190 



DISCOVERY 



subject. It contains a full description and discussion of 

 the conditions in which plants flourish, and of their dis- 

 tribution in the geographical divisions of the earth. The 

 book is well illustrated, and should be widely appreciated 

 by all who teach or study geography, or have an interest 

 in economic botany. 



(a) The Analysis of Minerals and Ores of the Rarer 

 Elements. By W. R. Schoeller, Ph.D., and 

 A. R. Powell. (Charles Griffin, i8s. net.) 



(6) The Mineralogy of the Rarer Metals. By E. Cahen 

 and (the late) W. O. Wootton. (Charles Griffin, 

 los. 6i. net.) 



(a) There is need at the present time for a book which 

 deals systematically wth the complete analysis of ores 

 and compounds containing the rarer elements. Many 

 of these rarer elements are now so important industrially 

 that it is time the general chemist was acquainted with a 

 subject which in this country at least has been pursued 

 by a few men only. 



The title of this book is a sufficient description of its 

 scope. It is a fuller and more advanced book on the 

 lines of Browning's " Introduction," and deals with 

 the complete analysis of the rarer elements, their ores 

 and compounds. The rare elements and their chief 

 compounds are also systematically described. 



It is a thoroughly good book. The authors appear to 

 have taken great pains fo make it complete, and to 

 describe methods which really v.'ill work. Analysts and 

 honours students should find it a good guide, almost 

 indispensable, we think. 



(b) The sub-title is a " Handbook for Prospectors," 

 and the book is beautifully bound in leather like a presen- 

 tation " KipUng." It is, unlike many books for pros- 

 pectors produced in America, scientific through and 

 through, and we imagine it will sell best to, and be appre- 

 ciated most by, the class of reader which is interested in 

 the book (a). Tiiis book describes the minerals of the 

 forty elements wliich are classed as rare. Under each 

 metal is given a description of its properties, its metal- 

 lurgy, its industrial application ; then follows a list of its 

 ores, those of commercial importance being specially 

 mentioned. The methods of detecting the elements in 

 ores by analysis are next given. Each ore is described in 

 detail, its occurrence, appearance, colour, crystalline form, 

 etc. 



The information is up-to-date, and the book is a useful 

 and indispensable compilation. 



We commend both these books. They are unique in 

 English. A. S. R. 



Man Past and Present. By A. H. Keane. Revised 

 and largely re-written by A. Kingston Quiggin 

 and A. C. Haddon. (Cambridge University Press, 

 1920, 36s. net.) 



The triumph of science in modern thought became 

 assured when the doctrine of evolution was definitely 

 accepted, for this idea has affected not onlv science as 



such, but our whole outlook upon the world. Instead 

 of asking " What is life ? " we have learned to say. 

 " How have living creatures come to be as they now 

 appear ? " — a question which has brought us to realise 

 that man himself must be examined and judged in the 

 hght of his past history ; when at once an astonishing 

 array of facts becomes strangely eloquent. The excel- 

 lences and deficiencies of his bodily frame lead us to 

 look upon him a^ the descendant of ancient forms like 

 the Ape-man of Java and the Dawn-man of Sussex. The 

 chipped flint arrow-heads found widely scattered over 

 the globe bear testimony to his early activities as hunter 

 and soldier ; while the fragmentarj' remains of his 

 fossilised skeleton make it possible for us to speculate 

 upon the time of his actual appearance upon the earth. 

 Backward races still hving help us to understand the 

 ways of primeval man, and the games, nurserj'-rhymes, 

 and fairy-tales of children take us back thousands of 

 years before the beginnings of written histor\'. 



To appreciate the results achieved in these new and 

 fascinating fields of inquiry we need a volume Uke the 

 present, which, in the compass of some six hundred pages, 

 surveys mankind over the whole world from prehistoric 

 ages down to the present day. 



Taking the pioneer work of Professor Keane, Mrs. 

 Kingston Quiggin has brought the subject-matter of fact 

 and theory up to date through twenty years of rapidly 

 accumulating research. Dr. A. C. Haddon — an authority 

 upon two such wdely separated aspects of anthropology 

 as embryologj' and ethnographical observation— ha\'ing 

 criticised, corrected, and super\dsed the whole. 



Necessarily, the book is largely synoptic, and com- 

 pressed to the utmost point consistent with clearness ; 

 but copious references are given to the most recent 

 original writers best worth reading ; and the style of 

 writing combines accuracy in statement with an unex- 

 pected but quite grati{},dng hveUness. 



A family album of sixteen plates — with nearly a hun- 

 dred human portraits — forms a useful and appropriate 

 conclusion. P. C. P. 



Invertebrate Paleontology. By H. L. Hawkins. 

 (Methuen, 6s. 6d. net.) 

 This book is an introduction to the study of fossils, 

 and is written by the Lecturer in Geologj- at University 

 College, Reading. In the first part of the book the 

 author explains what palaBontolog^- really is, and why it 

 is that students of it can be keen and even enthusiastic 

 about it. Thereafter he goes on to describe the sequence 

 of evolution as it has been unfolded in geological time. 

 The book is well illustrated by photographs and drawings 

 made by the author. These and the particularly lucid 

 style of the author greatly assist to make a difficult 

 subject clear. The book is primarily written for those 

 who have an acquaintance with geologj- and zoology, 

 and is of university standard. 



Psycho-Analysis. By Miss Barbara Low, B.A. 

 (George Allen & LTnwin, 5s. net.) 



