and is 

 prepared as follows: " Cold water is first put in a jar and into 

 it are thrown cooked rice, cooked camotes, cooked locusts, 

 and all sorts of cooked fiesh and bones. The resulting liquor 

 is drunk at the end of ten days." Mr. Jeuks says that it 

 smells worse than anything else in Bontoc ; and he is puzzled 

 to account for the absence of fatal consequences. To our 

 minds it shows only what fine constitutions these primitive 

 people possess; though the fact of the shortness of their days 

 is still unaccounted for. 



Of Jack's Scientific Series (T. C. & E. C. Jack ; price is. each) 

 we have received five new volumes. Meteorology, by J. G. 

 McPherson, Ph.D., F.R.S.E., is a handy little book, containing 

 a number of interesting facts in all branches of meteorology. 

 But the composition is not as satisfactory as it might be. 

 There seems to be a strained attempt to make the language 

 simple and childlike, and yet much ot it is far from being clear, 

 even to the intelligent reader. For instance, what is meant 

 (on p. 92) by " The leading winds are under the calculation of 

 the meteorologist, but the others will not be bound by laws" ? 

 It seems rather superfluous to tell us "The soft rain on a 

 genial evening or the heavy thunderstorms on a broiling day 

 are too well known to be written about " (though such sub- 

 jects would seem to be the object of the book), and " Some- 

 times rain is earnestly wished for, at other times it is dreaded, 

 according to the season." 



Sociology, by C. \V. Saleeby, M.D., is another of the series. 

 Whether " Sociology " can be called a science, and divided 

 into " pure Sociology " and " applied Sociology" is a matter 

 that we need not here discuss, but the author himself does not 

 lay stress on this point, and merely goes ahead to relate in com- 

 prehensible language some of the leading facts which are to be 

 included under this head. Part I. consists of a general survey 

 of society, sexes, and social organism, together with the origin 

 and future of Religious Belief. Part II. deals with such sub- 

 jects as Education, Society and Crime, Socialism and Politics. 

 Two more books of the series are by the same author, Dr. 

 Saleeby, and on very kindred subjects. Heredity discusses 

 modes of reproduction, facts and laws of Variation, Men- 

 delism, and Inheritance. Organic Evolution treats of the Evo- 

 lution of Life, Natural Selection, and one chapter — which will 

 doubtless be generally sought for — on the Future Evolution of 

 Man. Here, the author tells us, we may look for improve- 

 ment. Not only is the intelligent and the conscientious man 

 more likely to gain the admiration of a fellow-woman, but, what 

 is nowadays more practically important, such an individual is 

 more likely to gain a post, giving him the means to marry. 

 Psychology is yet another volume by Dr. Saleeby, and this 

 treats of the Evolution of Mind and Will, Association of Ideas 

 and of Sensations, and ends up with a chapter on Psychical 

 Research. 



The Voyage of the " Discovery," by Capt. R. F. Scott, C.V.O., 

 R.N., 2 vols. (Smith, Elder, and Co.; price 42s. net). — A book 

 of this nature, a record of three years of travel, and a record 

 which must bear the stamp of an official report, cannot but 

 be bulky, and there is more than this to be included. .\ 

 general history of .Antarctic navigation is a fitting intro- 

 duction to the story, and then a full account of the incep- 

 tion (jf and preparations for this particular expedition must 

 necessarily follow. Once started on the voyage all is plain 

 sailing, and from Christmas Day, 190 1, till September, 1904, an 

 almost daily account of life and adventure in the Antarctic is 

 presented. It will not be necessary here to repeat any of the 

 tale which is told. The book is written in a style that needs 

 no translation, clear, and without technicalities, and the detail 

 of life in those dreary wastes and inhospitable climes is 

 rendered full of interest. Moreover, much of it is exciting 

 reading. Some of the thrilling adventures met with are 

 graphically described, and the accounts of fierce gales howling 

 around the ship fast in the ice, snow drifting deeply and 

 almost burying the whole vessel beneath it, the windmill 

 wrecked and chimneys damaged, but all the while the crew 

 joining in a humorous discussion on •' Women's Rights," are 

 truly exciting and diverting. The naturalist, the geologist, 

 and the meteorologist will find much matter of interest. What 

 with penguins and very many other birds, to say nothing 



of whales and seals, there is plenty of life to describe, while 

 two Appendices treat of the geological observations, the 

 zoology being contributed respectively by Mr. Ferrar and Dr. 

