March, 1913. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



117 



Dr. Goadby's chapters on the physiological aspect of lead 

 poisoning are a piece of brilliant pathological investigation. 

 He shows indisputably the paramount influence of the inhala- 

 tion of dust, and makes out very clearly the pathological 

 conditions which give rise to minute hemorrhages throughout 

 the organism, finally extending to the nervous system, and 

 giving rise to the characteristic symptoms. He describes, 

 also, an apparent form of acquired immunity to lead-poisoning, 

 which appears among some workers ; but it is evident that 

 while such cases present themselves, there are others in which 

 there is a specialised sensitiveness to the lead; and it is also 

 evident that in such cases treatment may become very difficult. 



E.S.G. 



GEOGRAPHY. 



The Lost Towns of the Yorkshire Coast. — By Thomas 

 Sheppard, F.G.S. 329 pages. Illustrated. 9-in. X5i-in. 



(A. Brown & Sons. Price 7/6 net.) 



This book, by the able and energetic curator of the Hull 

 Museum, covers a much wider range than is indicated by its 

 modest title. In reality it is a very complete geography of the 

 East Riding of Yorkshire. Since Roman times, according to 

 one authority, a strip of land averaging three and a half rhiles 

 in width, or about one hundred and fifteen square miles, has 

 been swallowed by the sea between Flamborough Head and 

 Kilnsea. On the other hand the destroyer is sometimes 

 stayed and land is even wrested back from him. Between 

 1848 and 1893, seven hundred and seventy-four acres were 

 lost in Yorkshire, but during the same period, two thousand 

 ' one hundred and seventy-eight acres were reclaimed within 

 the H umber estuary. Many old towns and villages, however, 

 have been washed away ; but with the aid of ancient 

 documents and maps, the author has been able to preserve 

 their history, and even to indicate their former sites. The 

 records of the lost towns occupy sixteen chapters. The rest 

 of the book is taken up by a comprehensive geography of the 

 district, which includes notes on the geology, natural history, 

 antiquities, architecture, administration, agriculture, and the 

 Humber mud. The latter is a particularly interesting chapter. 

 The book is well illustrated and has been done with a 

 thoroughness which makes it good reading. r W T 



Map Projections. — By Arthur R. Hinks. 126 pages. 

 19 illustrations. 10 tables. 9-in.X5j-in. 



(The Cambridge University Press. Price 5/- net) 



This book is written to meet the demand of those who 

 approach the subject from a purely geographical point of 

 view, whose mathematical equipment is not elaborate. But 

 in addition to a knowledge of plane trigonometry and the 

 rudiments of spherical, some acquaintance with the process 

 of differentiation and its meaning is required for its perusal. 



There are some obscurities here and there in the book. 

 The writer has confused his symbols for the constant of the 

 cone (pages 10-11, 76, 78.) The definition of this quantity 

 given at the head of page 76 requires re-statement. Non- 

 mathematical readers are not likely to be misled by expecta- 

 tions of mathematical nicety of phrase, and so not all will 

 agree that there is danger in regarding the simple conical pro- 

 jection at first as obtained by the development of a cone. 

 Some points not quite clear in the book are rendered so by 

 this method of attack. Again, readers will find it inconvenient 

 that the mathematical treatment of the various projections in 

 use comes quite separately from the general discussion in 

 chapter VIII. There is necessarily a good deal of mathema- 

 tics in chapters II— VI, but as this is incomplete these 

 chapters cannot be read intelligently without continual 

 •references to chapter VIII. Necessarily, too, the tables at 

 the end are too meagre to be of much service even to those 

 who are not primarily interested as cartographers. No one 

 could expect to be able by the aid of a concise text-book to 

 dispense with regular complete tables, and possibly the space 

 devoted to them would have been more profitably devoted to 

 extending chapter VII, which deals with projections in 



common use and the recognition of them, and is one of the 

 most interesting and useful to this class of reader. 



Many of these blemishes are incidental to a book which has 

 not had very many forerunners, and in any case faults are 

 always easy to find. On the whole, the purpose of the work 

 has been very fully realised and it will be an acquisition to 

 intelligent readers of geography. It is the best of its kind we 

 have seen, and can be most heartily recommended to those 

 who wish to begin the study of maps. Considering the 

 limited appeal of books of this type its price is very moderate, 

 and the get-up is of the satisfactory nature associated with 

 the Cambridge University Press. a c 



MINING. 



Safety in Coal Mines. — By Daniel Burns, M.Inst.M.E. 

 158 pages. 23 figures. 1 plate. 7-in. X5-in. 



(Blackie & Son. Price 2/6 net.) 



This book is written principally for colliery firemen, whose 

 work is concerned with the safety of the mine, and on whose 

 vigilance the lives of their fellow-workmen depend. It is 

 intended for use as a text-book for the examination firemen 

 have to undergo in accordance with the New Mines Act, and 

 to furnish an account of the scientific principles which are 

 the basis of their practical instruction. The first chapter 

 contains a simple account of the elements of chemistry, 

 especially in so far as gases are concerned. The next chapter 

 describes the constituent elements of the mine gases. In the 

 third the methods of detecting and testing the compounds and 

 mixtures which form the mine gases themselves are described. 

 The fourth and fifth chapters deal with air measurement and 

 safety lamps respectively. The book is written very simply 

 and clearly, and should well serve its intended purpose. 



G. W. T. 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



Report on the Immigrations of Summer Residents in the 

 Spring of 1911. Also Notes on the Migratory Movements 

 and Records received from Lighthouses and Light-vessels 

 during the Autumn of 1910. Edited by W. R. Ooilvie- 

 Grant. By the Committee appointed by the British 

 Ornithologists' Club. 332 pages. 20 maps. 8f-in. X5S-in. 



(Witherby & Co. Price 6/- net.) 



The introductory section of this Report (the seventh con- 

 secutive annual one on the subject) is an admirably brief and 

 illuminating comment on the contents which follow. These, 

 as usual, go into great details, but no attempt is yet made to 

 critically examine or co-ordinate the voluminous material 

 which has been printed. The editor repeats his expression of 

 regret at being unable to reduce the size of the Report and 

 continues to give pages of records similar to those published 

 for previous years and well known to the student. For 

 example, particulars are given of the arrival of the Wheatear 

 in Southern England, during the latter half of March, and 

 these add nothing to the general knowledge of the occurrence 

 of this species. It is the converse that would be noteworthy 

 in this case, namely, a month of March in which the 

 Wheatear did not turn up in the district named. The Report 

 schedules the majority of our spring immigrants and gives a 

 chronological summary of the records under each species, the 

 movements of some being also illustrated by maps. Under 

 the other sections of the Report, further observations are also 

 made on these species (amongst others), and it would be a 

 distinct convenience, in the absence of any index, to give 

 references under the scheduled bird to the pages on which 

 any further notes on the species are to be found. We have 

 had occasion to look up the Land- Rail (Corn-Crake) and find 

 that in addition to the main entries on pages 148-150, there 

 are others on pages 209, 213, 214, 255, 277 and 302, all of 

 which have to be puzzled out by the reader himself, unaided 

 by any cross-reference. The great scarcity of this species 

 now in south-eastern England is well illustrated by there 

 being no records of it from the counties of Dorset, Sussex, 



