13<i 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Jink, 1902. 



containiDg tko boft aud most accurate expositions of scientific 

 subjects selected from various sources by tlie secretjiry, Dr. S. V. 

 Langloy. Tlic papers which appear in the report arc reprints 

 from .-icifintilic periodicals or the publications of scientific 

 societies, or translations from French, German and other 

 languages. Each rejiort is thus a survey of scientific thought 

 and progress during the year to wliich it refeis. In the report 

 under notice, much space is given to reviews of the progress of 

 science during the nineteenth century, prepared by men dis- 

 tinguished in their various tield.s. The subjects reviewed are 

 astrouomy, chemistry, ge(>lo<jy, physics, electricity, geography, 

 biology, medicine and psychical research, which, with an article 

 on the century's great men of science, give in brief a |)icture of 

 scientific activity of the last century. China, which figured so 

 much in the |)ub!ic eye during I'.MM) is given special prominence. 

 There is a brief sketch of the I'ekin Observatory, the looting of 

 which caused so much comment, and one on Chinese folk-lore. 

 Aeronautics, which during the last decade has been growing to 

 be considered a science, has several articles devoted to it by 

 Dr. Janssen, Lord Kayleigh, Dr. Langley, aud others. Among 

 the thirty or more other articles may be mentioned, as illustrating 

 the variety of the subjects treated, papers on malaria and the 

 transmission of yellow fever, by Surgeon-General Sternberg, an 

 essay on Huxley, by Professor Brooks, and a paper on incan- 

 descent mantles. The Smithsonian Reports are distributed to 

 institutions throughout the world, and may be had by purchase 

 at cost price from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 

 City, U.S.A. Their v.alue can only be adequately appreciated 

 by becoming familiar with them, and we recommend all who are 

 able to see them to take an early opportunity of doing so. 



''More Talks ok the Bikds." By W. Warde Fowler. 

 (Loudon : Macmillan & Co. I'.Ul-.'.) — Mr. Warde Fowler has 

 again succeeded in producing a most charming book for juvenile 

 readers, and one which cannot fail to instil a love of the country 

 and a fondness for birds. The author combines the lare 

 qualities of a skilled ornithologist and a story-teller of singular 

 fascination ; as a result, the feveral chapters of his book all 

 faithfully reflect the characteristics of the various birds which 

 he has selected. Only in one case have we come across a jarring 

 note. He goes out of bis way, it seems to us, to sow an early 

 prejudice against one of the most ruthlessly persecuted of birds 

 — the heron. Inasmuch as he depicts this poor bird as making 

 a meal of the most sacred person of a trout ! It is this 

 occasional piece of audacity on the part of this poor bird that 

 has brought about his undoing wherever trout streams abound, 

 for the proprietors thereof will brook no fishermen but them- 

 selves. Thus, the budding naturalist, who may latei' in life 

 become an enthusiastic angler, is started on his career of jjerse- 

 cution of one of our most interesting and fast vanishing birds. 

 Why would not an eel, or a water-rat, have served as well as a 

 trout ? They form a far commoner proportion, moreover, of 

 the food of the heron than the fish he selects. The illustrations 

 suggest the hand of a novice, but the pictures of the kite and 

 the sandpipers give jiromise of very considerable skill in the 

 future, the kite being especially good. 



"Result.^ op Rai.n, River, and Evaporation Observations 

 MADE IN New South Wales dukinc 1899." By H. C. Russell, 

 i!.A., C.M.G., I'.R.S., Government Astronomer, New South Wales. 

 (Sydney : William Applegate GuUick.) 1901. Price 3s. 6d. 

 With JIaps and Diagrams. — This volume deals with the romance 

 of the raindrops, and although the story is told in statistical 

 form it is full of interest. That the tables of figures which 

 detail the observations made at 17'J4 stations have been arauged 

 under the sui)ervisiou of Mr. Russell is a guarantee that they 

 will be found lucid and to indicate clearly the precise nature of 

 the facts dealt with. The publication is mainly concerned with 

 the general results of rainfall observations during 1.S99, but 

 there are in abundance additional tables that show the rainfall 

 records in Australia at a number of stations during the sixty 

 years l.S-l(» to 1899. These statistics indicate the amount of rain 

 that fell during certain months aud years in different parts of 

 the colony, the averages being also given for the purposes of 

 comparison ; but in order to complete the fuU history of the 

 raindrops other particulars are reciuired, aud these this volume 

 provides. Thus when once the rain has fallen on the ground it 

 is necessary to learn something of the way in which it disappears. 

