REVIEWS. 



. , GENERAL. 



Science from an Easy Chair. — By Sir Ray Lankester, 

 K.C.B., F.R.S. 5i-in. X 7|-in. 423 pages. 82 figures., 



(Methuen & Company, Limited. Price 6 -.) 



There is an ever increasing need for the popularisation of 

 science, not as understood by many journalists (which to them 

 means the exaggerating of a scientific statement, or the parts 

 of it which suit their purpose, and the attenuating of its truth), 

 but for those who really know their subjects to pick out those 

 points which appeal to others who have no technical knowledge, 

 and to clearly and lucidly describe them. In this way the 

 interest of many in the world around them is greatly increased, 

 and the influence spreads and grows stronger, so that their 

 children, if not they themselves, may ultimately take up science 

 seriously. In fact what we want is more scientific men like 

 Sir Ray Lankester, who can write as well as work. The 

 essays which go to form this book are articles which have 

 been reprinted from The Daily Tclcgrapli. and the author 

 has taken a great deal of trouble to introduce some striking 

 and interesting illustrations. Sir Ray Lankester claims that 

 the coloured drawings of the adult silver eel and the immature 

 yellow eel are the first that have been published. Others we 

 may mention are the prehistoric engraving of a horse's head 

 with a rope bridle, and of the jumping bean and the moth 

 which comes from the grub within it. In the preface a hope 

 is held out that other \'olumes will follow, and we feel sure 

 that if they do Sir Ray Lankester may be congratulated 

 (juite as heartily as in the present instance. 



Iddls of Education. — Selected and Annotated by Charles 

 Mills Gayley. 4f-in. X 7-in. 181 pages. 



(Hodder & Stuughton. Price 2 6 net.) 



After an introduction which is an e\ident attempt at fine 

 writing that is rather wasted upon us, probably owing to its being 

 too reminiscent of Latin prose, the author proceeds to point 

 out how, in the American Colleges at least, the time is mostlv 

 taken up with meetings, rehearsals, preparations, and rubbish, 

 and he endeavours to set up other idols in their place. 

 Professor Gayley strongly criticises the system of Rousseau 

 and Froebel. and seems to think that the idol of play is under- 

 mining all discipline. He also finds a source of trouble in the 

 fact that the greater percentage of teachers in America are 

 women. Those interested in education should read the book, 

 and those responsible for teaching in this country should 

 enquire whether the strictures of Professor Gayle\- mav not 

 soon be applicable to England. 



BOTANICAL. 



Slimmer Flmccrs of the High Alps. — By Somerville 



Hastings. Illustrated by Reproductions from direct colour 



Photographs by the Author. 6i-in. X 8l-in. 85 pages, 



39 plates. 



(J. M. Dent & Sons, Limited. Price 7 6 net.) 

 Mr. Hastings' book is most interesting, because the photo- 

 graphs from which the plates were made were taken on 

 Lumiere plates which give the colours in a transparency. 

 The process, it will be remembered, depends upon the action 

 of light after its passage through various coloured starch 

 grains. The transparencies made by Mr. Somerville Hastings 

 have been reproduced by the three-colour process, that is to 

 say the plates have been printed from three half-tone blocks. 

 It is no good deceiving oneself with the idea that this process 

 is yet perfected, and those who know the flowers will miss 

 some of their more delicate tints, while the colours of the 

 backgrounds are unduly emphasised. As the writer had the 

 privilege of seeing a number of the original transparencies 

 some time ago, he cannot help but say that they are in 

 many cases much better than the reproductions. The book 

 will serve as an excellent introduction to the studv of Swiss 



Flowers, and Mr. Hastings gives references to other books 

 which the student may afterwards consult. In ihs introduc- 

 tion, Mr. Hastings briefly contrasts the flowers of the Alps 

 with those of other countries, and he says that we are so used 

 to the bluebells of our woods, the purple heather of our 

 heaths, and the yellow gorse of our conmions that we hardly 

 realise how glorious they are. In Switzerland the gorse is 

 very rare, the bluebells are not found at all, and the bell- 

 heathers are absent, though the ling is found everywhere, but, 

 like many others, Mr. Hastings finds the flowers of the, 

 mountains truly wonderful and his pictures, taken from the 

 plants as they were growing, will go a long way to prove that 

 they are. 



Hoii.' to Knovi- the Trees. — By Henry Irving. Sj-in. X 



7i-in. 179 pages. With illustrations from photographs by 



the Author. 



(Cassell & Company, Ltd. Price 3 6 net.) 



Trees \cry naturally lend themselves as subjects for nature 

 study. Their varied shapes, their seasonal changes, their bare 

 branches, or their twigs covered with foliage, are all attractive, 

 and as if these details were not enough there are the manifold 

 shapes of their leaves, their various barks, their evident or 

 inconspicuous flowers, and if one likes to go further than mere 

 outward obser%'ation there is their internal structure and the 

 consideration of the part which they play in the world of 

 Nature. Mr. Irving has done his share to advance the study 

 of trees. His photographs have embellished the cases of many 

 museums, and the pages of other men's books, and in the 

 volume before us he adds descriptions in his own words of the 

 trees that he pictorially represents. 



It suffices us to say that all our counnon trees are dealt 

 with, and these are shown in the illustrations as they appear in 

 summer and winter in their entirety, while all the details to 

 which we have made allusion are carefully figured with the 

 help of the camera. 



The book is well got up, and should encourage and help the 

 nature student very considerably. 



PERIODICAL. 



Science Progress in tlie Twentieth Century. ,4 Quarterly 

 Journal of Scientific Work and Thought. Vol. V. No. 17, 

 July, 1910. Editors.— H. E. Armstrong, Ph.D., LL.D.. 

 F.R.S., J. Bretland Farmer, M.A., D.Sc, F.R.S.. and 

 W. G. Freeman, B.Sc, A.R.C.S., F.L.S. 

 (John Murray. Price 5/- net.) 



The first article in the current number of "Science 

 Progress " consists of an account by Professor H. H. Turner 

 of the great star map which, with the help of photography, is 

 being made by astronomers working in different parts of the 

 world. He points out that there is very little technicality 

 about the process which is not familiar to the user of an 

 ordinary Kodak. The astronomer uses a much longer camera, 

 which he drives by clockwork so that it may follow the stars, 

 and he takes pictures at night instead of in the daytime, 

 using the light emitted by the stars instead of that reflected 

 from the sun. Incidentally an account is given of the way in 

 which photographs of stars came to be taken. The present 

 scheme includes not only the pictorial representations on the 

 plates, or prints made from them, but also the measurement 

 of the plates, and the publication of the measures of original 

 stars. The account of the work is to be continued. 



Dr. Florence Buchanan describes a number of e.xperiments 

 made in connection with the pulse rate of animals. The 

 object is to show the power of the heart in different species of 

 warm-blooded animals of complying with the demands made 

 upon it not on occasion only but for life. A very interesting 

 apparatus is figured showing the way in which the pulse of a 

 l)ird is taken. Other articles are those on New Theories of 

 the Evolution of Stellar Systems, by F. W. Henkel, and on 

 Agricultural Progress in the Tropics, by Dr. J. C. Willis. 



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