March, 1906.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



385 



The Religion of Woman, by Joseph McCabe, issued by the 

 Rationalist Press Association (Watts and Co. ; price 6d.). — 

 This curious work, prefaced by some stirring remarks of Lady 

 Florence Dixie, seems to infer that woman owes her present 

 position of bondage and slavery to man entirely to " Supersti- 

 tious Religion," that is, the word of the Bible. As soon as she 

 chooses to give up a belief in this, she will be ready to throw 

 off the yoke c f masculine oppression. It is interesting to trace 

 the position of woman in the various periods of history, and 

 this is well detailed in the book. 



Philip's Large Planisphere (G. Philip and Son, 6s. net). — 

 Designed by H. Gcwecke (and made in Germany). A large 

 planisphere, [his is i ft. 8 in. diameter, is useful, as showing 

 more clearly the positions of the smaller stars, and the adjust- 

 ment can be more accurate than with the more usual small size. 

 But in this case, although '• an attempt has been made to pre- 

 sent a picture as closely as possible resembling the sky " it is 

 in this respect not wholly satisfactory. Fourth magnitude 

 stars are represented by small circles, which is decidedly con- 

 fusing at first. While some of the constellations are indicated 

 by allegorical figures in an inconspicuous grey, others such 

 as (iemini, Aries, and .Auriga are not thus depicted. In order 

 to avoid encumbering the map.no lines of R. A. or declination are 

 given, but positions are readily found by a graduated straight- 

 edge, which can be adjusted to any point of R. A. marked on 

 the circumference, while the declination is marked on this 

 straight-edge. This large planisphere will undoubtedly be 

 found a most useful addition to the amateur's observatory. 

 — " K." 



Historical and Modern Atlas of the British Empire, by C. Grant 

 Robertson, M..\., and J. G. Bartholomew, F.R.SE., F.R.G.S. 

 (Methueni ; price 4s. (xl. not. — This is a most useful and handy 

 little atlas, specially prepared for students, but also likely to be 

 of value to all those who wish to learn more of the great 

 Empire to which they belong (or do not belong). The first 

 few pages are devoted to a short but concise account of the 

 British Empire, including an alphabetical gazetteer, tables of 

 statistics, and index to names. Then follows a series of most 

 interesting and well e.xecuted maps descriptive of the growth 

 of the Empire at various periods in history. Maps of the 

 world showing natural features, density of population, 

 commercial development, &c., are given. Then a num- 

 ber of maps of England, Scotland, and Ireland, to show 

 vegetation, coal and iron, industries, population, phvsical 

 features, and political divisions. Numerous maps of India, 

 Canada, South Africa, and Australia follow, and the atlas ends 

 up with a table of the " Chronology and Expansion of the 

 British Empire." 



Divine Dual Government. ;\ Key to the Bible, to Evolution, 

 and to Life's Enigmas, by William Woods Smyth (Horace 

 Marshall) ; price 6s. — The subjects which this book professes 

 to cover are so appalling in their magnitude and " unknow- 

 ableness," that we hesitate before lightly casting it aside with 

 a few commonplace remarks. The author commences with a 

 preface in which he explains that his own interpretation of the 

 works of Darwin and Herbert Spencer are so dilferent from the 

 interpretation of them by other writers that he has " always 

 attributed them to the direct teaching of the Spirit of God." 

 (ilimpses are t.iken of early history and the dawn of revela- 

 tion. There is much that is of interest in comparing the words 

 of the Bible with scientific theories. Some may think the per- 

 version of Biblical words and phrases may be carried too far. 

 Thus the word " day " in Genesis, with reference to the Creation, 

 is often supposed to imply a very dilferent period of time to 

 that which we know as day. The author supposes it to mean 

 10 million years. But he clearly shows how diflicult it is to 

 arrive at any certainty when speaking of any such vast period. 

 We can recommend anyone who wishes to investigate such 

 subjects to study this book, although we would not say that 

 personally we are at all satisfied with many of the conclusions 

 arrived at. 



The same author sends us a little pamphlet on " the Cost of 

 Man's Creation and Redemption in the light of Natural 

 Science," which is of much the same nature as the book. 



