420 



KNOWLEDGE. 



October, 1910. 



Popular Astronomy. — By S, Newcomb. S-in X 5:(-in. 

 579 pasj;. 112 illustrations and 5 maps. 



(Macmillan i: Co.. I.td. S 6 net.) 



The late Professor Ncwcoinb's Treatise on Popular 

 Astronomy is so well Unown and so hii,'hly appreciated that 

 a reissue of it will be widely welcomed in England, but we are 

 bound to enter a serious protest against the reprint now 

 submitted to us having the date of 1910 on the title page, 

 whilst no attempt has been made to edit the book and bring 

 it up to that date. The " Publishers' Note " prefixed wholly 

 fails to meet the case. It is suggested that the only changes 

 the author would ha% e made had he been still living "" would 

 have been in the nature of additions describing recent 

 researches." We feel bound to traverse this statement. No 

 author publishing a book in 1910 would have stated that " The 

 last observed return of Kncke's Comet was in 1881"; that 

 Mr. A. A. Common (who died in 1903) possesses at Ealing 

 the second largest Newtonian Reflector in England ; that the 

 younger Earl of Rosse (who died in 1908) is still carryin.g 

 on his father's observations at Parsonstown ; that the Minor 

 Planets are two himdred and twenty in number, there now- 

 being between six hundred and seven hundred known. The 

 List of Books " presented for the benefit of Teachers and 

 Students" is hopelessly useless as well as out of date. Surely 

 even a moderate amount of " editing " would have been 

 reasonable and justifiable in view of the foregoing facts, e\en 

 though the author had departed this life. 



MICDICINK. 



Physioloiiy. tlii: Servant of Medicine ^Clilorofonii in the 



Laboratory and in tlie Hospital). — By .\. D. \\'.ai.I.er, 



M.D., LL.D.. F.R.S. 5i-in. X 8i-in. 143 pages. 



(Hodder ^: Stoughton. Price 5 -.) 



The \olume before us contains a series of lectures delivered 

 at the University of California in 1909. In the preface its 

 author describes it as consistin.g of " some fragments of 

 Physiology, of which I have sought to emphasise the 

 application to Practical Medicine, and among which the study 

 of chloroform has beeu a constantly recurring note," and no 

 one who reads the book will have any doubt as to its 

 fragmentary character. In the earlier chapters the writer 

 recapitulates his admirable work on the electrical currents 

 which result from activity in practically all living tissues, both 

 animal and \egetable, and shows how they are inhibited or 

 abolished by the action of anaesthetics. In the last chapter 

 the dangers of anaesthetics are discussed, the principal risk 

 with chloroform being, in the author's opinion, the undue 

 concentration of the vapour. He therefore suggests the use 

 of the apparatus he has designed whereby the concentration 

 of the vapour can be at once read off on a scale. The 

 apparatus he uses is awkward and cumbersome, and although, 

 perhaps, well suited for use in the laboratory, would not 

 appear applicable to ordinary practice. In an appendix more 

 experimental details are given, and the future of the L'niversitv 

 of London is discussed. The book is well supplied with 

 diagrams and charts, and is written in clear lecture style. It 

 gives an excellent resume of Dr. Waller's physiological 

 researches, but their direct application to the study of 

 medicine is not in all cases clear. 



The Beat li -dealing Insects and their Story. — By Cox vers 

 MoRRELL. 5-in.X7T-in. 79 pages. 

 (Manchester, H. A. W. Offices. Price 1 - net.) 

 This little book recites in popular language one of the most 

 interesting chapters in recent medical research, and demon- 

 strates the great assistance that has been obtained from 

 biology in the study of tropical diseases in both man and the 

 domestic animals. The author describes the life-history of 

 the mosquitos, tse-tse flies and fleas, which are believed to be 

 the sole agents by which such diseases as malaria (ague), 

 yellow fever, sleeping sickness and plague are spread, and 

 tells us something of how such diseases may be prevented by 

 the destruction of these pests. Other less known affections, 

 both of mankind ,ind cattle, which are probably distributed in 

 a similar manner, are also shortly described. The book is 

 clearly and simply written, but unfortunately the illustrations 

 are far from what they ought to be. Nevertheless, to those 

 without medical knowledge, who are desirous of learning what 

 has recently been done by the ordinary methods of scientific 

 research for the prevention and cure of tropical diseases, the 

 book is to be recommended. 



METEOROLOGY. 



Meteoroloiiy. Practical and Applied. — By Sir John Moore. 



6-in. XS^-in. 492 pa.ges. 



(Messrs. Rebman, Ltd. Price 10 6 net.) 



The first edition of this well-known book on Meteorology was 

 published in 1894. Sir John Moore is a physician, and through 

 many years he has found the study of Meteorology the needed 

 foil to his more serious professional studies and pursuits, and 

 his medical experience has enabled him to deal with the 

 subject in a very special w-ay. The book has for several years 

 been out of print, and the rapid progress of meteorological 

 science has rendered a thorough revision of it indispensable. 

 Sir John Moore has done this very carefully, and considerable 

 additions have been made. An important point is the 

 number of new instruments which have been described and 

 illustrated. 



For the benefit of those who are not yet familiar with this 

 standard work, we may say that it is di\ided into four parts. 

 .■\ brief introduction is followed by a full account of the 

 methods which are employed in practical meteorology, the 

 third part treats the climate and weather and with that of the 

 British Isles in particular, while the remainder of the book 

 has a practical bearing, and in it Sir John Moore combines his 

 professional experience with his hobby, and gives a most 

 valuable account of the influence of season and of weather on 

 disease. We feel sure that the fascination which the subject 

 of Meteorology has exerted o\er the author will cast its spell 

 over those who read his " labour of love." 



GENERAL. 



Mona's Record of the Earth's Changes. — By Joseph 



Lewin. 5-in. X 7i-in. 100 pages. 



(Brown cS: Sons. Price 2'-.) 



This little book contains some good photographs illustrating 

 the scenery of the Isle of Man, and the letterpress deals with 

 a number of interesting facts with regard to changes which 

 have taken place in the habits of the people and in the 

 conformation of the ground. For instance, at the time when 

 a certain battle took place at Skye Hill the level of the sea, it 

 is contended, must have been fifty feet higher than at 

 present if it reached the foot of the hill. 



XOTICHS. 



SOUTH-WESTERN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, 

 CHELSEA. — Among the special evening classes which 

 have been arranged in connection with the Biological Depart- 

 ment are courses on Economic Zoology, Technical Botany. 

 Gardening and Horticulture, as well as a well planned series 

 of lectures on " Evolution," and practical demonstrations of 



Microscopy. Microtechnicjue, as well as Photo-micrography. 



"THE SCIENTIST'S DIARY."— We understand that 

 the new edition of this handy little book will take a much 

 improved form, and that additional information will be 

 embodied, of a kind that cannot be found in any other sm.all 

 books of reference. 



