448 



KNOWLEDGE. 



December, 1913. 



GEOGRAPHY. 



Japan's Inheritance (the Country, its People, and their 



Destiny).— By E. Bruce Mitford, F.R.G.S. 384 pages. 



12 maps and plans, and 75 illustrations from photographs. 



9-in.X6-in. 



(T. Fisher Unwin. Price 10/6.) 



More than half the book describes the physical inheritance 

 of Japan, mainly from a geological point-of-view, laying 

 special emphasis on volcanic phenomena ; here, as in all parts 

 of the work, the author describes many personal experiences 

 which give the reader a vivid impression of local conditions. 

 Excellent photographs illustrate his descriptions ; one longs 

 for a better physical map. He adds a sober account of the 

 present-day state of affairs in the country, warning us that 

 the West and the East have only half learnt each other's 

 lessons, so that there is danger ahead : America has not learnt 

 to treat Orientals with due respect, and Japan, inevitably to 

 be linked with China, has acquired no spiritual foundation 

 to counterbalance its new materialism. Japan has a definite 

 mission to the East, which can only be fulfilled satisfactorily 

 if these defects are remedied. The book is well worth 

 reading. JCC 



The Continent of Europe. — By Lionel W. Lyde, Professor 



of Economic Geography in University College, London. 



446 pages. Physical maps of each country, and many 



diagrams. 9-in. X6-in. 



(Macmillan & Co. Price 7/6 net.) 



In a closely- written book of over four hundred pages, 

 Professor Lyde gives us a very interesting study of Man in 

 Europe, as influenced by geographical factors such as surface- 

 features and climate, based upon Europe's characteristic penin- 

 sular formation. For the sake of this study, he is prepared to 

 accept the tetrahedral theory of the development of world- 

 forms as a convenient working hypothesis ; the surface-relief 

 is examined in relation to this and its effect on the move- 

 ments and habits of Man. His intimate knowledge of 

 economic conditions and their correlation with the various 

 physical controls renders the book worthy of careful study ; 

 he makes one realise that in the long run geographical 

 conditions must play the fundamental part in shaping 

 the characters and destinies of countries and their 

 inhabitants. In Europe, especially, human history and 

 sentiment count for so much that he rightly groups his 

 matter around political units rather than " natural regions," 

 and he shows great scientific ingenuity in tracing geographical 

 influences in history. It is a most inspiring book. 



J. C. C. 



OCEANOGRAPHY. 



The Ocean. — By Sir John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S. 

 256 pages. 12 plates. 6j-in.X4i-in. 



(Williams & Norgate. Price 1/- net.) 



It is not easy to do justice to this excellent manual of 

 Oceanography in a short review. From his great knowledge 

 of the subject Sir John Murray has condensed into two 

 hundred and forty-three post octavo pages a very extensive 

 account of the Ocean from almost all points of view. In fact 

 the book is so full of the latest facts and contains so little 

 "padding" that it will serve almost as a textbook or work of 

 reference for Fachleute, as well as a manual for the interested 

 amateur. After detailing the methods of research, Sir John 

 Murray passes on to the depth, salinity, and temperature of the 

 Ocean. The difficult problems of " why the sea is salt " and 

 why the percentage of carbonate of lime is so small in the 

 waters of the ocean are explained, though perhaps hardly so 

 fully as might be wished by the unlearned. We have not 

 found reference to the recent suggestion that the sea contains 

 much decomposing organic matter which may be made use of 

 by many organisms hitherto believed to live entirely by the 

 holozoic method of nutrition. 



Tides and tidal waves are next touched upon, followed by 

 an account of the difficult question of ocean circulation, the 



interesting condition of the Black Sea being sufficiently 

 explained in the limited space at the author's disposal, though 

 we think the Gulf Stream hardly receives sufficient attention. 

 Plant and animal life are next dealt with, and the first part of 

 Chapter VIII is perhaps the most interesting and stimulating 

 portion of the book ; the latter half is mostly a catalogue. 

 The plates of marine organisms at the end of the book 

 are rather too sketchy to be of much value. We 

 note that Figure 16, Plate VIII is upside down. The 

 nature of the marine deposits is very ably described and the 

 author gives in this connection sundry cogent reasons for dis- 

 belief in " Atlantis " and " Gondwanaland." Finally the 

 structure and interrelation of the various geospheres are 

 discussed in a highly interesting manner. We can confidently 

 recommend the book to all those — -and they must number not 

 a few — who would learn, from one who is facile princeps 

 among living experts, something of the " wonders of the Great 

 Deep." 



M. D. H. 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



The Gannet. — By J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S. 567 pages. 

 131 illustrations. 9-in. X6-in. 



(Witherby & Co. Price 27/6 net). 



A striking testimony to the interest which is now being 

 taken in British birds is Mr. J. H. Gurney's book on "The 

 Gannet," for he devotes no less than five hundred and sixty 

 pages to his subject. His sub-title is " A Bird with a 

 History," and no one after reading his latest contribution to 

 ornithology can deny that the Solan Goose has a long and 

 interesting story. There was, some years ago, a fear that 

 the Gannet might die out. We are glad to think with Mr. 

 Gurney that its numbers are increasing, and that its fish- 

 eating propensities are overlooked, while the traffic in its 

 feathers is ended and the name Solan Goose is quite forgotten 

 in the " trade." It is to the description of the bird's habits 

 that many no doubt will turn. The fact that the birds show 

 a considerable amount of affection for one another and indulge 

 in caresses after the period of courtship is over, is of interest, 

 as well as the curious way in which the birds gape from time 

 to time, and the number of accidents which are responsible for 

 their deaths. It might be deduced from the facts that the 

 Gannet only lays one egg and takes three years to come 

 to maturity that it is long lived, and a marked bird is said to 

 have reached the age of eighty years. Mr. Gurney's book is 

 really most exhaustive and fascinating, and goes into every 

 kind of detail. On page 446 we are permitted to give two out 

 of the many well-chosen illustrations. 



PHYSICS. 



Researches in Magneto-Optics. — By P. Zeeman, Professor 



of Experimental Physics in the University of Amsterdam. 



219 pages. 74 figures. 9-in. X6-in. 



(Macmillan & Co. Price 6/-.) 



The discoverer of the well-known " Zeeman effect " 

 dedicates his monograph to the memory of Michael Faraday. 

 The book itself is not unworthy of such an association. In 

 clearness and completeness of exposition, in true scientific 

 enthusiasm, and in generous recognition of the work done by 

 others, it is a fit successor of the " Experimental Researches." 

 To criticise such a book in a brief notice would be an 

 impertinence, and to deal with it adequately would require 

 more knowledge than the writer of these few lines possesses. 

 He is capable, however, of appreciating the clearness with 

 which the distinction between dispersion and resolving power 

 of a spectroscope is made in the opening chapter. The book 

 is an expansion of Professor Zeeman's lecture given at the 

 Royal Institution in 1906, and has been written specially for 

 Macmillan's series of science monographs. The translation 

 of the Dutch manuscript seems to have been admirably done 

 by Miss J. D.Van der Waals. The last twenty-five pages are 

 filled with the bibliography of the subject. Evidently the 

 book is one which every student of Physics should possess. 



W. D. E. 



