44 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[December 1, 1886. 



common) state of mind is a plienomenou which interests me 

 as a student of science, and of human nature as a depart- 

 ment of science ; but I am no more responsible for such 

 disquiet than I am for the inherited mental or moral 

 f|ualities from which it takes its rise. If, on the other 

 hand, others consider that the facts have no such signi- 

 ficance, I have asserted nothing to the contrary. Facts can 

 always be studied with advantage by lovers of knowledge 

 (with a small " k ") : when they are rightly interpreted they 

 tend to the increase of Wisdom (with a capital W) : but 

 whether for the moment they can be rightly interpreted or 

 not, they cannot safely be neglected. 

 * * * 



I TBOPosE to sum up in the nest number matters of fact 

 bearing on this question — noting that in various parts of 

 the last volume of Knowledge these points have been 

 dealt with in detail, and, so far as I know, scarce any of 

 tliem have been regarded as open to doubt, let their inter- 

 pretation be what it may. 



Life Histories of Plants. By Prof. D. McAlpixe. (Swan 

 Sonnenschein it Co.) — This is an extremely interesting book, 

 the most important section of which, that dealing with the 

 comparison of plants and animals on a physiological basis, 

 deserves careful study. The author, wisely following the 

 newer and sounder methods, lays stress upon the subordina- 

 tion of form to function, treating of the organism as a 

 living thing whose work determines the mechanism. For 

 the organ was made for it — not it for the organ. Did space 

 permit, we should like to quote the author's admirable 

 remarks on this matter, but w-e shall render both him and 

 our readers kindlier service by urging the perusal of the 

 book itself. The diagrams, especially that on p. 23, are 

 even more helpful to clearer understanding of the text than 

 the woodcuts. 



Our Island Continent : a Naturalist's Holiday in Aus- 

 tralia. By Dr. J. E. Taylor. (S. P. C. K.)— In this little 

 book the author, who is well known as a writer of agi-eeable 

 books on botanical and kindred subjects, narrates his impres- 

 sions of a fii-st visit to a land in which, as he happily puts it, 

 the naturalist who is also a geologist may feel himself living 

 in the Secondary Epoch, certain typical life-forms of which 

 flourish there to this day. The geological history of Australia 

 is admirably and clearh' summarised, but when dealing with 

 the fauna of the country we are surprised to find Dr. Taylor 

 betraying ignorance of ]Mr. Caldwell's discoveries concerning 

 the earliest mammalian forms iu spsaking of the marsupials 

 as " the first mammals to be created.' We suppose, apart 

 from the error in this statement, that the form of its pre- 

 sentment is a concession to the weaker brethren of North- 

 umberland Avenue, who still cling to the old notion of the 

 immutability of species. 



Tlte Literature of Local Institutions. By G. L. Gomme. 

 (Elliot Stock.) — The able and indefatigable Director of the 

 Folk-Lore Society has made the subject to which this book 

 is a convenient introduction his special study, and now that 

 the reform and expansion of local government are imminent, 

 he does good service in enlightening us concerning the origin 

 and growth of the autonomous bodies which pulsrit?d with 

 vigorous life in shire and hundred and township, and which 

 have made England the nursing-mother of free institutions 

 and the successful coloniser alike in torrid and temperate 

 zones. We advise all persons interested in municipal govern- 

 ment to buv Mr. Gomme's work. 



Horticultural Buildings. By F. A. Fawkes. New Edi- 

 tion. (London : Swan Sonnenschein, Le Bas, ife Lowrey. 

 1886.) — The possessor of a garden must suffer woefully, 

 either from lack of enthusiasm or from impecuniosity, who 

 is content to do without "glass" in some form, however 

 humble, in it. To anj'one and everyone who may be 

 desirous of possessing so necessary an adjunct, be it in the 

 form of the humble garden-frame or of the lordly conser\a- 

 tory, Mr. Fawkes' book will be found a perfect mine of 

 information. Not only does he tell the incipient horti- 

 culturist what to do, but also why to do it, theory and 

 practice running pari passu throughout the volume. To 

 such an extent is this carried that the work opens with a 

 description of the cause of the seasons and a detailed 

 account of the various angles to be adopted for the " pitch " 

 of greenhouse roofs in different latitudes, so as to obtain the 

 maximum heating effect from the sun's rays. The question 

 of iron f. wooden houses is thoroughly discussed, and the 

 whole of the leading existing systems of glazing equally 

 thoroughly described. The subject of heating, too — that 

 hete noire of the beginner — is exhaustively examined and 

 explained. In fact, it is not too much to say that anyone 

 previously ignorant of the subject might, after a careful 

 ))erusal and mastery of the treatise before us, confidently 

 design and supervise the erection of any forcing-frame, 

 greenhouse, w.all-tree protector, or conservatory ever likely 

 to be required by the overwhelming proportion of those into 

 whose hands it is likely to fall. There is also a chapter on 

 meteorology and meteorological instruments ; another on 

 the law in connection with gardening erections, and so on. 

 In fine, we may say, shortly, that no gardening library, 

 countrj' or suburban, can be held to be complete which does 

 not contain Mr. Fawkes' excellent and painstaking volume. 

 We may add that it is profusely illustrated. 



Plane and Spherical I'rigonometry. In Three Parts. By 

 H. B. Goodwin, M.A. (London : Longmans, Green, & Co. 

 1886.) — The work before us is a compilation, made under 

 the sanction of the Lords of the Admiralty, for the use of the 

 junior officers of the Eoyal Navy, and is designed to super- 

 sede the somewhat heterogeneous collection of text-books 

 hitherto in <ise in that branch of the .service. From his 

 vei-y considerable experience as a naval instructor Mr. 

 Goodwin has doubtless not adopted the arrangement which 

 characterises tlie present work without the most careful 

 consideration of its applicability to the pin-poses for which 

 it is especially designed. It seems, however, to us to suffer 

 under the defect of all recent books on trigonometry — we 

 mean that of treating its subject in too abstract a manner 

 fur the very beginner. We cannot help feeling that the 

 modern fashion of dealing with the trigonometrical ratios, 



j the defining sine and cosine in a particular way, and de. 

 riving all the rest fiom them, is scarcely the way to give the 



j incipient student an intelligent idea of what he is endeavour- 

 ing to master. The old-world reference to the circle, with 

 its visible connection with the angular functions, certainly 

 does show to what and of what certain lines are tangent 

 and secant, Ac, ikc, as the case may be ; and this idea once 

 grasped, subsequent study is made much smoother and 

 easier. It also seems to us that trigonometrical analysis 

 generally is introduced full early into the work under review, 

 though this mode may possibly have been adopted from 

 practical experience of its utility. Our remarks refer rather 

 to the manner in which our author has arr.xnged his mate- 

 rial than to that material itself, and must be held to apply 

 strictly to the first division of the book, that on plane trigo- 

 nometry ; the second part — that on spherical trigonometry — 

 is excellent both in matter and manner ; while the con- 

 cluding or practical section may be mentioned with equal 

 praise. In fact, for fulness, lucidity, and appositeness, as 