The Theory of Experimental Electricity. (Cambridge University 

 Press.) W. C. 1). Whctham, F.R.S. ; 8s. net. This text-book 

 represents a course of class lectures delivered at Trinity 

 College, Cambridge, and is intended to be a book of reference 



to which "tudents may turn for further elucidation of points 

 cot clear to them. It is no mere cutand-dried account of 

 classical electricity, but aims at giving also " some insight 

 into methods of research together with some idea of recent 

 results, and of unsolved problems ripe for examination." The 

 subject is thus presented as a living one. and this tends a great 

 deal towards the making cf a most interesting volume. But 

 on the other hand the historical side is not neglected; in the 

 case of the introduction of any fresh fundamental fact or 

 principle, a brief but clear account is presented of the par- 

 ticular mode in which the fact was first learned. The chapters 

 which will probably be turned to first by the reader who has 

 already mastered the rudiments of the subject are those on 

 conduction in gases and on radioactivity. So much of the 

 new work on these questions has been done by the Cambridge 

 School that we naturally look to it for a satisfactory exposi- 

 tion of it, and we are not disappomted. Further, the text is 

 exceedingly well printed and the diagrams are wonderfully 

 clear. 



The Scientific Roll and Magazine of Systematized Notes. 

 Bacteria. Conducted by Alexander Ramsay. Published by 

 R. L. Sharland, 38, Churchfield Road, .•\ctoD, W. ; is. — This 

 quarterly magazine has now ceased to be a mere recording roll 

 of classified Bacteria. Useful, as it no doubt was, to a limited 

 number of students, it may now claim a widerinterest by reason 

 of its containing readable matter. The conductor, wisely we 

 think, promises in future numbers to introduce bacterial studies 

 bearing on the problems of Health and .-Vgricultural Economy. 

 A more than something is known of the Bacterial Causation of 

 Human disease, and our knowledge is rapidly extending. The 

 same cannot be said of the Bacteria of the Soil; agricul- 

 turists know nothing of the bacterial invasions leading to the 

 birth, growth, and decay of crops, iS;c., or of those producing 

 disease in the same. Mr. Ramsay promises to enlighten 

 us in this work on these problems, among others, and so benefit 

 scientists in particular and mankind in general. This is the 

 fourth year of the '• Roll's "existence. Under its new develop- 

 ment it promises to have an e.xtended and successful future. 



S. G. M. 



An Introduction to the Infinitesimal Calculus. Dr. H. S. 

 Carslaw (Longmans; 5s. net). — This book is written specially 

 for ist-year science and engineering students by the Professor 

 of Mathematics in the University of Sydney. The object has 

 been to present the fundamental ideas of the Calculus in a 

 simple manner, and to illustrate them by practical examples. 

 It will prove a very useful little book for use. especially in 

 technical schools, .•\lthough rigorous proofs are as a rule 

 avoided, there is little in the book which anyone would need 

 to unlearn on going on to a higher stage. We commend it 

 also to anyone who wishes to teach himself the elements of 

 the Calculus as being very clear and likely to help him over 

 the difficulties which beset the private student in his initial 

 attempts to tackle this somewhat formidable but fascinating 

 and important subject. 



Leather for Libraries, by E. Wyndham Hulme, J. Gordon 

 Parker, .'V. Seymour Jones, Cyril Davenport and F. J. 

 William.son. Published for the Sound Leather Committee of 

 the Library Association (Library Supply Co.) ; is. 6d. net. 

 This is an important little work, since every book-lover wishes 

 to know what is the best material with which to bind h's 

 volumes, and many, sorrowfully noting an unexplained de- 

 terioration in their bindings, are most anxious to know the 

 cause and remedy. Here is a practical and unbiassed 

 account dealing with the technics of leather, and clearlv set- 

 ting forth the causes of decay, the methods of preparation, 

 and the most suitable kinds of leather for bookbinding. 



Machine Construction and Drawing, by Frank Castle (Mac- 

 inillan) 4s. 6d. — This is a useful guide to students and others 

 to learn the practical details of machinery with the object of 

 making working drawings. Such details as rivets, bolts and 

 nuts, shafting, belt pulleys, bearings, pipe joints, and parts of 

 engines are fully described with specimen drawings. 



W.' have received a new catalogue of telescopes, iKc by 

 Messrs. R. and J. Beck. This includes many instruments 

 suitable for the amateur astronomer, especially 3-inch tele- 

 scopes, and various stands and mountings. There are also 

 astronomical cameras, microscopes for star photographs, 

 dilTraction gratings, theodolites, and other instruments. 



