May, 1913. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



191 



From this the conclusion was drawn that the pathological 

 effects of gas-works pitch was the result of chemical injury 

 and not of mechanical injury caused by irritation produced by 

 the coal dust, as had previously been supposed. Attempts to 

 remove these chemical substances by washing the pitch were 

 successful on a small scale, but washing would not be 

 practicable in the works, since it would interfere with the 

 binding properties of the pitch. 



The results of fractional distillation of the tar showed that 

 it was not possible to eliminate the dangerous products at a 

 lower temperature than 360°C, and that pitch which had 

 been heated to that extent was useless for practical purposes. 

 Washing the tar with hot water before distillation completely 

 eliminated the auxetics and kinetics, and the pitch from such 

 tar would be as valuable as that now used in making 

 briquettes. There would certainly be difficulties in the 

 manipulation of the tar, but these should not be insuperable. 



Such, in brief, is an outline of the main results and con- 

 clusions of a most striking investigation attacking the cancer 

 problem from the chemical side. Further researches are now 

 being made to isolate the definite chemical compounds from 

 the gas-works tar and pitch, and since the publication of the 

 present work it has been discovered that there is a pronounced 

 difference in the proportion of auxetics and kinetics in 

 different kinds of coal. This is one of the reasons why 

 blast-furnace pitch (largely derived from hard coal) does not 

 produce the effects of gas-works pitch (from bituminous coal). 

 Another factor is the difference of temperature at which the 

 two kinds of tar distil. 



The details of this investigation have been communicated to 

 the Home Office, and they appear so convincing as to the 

 causes of the evil, that it ought to be possible to devise 

 precautions that will entirely prevent it. 



C. A. M. 



GEOGRAPHY. 



Papua or British New Guinea. — By J. H. P. MURRAY. 



With an introduction by Sir William MacGregor, G.C.M.G., 



C.B., D.Sc. 388 pages. 38 illustrations. 9-in. X6-in. 



(T. Fisher Unwin. Price 15/- net.) 



Of all the British possessions few are less well known than 

 Papua. There is a great deal of pioneer work to be done in 

 all directions. The geology and the natural resources, the 

 geography and ethnology have been only superficially investi- 

 gated, though at present investigations on all of them are being 

 pursued. Most people seem to associate New Guinea with 

 rain and perpetual mists, and a book which helps to dispel 

 these mists and others that cloud general knowledge of this 

 most interesting land is decidedly welcome, and does not need 

 the apology with which the modest author prefaces it. 



Some peculiarities of the people of Papua are very striking. 

 For instance, on Rossel Island, to the south-east, traces of 

 separate languages for men and women are found. The dis- 

 abilities of women are curious. On Rossel they must not 

 speak in a canoe, and the native, on being asked what would 

 happen to one who transgressed, suggests that she might 

 probably be eaten, but refuses to contemplate such an un- 

 heard-of occurrence. Even the men of Rossel speak a 

 different language when they are on the neighbouring island of 

 Roa, for some mysterious reason. On the Gulf of Papua, 

 again, we find a South Sea snobbery. The possession of tails 

 is imputed to the despised tribes. One native relates of a 

 race of tailed men that they sit with their tails hanging through 

 holes in the floors of their pile-dwellings. While among them, 

 he used, for a joke, " to creep under the house, take hold of 

 each tail very gently and tie a knot in it " ; then raise an 

 alarm, with the result that the caudate warriors, springing up 

 to meet the foe, were jerked on their backs by their own 

 tails. Another has conclusive evidence of the existence of 

 one tailed man at least, " Because I eat him ! " — all fairly 

 strong evidence, remarks Mr. Murray, if not of the existence of 

 men with tails, at least of lively imaginations. And so we are 

 taken through interesting chapters on the People, History, 

 Exploration and Development. One is struck with the sym- 

 pathetic and far-sighted policy of the Australian Government 



which guides the destinies of the Possession, and recognises in 

 Mr. Murray, who is the Lieutenant-Governor, a wise and 

 thoughtful exponent of it. 



We do not think the introduction very fortunate, and the 

 two first chapters, on the geography, are certainly the least 

 interesting. The numerous photographs are excellent, but the 

 map is not very satisfactory, and there are a few misprints. 

 The index is good. . <, 



The Earth, its Shape, Size, Weight and Spin. — By J. H. 



Poynting, Sc.D., F.R.S. 141 pages. 49 figures. 



6i-in. X 5-in. 



(The Cambridge University Press. Price 1/- net.) 



In three chapters, on " The Shape and Size of the Earth," 

 '* Weighing the Earth," " The Earth as a Clock," Dr. 

 Poynting has collected for the student and the general reader 

 a great deal of useful information on certain branches of 

 earth-knowledge for which one has usually to search large and 

 difficult treatises, and the information is presented in such a 

 way that it is acquired really as scientific knowledge, not 

 merely as positive fact is got from the usual popular book. 

 The student must have a preparation in Mathematics and 

 Physics, but the general reader will read with profit though his 

 equipment be less. 



Very fresh and stimulating is the treatment of Relative 

 Motion, Precession and Nutation, and most of the part on the 

 Tides. Frequently the expression is striking and illuminating. 

 It is characteristic of many of the Cambridge Manuals that 

 exactly as the reader knows more he learns more, and this is 

 even more than usually true of the present volume. One 

 complains of some things that might be easier to follow, as at 

 pages 11-12, 58, 115. These are but slight faults in a book 

 elsewhere remarkably excellent, which is well got up, and has 

 a good index. 



A. S. 



GEOLOGY. 



The Geology of Soils and Substrata. — By H. B. Woodward, 



F.R.S., F.G.S. 366 pages. 44 text-figures. 4 plates. 



7i-in.X5-in. 



(Edward Arnold. Price 7/6 net.) 



The aim of this book is to provide the necessary geological 

 information for agriculturists, and those engaged in the 

 management of estates, in sanitary or engineering work — in 

 short, any business which involves some knowledge of the soil 

 and subsoil. The practical importance of geological know- 

 ledge is nowhere brought out more fully than in connection 

 with agriculture, sites for houses and cemeteries, sewage 

 disposal, and kindred applications of the science. In our 

 opinion, Mr. Woodward has fully achieved the object with 

 which he set out. In the book is brought together an immense 

 amount of geological information on subjects that are rarely 

 even mentioned in the text-books, and it is a special con- 

 venience to have it set out so clearly in this book. 



The first six chapters provide such general geological know- 

 ledge as is necessary for the study of the soil and subsoil that 

 follows. The next eight chapters deal with every conceivable 

 phase of agricultural work in which geological knowledge is a 

 desideratum. For instance, besides the method of formation 

 of soils, we are shown how climatic and other conditions 

 affect its fertility or cause its barrenness. This leads to a dis- 

 cussion of the drainage necessary to increase the fertility and 

 workability of the soil, and of the geological principles in- 

 volved. 



Next are described the mineral manures which it may be 

 necessary to apply in order to make up some natural deficiency 

 in the soil. Then come chapters on the geological features to 

 be studied in connection with forests, woodlands, orchards 

 and gardens ; and the practical geological considerations in 

 respect to estate management, and economic materials (such 

 as road-metals) derived from the soil or subsoil. The chapter 

 dealing with the geology of sites for houses, cemeteries, sewage 



