46 



KNOW^LEDGE ♦ 



[Deecmber 1, 1886. 



little that equals, the scene in tlie opening chapter, when 

 Alma Lee, leaning wearily on the gate and watching the 

 waning of the grey afternoon, hears the music rung out 

 from the tiny bells that tinkle on the nodding heads of 

 Farmer Long's team as it drags the massive waggon up-hill. 

 What shame and sorrow the on-coming days brought her ; 

 what blight fell on innocent lives, killing high ideals, 

 through the silence which Dean Maitland broke only when 

 the wrong done was irreparable, our readers must learn for 

 themselves. Ingenious as is the plot, and unHagging as it 

 is in interest, the book is not to be read for that alone, but 

 also for its charm of presentment and wholesomeness of tone. 



The Life and Labours of John Mercer, F.R.S., F.C.S. 

 By Edward A. Parnell, " F.C.S. (London: Longmans, 

 (ireen, &: Co. 188G.)— Mr. Parnell has produced a biography 

 absolutely s?a generis. His book very largely consists of 

 recipes used at the Oakenshaw Calico-printing Works, 

 chapters descriptive of the processes there employed being 

 connected by a .slender thread of narrative of a few inci- 

 dents in the uneventful life of the guiding spirit there. 

 Mercer was undoubtedly a remarkable instance of a self- 

 taught scientific man who rose from the ranks, such eminence 

 as he achieved mainly belonging to the earlier half of the 

 century. This "Life," however, will be chiilly found 

 valuable by those engaged in the occupation which he so 

 successfully followed. By far the most interestint part of it 

 to the general reader appears under the heading of- Thoughts 

 on Mould, and Preparations for the Cholera," whence it 

 seems that as early as 1813 Mercer advanced a germ-theory 

 of disease, of which the current microbe doctrine of Pasteur 

 and Koch is only a development. 



Soli'l Geometri/. By Percival Frost, D.S?., F.R.S. 

 Third edition. (London: Macmillan & Co. 1886.)— The 

 mathematician will welcome this new edition of the familiar 

 "Treatise on Solid Geometry," of Frost and Wostenholme. 

 In his preface to the second edition Dr. Frost deplored the 

 loss of his coadjutor's aid ; but, without in the smallest 

 degree intending to depreciate the value of Mr. Wosten- 

 holme's co-operation, we cannot say that the result of Dr. 

 Frost's unaided exertions leaves anything to be desired. 

 For lucidity, exhaustiveness, and thoroughness of exposi- 

 tion, the work in its present form may well challenge 

 comparison with any one extant. We note that Dr. Frost — 

 as it seems to us with a great show of reason — jjersists in 

 designating the locus for the equation of the second degree 

 (more commonly known as "quadric") as " conicoid" It 

 may suffice to show that the most rigid application to the 

 .study of the higher mathematics by no means necessarily 

 crushes out the sense of the humorous if we quote a few 

 words from those in which our author justifies his nomen- 

 clature. "I consider," he says, "that the surface of the 

 second degree at present, whatever may be the case in some 

 futui'e development, stands on a platform of its own on 

 account of the services which it has rendered to all depart- 

 ments of mathematical science, and well deserves a distinc- 

 tive name instead of being recognised only by its number, 

 a mode of designation which, I am informed, a convict feels 

 so acutely. Man might be always called a biped, because 

 besides himself there exists a quadruped, an octopus, and a 

 centipede, but on account of his superiority it is more com- 

 plimentary to call him by some special name." The book 

 has obviously been very carefully read for the press. 



The C'heircistri/ of Wheat, Flour, and Bread. IBy William 

 Jago, F.C.S., &c. (Brighton, 138 Springfield Bead : The 

 Author. 1886.) — Mr. Jago has produced what may fairly 

 be termed an encyclopedia of milling, breadmr.king, and 

 baking, which will be found alike useful to the practical 

 baker and the technological chemist, to say nothing of the 



ordinary consumer who may feel interested in the com- 

 position of " the staff of life," and desire to know somewhat 

 of its composition and the method of production, and to be 

 able to detect adulteration in it where it exists. The 

 chemistry of the subject is exhaustively treated, and a full 

 description is given of every baking process at present in 

 Tise. The analytical portion of the book may be p.articu- 

 laily commended. A chapter is given on the moulds and 

 fungoid growtlis which attack wheat and flour; in fact, 

 nothing of the slightest interest is omitted in connection 

 with the subjects on which the volume treats. Mr. Jago 

 has done his work well. 



Casar : a Sketch. By J. A. FuoiDE. (Longmans.) — Per- 

 haps the most striking parts of this book, the cheaper i-eprint 

 of which is welcome, are in the earlier chapters, with their 

 parallels between Eoman and modern society, especially in 

 the decay of old beliefs, to the outward and visible forms of 

 which a seeming respect is paid. As to the fidelity of the 

 portrait of the great leader which is sketched in Mr. Fronde's 

 matchless pro.se, opinions will difier, as they differ about aught 

 else that he has written, but in lesser degree as the materials 

 for the sketch are imperfect and remote. There can, how- 

 ever, be no diversity of judgment on the skill with which 

 those materials are woven together, nor on the vivid pre- 

 sentment of the man whose character Mr. Fronde has, we 

 think, assessed accurately and impartially. 



Boy's Own Stories. By Ascott R. Hope. (T. Fisher 

 Unwin.) — Mr. Ascott Hope is one of the few writers of 

 books for boys who has a worthy ideal in fulfilling his 

 vocation. The tone of all his works is refined and whole- 

 some, and he has withal the rare merit of never repeating 

 himself, not only because his own ideas run in no narrow 

 groove, but because he takes pains to go far afield for the 

 materials for his stories. He has, in the present volume, 

 gathered these from both hemispheres, and had the good 

 fortune to unearth .some original autobiographies — narratives 

 of peril and adventure, which cannot fail to interest his 

 audience. Divei'se as are the sources from which these are 

 gathered, the book has a unity of purpose and subject, and, 

 whilst the opening tale introduces us to tragic scenes from 

 the Reign of Terror, the closing tale is founded on an 

 enthrilling and affecting incident of the later Revolution 

 which Mr. Hope has adapted from a little-known remi- 

 niscence of Jules Simon. 



We have received the concluding part of Messrs. Hudson 

 and Gosse's superb and exhaustive monogra])h on the 

 Rotifera, or Wheel Animalcules (Longmans); also the cur- 

 rent issues of Mr. Teall's British Petror/raphy, to which 

 we hope every student of that branch of the science is sub- 

 sciibing ; and of Mr. Cole's Studies in Microscopical Science, 

 which maintains its high character. Messrs. Cassell send 

 us a School Bank Manual, by Agnes Lambert, which is 

 terse and to the point ; a new edition of Morell's Guide to 

 Einploi/ment in the Civil Service, the best book extant as an 

 aid to candidates in choosing a department of the Service 

 and in hints as to success ; and a second edition of Miss Buck- 

 land's (yfory <)/'.£'));/&/« /^i^pca?Mr«. This is a good intro- 

 duction to study of the more elaborate works of writers 

 like Professor Morley, and may conduce to the selection of 

 some period of which full knowledge is more instructive 

 than any skimming of so vast a subject can be. But the 

 space given to the older writers has compelled too meagre 

 treatment of the moderns. 



Microscopists may be interested in the following : — The 

 whole of the scientific effects of the late Dr. John Matthews, 

 Vice-President of the Quekett Society, will shortly be sold 

 at Stevens's Rooms, King Street, W.C. 



