September, 1912. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



363 



these pages will be used elsewhere : a publication containing 

 a summary of the corrections for the whole zones would have 

 been of greater use. 



We have one criticism to make upon this and previous 

 volumes of this series. We offer a protest against the absurd 

 custom, originated or frequent in .\merican publications, of 

 inserting useless cyphers before whole numbers, such as 

 minutes and seconds; c'.^'.. Why l*" 02'" OS'- 24? Whv not 

 jh 2n> 8"- H - 



F. .\. B. 



Memoirs of tlic Ihitisli Astroiioniical Association. — 



Section — Comets. Vol. XIX, Part I. 



(Eyre & Spottiswoode. Price 1/6.) 



The recent publication of this number brings to the front 

 again old Halley's Comet. We have here a summary of the 

 work of the Association's observers, and some others, upon 

 the history, brightness, nucleus, coma, tail, spectrum, and 

 other phenomena, written up in twenty-eight pages, bj' 

 Dr. D. Smart. The second part, the orbital data, is written 

 by Dr. A. C. D. Crommelin, whose collaboration with 

 Dr. Cowell brought so much honour and credit to themselves 

 and to this country, and he gets a large amount of valuable 

 information in a concise form into si.x pages, illustrated with 

 diagrams. The third part, six pages and two plates is replete 

 with illustrations of the nucleus and tail of the comet. 



F. A. B. 

 Stars and Constellations : A Little Guide to the Sky. — By 

 Agnes Fry. 40 pages. 2 maps. 6j-in.X 5 J-in. 

 (Clifton: J. Baker & Son. Price 6d. net.) 



This booklet describes in poetic language the march of the 

 stars during the year. We had the advantage of reading the 

 manuscript of these lines ; now we have them in print, in a 

 neat form, in excellent type and a good paper, at a trivial cost. 

 The authoress gives more than a line for each day of thej'ear: 

 there are four hundred and one lines ; occasionally the rhyme 

 or rhythm appears somewhat crude, but we do not notice any 

 errors in the fanciful descriptions of the constellations. 



To those who like to associate the constellations with verse 

 we commend this booklet as a useful aid in remembering the 

 configurations. t- \ r> 



BACTERIOLOGY. 

 Bacteria as Friends and Foes of the Dairy Farmer. — By 

 Wilfrid S.\DLER. 112pages. 8 illustrations. 73-in.X5-in. 

 (Methuen & Co. Price 1/6.) 

 Now that preservatives are no longer allowed in milk there 

 is an additional reason why those who are responsible for its 

 keeping should become familiar with the bacteriology of the 

 dairy. The old practical methods of butter and cheese- 

 making may be very successful, and it is always advisable to 

 let well alone ; but when difficulties arise the application of 

 scientific methods and principles will be found most advan- 

 tageous. Mr. Sadler deals with the question of pure milk 

 supply and germ-free milk, as well as with the sources of con- 

 tamination, while the first part of his book is occupied with 

 some introductory remarks on bacteria, acid forming germs 

 and the production of flavour by them. In his Introduction 

 Mr. John Golding. speaking of the dairy farmer, says that it has 

 become an absolute necessity that he should be acijuainted 

 with some knowledge of the world of microscopic beings with 

 which he is beset on all sides, and be able to distinguish his 

 friends from his foes among this host which he cannot see ; 

 but to which he owes, and from which he fears, so much. 



BIOLOGY. 

 Second Report on Economic Biology. — By Walter E. 



COLLINGE, M.Sc, F.L.S., F.E.S. 70 pages. 9-in. X 6-in. 

 (The Midland Educational Co. Price 2/6.) 



We have before us the second report on Economic Biology 

 which deals with the year 1911, and in his introduction Mr. 

 CoUinge says that the losses occasioned by injurious insects 

 and other animals and fungus parasites during the year 1911 

 have far exceeded anything he has previously known. The 

 prolonged and dry summer resulted in the maximum number 



of broods being produced, whilst the drought told largely 

 against the vitality of many crops, thus rendering them unable 

 to ward off the effects of insect or fungus attacks. On some 

 farms and in many orchards the conditions have been pitiful ; 

 indeed, those who have taken all precautions have been no 

 light sufferers. 



A new pest of mangels and beet in the shape of Cionits 

 scrophulariae Linn., which was first of all found on knotted 

 fig-wort, has now been recorded as damaging the leaves of 

 cultivated plants. Mr. Collinge discusses its distribution and 

 life history. In the miscellaneous notes some observations on 

 the food of the starling are given. The crops of one hundred 

 and forty-six birds were examined during the first six months 

 of the year. Mr. Collinge says that the food was of a 

 distinctly insectivorous character in the vicinity of the city of 

 Birmingham, and that during those months the evidence from 

 the food generally would lead us to place this species amongst 

 those birds beneficial to the agriculturist and horticulturist. 

 He, however, adds that a similar record taken in an agricul- 

 tural district would "in all probability reveal the starling as the 

 destroyer of newly-sown grain, and extended over the summer 

 months would show that it inflicts considerable losses upon 

 fruit growers," and he further remarks " in short, we have too 

 many starlings." He is most likely (luite right, but it would 

 be useful to have some direct evidence as to the second six 

 months of the year ; and. as the natural outcome of having too 

 many starlings would be to destroy them, the question arises 

 why should they be killed in the neighbourhood of Birmingham 

 if they are there useful. Possibly, however, it might be con- 

 tended that they might migrate to an .agricultural district. 

 We should, however, like to know also how the economic 

 biologist decides whether the amount of good done by any 

 particular bird outweighs or balances the harm which it 

 causes. 



COSMOLOGY. 

 The Growth of a Planet. — By Edwin Sharpe Grew, M.A. 

 351 pages. 9 illustrations and numerous diagrams. 

 7i-in. X5-in. 

 (Methuen & Co. Price 6 - net.) 

 This is a class of book that at the present time is most 

 urgently needed. From cover to cover it teems with original 

 thought and sane suggestion. It is a careful examination of 

 a large number of cosmic explanations, theories, and general- 

 izations. Many of our eminent scientific thinkers have been 

 deploring the fact that we stand a chance of being intellectually 

 buried beneath the vast accumulations of unclassified and 

 badly correllated facts. The last few years has shown that 

 there is a tendency amongst scientific men generally to search 

 for explanations and working hypotheses. It was only natural 

 that in the past the stupendous advance in the power of our 

 telescopes, then their being armed first with the prism and 

 then with the photographic film, should give a great enthusiasm 

 to observations. This book is an attempt to find out what 

 these observations mean and their constructive value. It must 

 aid greatly in giving order to our ideas, and will tend to intro- 

 duce a system of logical classification that will render 

 observations available for future study. 



The book opens with an examination of the theories of the 

 Birth of Systems. Professor See, in his Capture theory, shows 

 many grounds why Laplace's ring theory must be abandoned ; 

 our author shows us many more. Having relinquished this 

 hypothesis, he examines Chamberlin and Moulton's and shows 

 reasons why we must accept this hypothesis with a great deal 

 of caution. Of course, one of the most fatal objections to this 

 theory is, that where double spiral nebulae are abundant, there 

 are but few stars to produce them, and where stars are 

 abundant they appear to have formed no spiral nebulae at all. 

 Another objection is, that we should expect to find many 

 double spiral nebulae in pairs, whereas scarcely any pairs 

 exist. He examines the tidal, and other theories of the origin 

 of moons and planets, and shows generally that although they 

 have much to recommend them yet all fail in giving a 

 thoroughly satisfactory explanation. 



The main portion of this book, as its title suggests, is 

 concerned with the geology of the Earth and its evolution as 



