444 



KNo\\i,i:i)r,i:. 



NOVKMBER, 1912. 



i|iieer terms as " isofaRuoiis," " lictcrofaguoiis," and " parasitis- 

 mils." There are nnmcroiis good illustrations, and a useful 

 table of the fungoid diseases, arranged according to the host 

 plants, is given in an appendi.\. The book is well got up, but 

 seems rather expensive for its si/o. 



F. C. 



()CKANOGK.\HHV. 



Science of the Sea. — Prepared by The Challenger Society. 

 Edited by G. Herbert Fowi.ur, H.A., Ph.D., F.L.S. 

 452 pages. 217 figures and 8 charts. 8-in.X5J-in. 

 (John Murr.iy. Price 6/- net.) 

 To those about to start on a long voyage who often ask how 

 they can do some work for science, to yachtsmen, to naval 

 officers who are apt to find time heavy on their hands in port 

 or in a foreign station, this book has been addressed by the 

 Challenger Society; for if they take up some of the subjects 

 which are so admirably outlined in its pages they will enjoy 

 an ever fresh interest in the .sea, its workings and its inhabi- 

 tants. It would not be easy to find any important matters 

 which have been left out. The names of those who have 

 contributed the various chapters are a guarantee that the 

 information is sound and reliable. The air, water, shore, 

 Hoating and fixed plants, floating animals and those of the 

 sea floor are naturally considered ; but we may turn from the 

 hints as to dress and medicines, given by Professor Stanley 

 Gardiner, to the interesting dissertation on the sea serpent by 

 Professor D'Arcy Thompson. Yacht equipment, methods of 

 dredging and trawling, and the preservation of marine 

 organisms are all considered. The Editor gives some excel- 

 lent advice as to notes and labels, and the material of which 

 note-books should be made. The names of marine stations 

 throughout the world should prove most useful for reference. 

 as should also the chapter on literature ; while the classified 

 list of firms who will supply equipments, nets, apparatus and 

 chemicals, though it might be amplified very considerably in 

 some directions, has the advantage of containing only the 

 names of those who are recommended from personal knowledge 

 bv the authors. 



W. M. W", 



I'SVCHOI.OGV. 



An Introduction to Psychology. — By Wilhei.m Wundt. 

 Translated from the Second German Edition by RuDOi.i' 

 PiNTZER. 198 pages. 7i-in.X5-in. 

 (George Allen & Co. Price 3/6.) 

 Students of the science of psychology will welcome this 

 brief expression of the long and patient researches of the 

 veteran Leipsic Professor. It starts on the basis of experiment, 

 and it goes no further beyond this basis than is legitimate in 

 any scientific enquiry. To give a bare summary of its contents 

 would be to do the author and our readers little service. We 

 should advise all who are interested in the modern develop- 

 ment of the subject, and in the manner in which the essentials 

 take form in the mind of a great inaster, to read it and then 

 to read it again. They must not expect to find this an easy 

 matter. Notwithstanding lucidity of treatment, which is 

 admirable and seldom fails in its aim, the concepts themselves 

 are such as to demand close and prolonged attention. And 

 Professor \\'undt is not the man to slur over or sneak round 

 difficulties, which are inherent in a subject so complex as that 

 which deals with the constitution of the liuman mind. The 

 principle on which he would lay the chief stress is that of 

 "creative resultants." " It attempts to state the fact that in 

 all psychical combinations the product is not a mere sum of 

 the separate elements that compose such combinations, but 

 that it represents a new creation." In logical phraseology 

 there is always somewhat more in the conclusion than is 

 contained in the premises. We believe that he is right in his 

 emphasis on this principle. But if he regards it, as may be 

 inferred from his mode of statement, as characteristic only of 

 psychical combinations, we believe that he is mistaken. We 

 regard this as true of all combinations which come under the 

 comprehensive beading, " Evolution." His insistence on the 



importance of the principle is, however, in any case wise ; 

 and it is part of a work which is characterised by its wisdom. 



C. Ll. M. 



The Composition of Matter and the Evolution of Mind. 

 — By Dl'NCAN Taylor. 176 p.iges. 7}-in. x 5-in. 

 iThe Walter Scott Publishing Co. Price J 6). 

 To deal fully with this book in the columns of " Know- 

 l,Ei)GE," would be a difficult task. We feel relieved from the 

 duty of attempting it because this is not a journal of meta- 

 physics. We use the term metaphysics in no disparaging 

 sense ; we employ it in contradistinction to science. By 

 science we understand an enquiry into the phenomena of 

 nature, taking the word nature in its widest sense, and into 

 the concepts which are of value for the interpretation of these 

 phenomena. By metaphysics we understand an enquiry into 

 the ultra-phenomenal source (often called the cause) of nature 

 and our knowledge thereof. That enquiry is beyond the limits 

 of science which is content to accept the constitution of nature 

 as something given, and to formulate the results of its enquiry 

 in terms of correlation. It leaves all iiuestions with regard to 

 the source of origin of this constitution to metaphysics. Mr. 

 Taylor urges that " The Omniscient Spirit of the omnipotent, 

 inexhaustible Central Power holds and attracts all being by 

 the means of the seminal interfusion of spiritual initiative, 

 the positive element, in its atmosphere ether." He is very 

 earnest in the expression of his views and uses freely the 

 terminology of science. But it is quite impossible to discuss 

 them here. It must suffice to have given a slight and neces- 



sarily inadequate indication of their scope. 



C. Ll. M. 



TOPOGKAl'HV. 



British Association. Dundee Meeting, 1912. — By A. W. 

 Pato.\, F.I.P.S., and A. H. Millar, LL.D., F.S.A. 683 pages. 

 Illustrated. 72-in. X5-in. 

 (David Winter & Son.) 

 It is customary for a handbook to be issued at each meeting 

 of the British Association dealing with the place in which its 

 annual gathering is held. The one produced by the Publica- 

 tions Connnittee at Dundee will be hard to beat, and not only 

 has it proved of particular interest to the visitors, but it must 

 be of permanent value to the residents and to the city. It 

 deals with Dundee as it was, as it is, and as it may be : with its 

 social problems ; with its hospitals, and philanthropic institu- 

 tions ; with its public services, parks, slaughter-houses, water 

 supply, museums and art galleries. The city is considered as 

 an educational centre. There are no less than eighteen 

 chapters on the subject of its present-day industries; nor are 

 its ancient trades forgotten. Biographies of a number of its 

 worthies are given. The scientific part occupies itself with 

 geology and with the local flora, in connection with which 

 coloured botanical surveys and geological maps are inserted 

 in pockets in the covers of the book. There are special 

 chapters on fossil fishes, mosses, birds, and the evolution of 

 the race in Forfar, and perhaps only in the omission of 

 local lists of other biological divisions will the handbook 

 compare unfavourably in the minds of some with its 

 predecessors. The seven hundred pages are rounded oft" with 

 a consideration of art. the drama and music in Dundee. The 

 Publications Committee is to be sincerely congratulated upon 

 the result of its work, and in conclusion we quote the opening 

 words of the " Welcome " with which the book begins: " We 

 worship at the shrine where knowledge lifts a venerable head." 



W. M. W. 



/OOLOGY. 



The Individual in the Animal Kingdom. — By J. S. Hl'Xi.EV. 



167 p.ages. 14 illustrations. 6i-in. X5-in. 



(Cambridge University Press. Price 1- net.) 



Whether we agree or not with the author's conclusions set 

 forth in this little book, its perusal leaves three distinct 