 Some of the water, for instance, evaporates almost as soon as it 

 falls : while a certain amount percolates underground. Much 



of the water, again, may rush over the surface of the ground 

 into the rivulets, streams, and rivers and so produce floods. To 

 engineers and others, therefore, who are concerned with reser- 

 voirs, springs, and wells, not only is it important to be told the 

 depth of rain that fell, but on the other side of the account 

 .something should be said concerning evaporation, percolation, 

 and floods. As regards the latter, Mr. Russell gives the height 

 of certain rivers from day to day, the figures being obtained by 

 means of river-gauges and flood-marks placed on bridges. There 

 are no jiercolation observations in this book, but since there are 

 so many otlier interesting tables and diagrams no one wcmld 

 find fault with the omission, although a few such details would 

 have added to the value of the volume. The statistical part of 

 the observations is illuminated by seven diagrams at the end of 

 the book, and reference may bo made to one of them which 

 shows the monthly distribution of the rainfall in difl'erent 

 districts, and reveals the character of the year's rainfall in a 

 most excellent manner. Another diagram has reference to the 

 debatable question of the moon aud the weather, Jlr. Russell 

 is " convinced that there is some connection between the two.'' 

 Jleteorologists as a body are, however, not yet persuaded that 

 any hints as to future weather are to be gained by looking in 

 this direction, and those who are engaged iu preparing what 

 may be termed the official forecasts prefer, at present, to consult 

 a synchronous chart rather than the moon. In order that the 

 mean annual rainfall over New South Wales as a whole, which 

 is 25 inches, may be compared with other parts of the world, 

 Mr. Russell has compiled a table giving the averages for thirty- 

 three representative localities. At the head of this table 

 stand the Khasia Hills, India, with a mean annual rainfall of 

 60(1 inches, Madrid with 9 inches is at the bottom ; London has 

 24 inches, and New York 47 inches. But no attempt must be 

 made here to extract the statistical " plums " from this well- 

 compiled volume, to which anyone interested in rainfall matters 

 may safely be commended. 



"The Nearer East." By D. G. Hogarth, m..\. AVith Majis 

 and Diagrams. Pp. xv., 296. (Heiuemann.) — This volume is 

 the second of the series edited by Jlr. H. J. Mackinder, 

 having for its object the description of the great regions of 

 the world in relation to the people inhabiting them. Geography 

 as it is now understood is concerned with the influence of 

 environment upon human life ; it is an endeavour to determine 

 the conditions which have led to the adjustment of things as 

 they are. The most important factor is the relief of the earth's 

 surface, which determines to a large extent the climatic condi- 

 tions, and through tbis the character of a race, causing, for 

 instance, the peasant of the Nile Delta and the fellah of the 

 Upper River to be very different beings. The density of the 

 population is largely dependent upon the nature of the couutiT. 

 Thus, while Egypt with desert areas included has a population 

 averaging about 12 to the square mile, the number on the land 

 without deserts amounts to GuO per square mile. By several 

 remarkable examples, Mr. Hogarth shows how the character of 

 man is affected by the nature of the available food supply. 

 " Over the immense area of south-western Asia, where grain can 

 be cultivated so little as to be in no sense a staple food, and the 

 date fruit, heating and satisfying, but not of equal nutrition, 

 takes its place, we find one character of man, restless and alert, 

 but incapable of sustained action or any but the most superficial 

 aud conventional thought." There is, in fact, a regular gradation 

 in an upward scale of physical endurance and intelligence from 

 the lowest date-eating Bedawin to inhabitants of the Lebanou 

 and the Syrian coast, where wheat and olive, milk aud wine, 

 are among the staples of life. We ciinuot refer to the many 

 other interesting facts of a similar nature described by Mr. 

 Hogarth. About one-half of his volume deals with the physical 

 geography of the " Nearer East,'' which includes the tracts of 

 lands which lie in and about the eastern basin of the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea. The second half is concerned with the distribution, 

 character aud conditions of human life in tliis region. The 

 book shows how geography cau be studied in a perfectly scientific 

 manner, and will thus do something to remove the re-impression 

 that the subject has no place among the sciences. The author 

 has overlooked the loose expression " different to" on page 17. 



"A Concise Drtionahv of Euvi'tian Akl'h.eolouv." By 

 M. Brodrick and A. Anderson Morton. Pp. viii. aud 198. 

 (Methuen.) Illustrated. .'Is. 6d. — Students and travellers may 

 fiud this little handbook of service, but they must of course 