 Wilson. The numerous illustrations, mostly from photographs, 

 are excellent, and charts of the track complete this very 

 readable and valuable work. 



Smithsonian Institution Annual Report (Washington: Govern- 

 ment Printing Office). — This report, besides containing the 

 official and financial statements of the Institute, is full of 

 interesting communications on various subjects. These in- 

 clude an account of experiments with the Langley Aerodrome; 

 A paper by Professor Poynting on " Radiation in the Solar 

 System "; a suggestive paper by Sir WiUiam Ramsay on the 

 "Present Problems of Inorganic Chemistry"; one on the " Pearl 

 Fisheries of Ceylon," by Professor W. A. Herdman; and 

 many on ".'\rchasology" (chiefly .American). It is altogether 

 a fascinating volume, attractive to almost every type of reader. 



Guide to Finger-Print Identification, by Henry Faulds (Han- 

 ley : Wood, Mitchell, and Co., price 5s.). Now that finger- 

 print identification is coming so much to the fore in criminal 

 proceedings, public interest in the subject is naturally great, 

 and this small book provides methods of identification. The 

 author goes to some pains to explain that it is a popular fallacy 

 to connect this subject with the name of M. Bertillon, whose 

 system is wholly anthropometric. He, moreover, has failed 

 to find corroboration of the oft-repeated statement that finger 

 prints have been used for identification in China and else- 

 where. But there seems almost too much space devoted to a 

 collection of evidence to try to prove that the author was the 

 first to introduce the subject. Like most others, this subject 

 has only gradually come forward, and many, but especially 

 including Mr. F. Gallon, have had a hand in giving it the 

 publicity it now enjoys. As a guide to the practice this book 

 is decidedly disappointing, though it contains a number of 

 useful facts scattered among its pages, and is clearly illus- 

 trated, mostly from enlarged photographs. 



Nature through the Microscope and Camera, by Richard Kerr, 



F.G.S., F.R.A.S. (London: Religious Tract Society, 1905). — 

 The number of people who find keen enjoyment in the study 

 of the beautiful in nature is far greater than many would sup- 

 pose. .And though such students care little for the things that 

 concern the systematist, they incidentally render him yeoman 

 service. This is especially true of those who pursue the study 

 of the infinitely little in nature, for to them we owe some of the 

 most valuable advances in the evolution of the microscope. 

 This really handsome volume is written especially for those 

 who regard nature as a sort of .Aladdin's cave to be exploited 

 through the microscope. The richness of the spoils to be 

 gathered in such hunting are not easily described, but some idea 

 thereof may be gathered by a glance through the many beauti- 

 ful illustrations which adorn the pages of this work. The store 

 of good things which this cave of living wonders contains is limit- 

 less. Diatoms, and molluscan teeth, caterpillars' eggs, beetles' 

 legs, the stems of plants, and the human skeleton are all shown 

 to contain hidden and unsuspected beauty. Dr. Sims Wood- 

 head has written an admirable introduction to this book, and 

 Mr. Arthur F. Smith has contributed a really valuable chapter 

 on " Practical Hints on Photo-Micrography." 



Second Stage Inorganic Chemistry (Theoretical), by G. H. 

 Bailey, D.Sc. (Lond.), Ph.D. Edited by W. Briggs, LL.D., 

 M..A., B.Sc.; pp. S and 542; 3rd Edition (London: \\'. B. 

 Clive ; price, 4s. 6d.). — Although this book is primarily in- 

 tended to cover the ground included in the syll.abus issued by 

 the Board of Education it is yet more than a mere " cram " 

 book and can be studied with interest by those who have not 

 the fear of examination ever before them. It has been brought 

 thoroughly up to date, and gives, for instance, a clear summary 

 of recent discoveries about radium emanations and the 

 " contact " method of manufacturing sulphuric acid. The text 

 is illustrated by diagrams and figures of apparatus ; experi- 

 mental work is described wherever possible ; and each chapter 

 has a series of questions which will be found of the greatest 

 use. 



Future Forest Trees, by .A. Harold Unwin, .Assistant Con- 

 .servator of Forests, Southern Nigeria (T. Fisher Unwin; 

 pp. loS, three full-page illustrations ; price 7s. 6d. net). — This 

 book is likely to be of great utility, in view of the increased 

 interest which is being taken in the question of re-afforestation 



