160 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[July 1, 1899. 



of weight clocks, attributed to Gerbert, 990 A.D., to duties 

 imj)osed on owners of watches and clocks in 1797. Pitt, in 

 that year, levied a tax of eight shillings an ounce on gold cases, 

 and at the same time imposed a tax on all persons in respect of 

 the possession and use of watches as well as clocks — an annual 

 duty of two shillings and sixpence. 



The Resoiii-ces of the Sea, as sJiaini in the Scientific Experiments 

 to test the Effects of TrairHnr/, ami of the Closure of certain Areas 

 off the Scottish Shores. By W. C. Mcintosh, m.d., ll.d.. f.R.s., 

 etc. (London : C. J. Clay & Sons.) 15s.net. This handsome and 

 well illustrated volume gives, with other important information, 

 in a very readable form, an account of the work conducted by 

 Prof. Mcintosh for the Royal Commission on Sea-Fisheries 

 (1883-85). A discussion of the results of these extensive 

 researches also, very naturally, takes a place of considerable 

 importance among the contents of the volume. The author, 

 whose unique experience gives him a position of great authority, 

 is unable to agree with the line of conduct of the Fishery Board 

 for Scotland. This spirited criticism of the plans and conclusions 

 of the Board will provide deep-sea naturalists, and students of 

 the fisheries question in particular, with material enough for 

 much serious thought, and a great deal of further experimental 

 work. It is quite certain that the conclusions here set down 

 will not be universally accepted by all specialists in this branch 

 of technical biology, though we are equally sure that every 

 chapter of the treatise will receive careful attention. Prof. 

 Mcintosh never leaves any doubt as to the points on which he 

 holds his own opinion. Thus, on page .'iS, in referring to the 

 closure of certain areas by the Fishery Board, he remarks : 

 "No one will question the right of the Government to take such 

 a step in the interests of the fisliing population, on philanthropic, 

 social, or even political grounds, but if such a step were taken 

 on the basis of the scientific evidence furnished by the Fishery 

 Board, then it would appear that the premises (and here aU 

 matters of fact are included) do not warrant the conclusion." 

 Successive chapters are given to investigations of sea life by 

 trawling in St. Andrew's Ba}', the Frith of Forth, the Moray 

 Frith, and the Frith of Clyde. Summarizing his remarks 

 concerning the particulars to hand respecting St. Andrew's Bay, 

 the author remarks : " If they show anything more than another 

 it is that the closure of such areas has no appreciable influence 

 on the increase or diminution of the fishes within their own 

 boundaries or in the neighbouring waters. The problem is too 

 vast to be solved by such pigmy measures " (p. 132). Again, in 

 recapitulating his considerations of the trawling experiments in 

 the Frith of Forth (p. 184), Dr. Mcintosh declares that the 

 conclusion of the Fishery Board " that there has been a decrease 

 in the abundance of flat fishes in the clcsed waters of the Forth " 

 rests on the most uncertain foundations, and is of little moment 

 in deahng with so large a question. These selections are 

 sufficient to show that there is much in this volume to be 

 carefully weighed by every Fishery Board. The book contains 

 a beautiful series of plates, including several views of the Gatty 

 Marine Laboratory, St. Andrew's, pictures of various phases of 

 a fisherman's life, a view of Aberdeen fish market, and many 

 others equally interesting. Thirty-two tables of statistics 

 furnish an invaluable apjjendix. Altogether the book is an 

 important addition to applied marine zoology. 



Hirer Development, as Illustrated hi/ the Rivers of Nurlk 

 America. By Prof. I. C. Russell. (Murray.) lis. The author 

 has preferred to indicate by his title that his observations have 

 been made in the country of magnificent streams where ample 

 space permits the display of their capacious developmeut, but 

 it is evident that the same suggestive reasoning and acute 

 observation must apply to the behaviour of the streams of all 

 lands. Local conditions modify, but principles remain intact. 

 One great fact that many of us may well learn from this 

 interesting work, brightly and pleasantly written, is our own 

 poverty of observation. There is a minuteness of detail worthy 

 of consideration in the progress of stream sculptui-e that is apt 

 to be overlooked without the assistance of an adept to call our 

 attention to small niceties. Questions connected with the sha])e, 

 the current, the banks, the eddies, and with the forces in action 

 that are continually moulding and affecting the character, the 

 development, and the behaviour of a small stream are many and 

 far reaching. Another class of queries may come before us 

 when carried on some commodious steamer over a broader river, 

 past docks that tell of commerce and enterprise, out to the ocean 



beyond where a machinery of lighthouses and signals is necessary 

 to enable us to avoid shifting sandbanks and accumulated 

 material brought down by the river current. Unless we can 

 explain all the facts that are brought to our notice between the 

 source and the mouth of a river, we shaU do well to pass an 

 hour or two in the company of Prof. Russell. Many but by no 

 means all of the questions which the river puts to us, or we put 

 to it, he can and does answer pleasantly and satisfactorily. The 

 illustrations, principally from photographs, make a very welcome 

 addition to the pleasures of the text. 



The Art of Writing English. By J. M. D. Meiklejohn. (A.M. 

 Holden.) It is idle to set a limit to the ambition of a Scotch- 

 man. Not content with dominating the House of Commons 

 and populating the learned societies, he has now (in the person 

 of the genial professor of St. Andrews) launched this altogether 

 admirable manual on the art of writing English at the head of 

 the decadent Southron. It is badly needed, but we are quite 

 sure it will not be studied by the men (or the women) who 

 write ; yet we may give expression to the fervent hope that the 

 book will do something to thin the ranks of the muddleheaded 

 among us. " Sir Thomas More was an Irishman. He was also 

 a great lyrical poet. He soon gave up poetry, however, and 

 went into the army. Shortly after he won the great battle of 

 Corunna, in the Peninsular war. He was killed while walking 

 about the deck with all his medals on ; but he did not die ere 

 he knew that he had won the great victory of Trafalgar." It 

 would require a Kipling to do full justice — adjectival justice — 

 to this muddleheaded study in black and white, but we feel it to 

 be quite a moderate example of the mixed information which 

 so largely serves to make our nationhood. And we wish Mr. 

 Meiklejohn well in his heroic attempt to induce a little clear 

 thinking across the border. 



We have received The Photo-Miniature, a new American 

 monthly magazine. (London: Dawbarn& Ward.) Thatthei-eis 

 room for another photographic magazine is a doubtful point. 

 However, the Photo-Miniature is striking out on somewhat new 

 lines, its aim being to supply " a sound general understanding " 

 of any one section of photographic work. Judging by the one 

 long and fairly exhaustive article before us on modern lenses this 

 will be well carried out. 



A second edition of Chemistry for Photographers, by C. F. 

 Townsend, f.c.s., f.r.p.s., has been issued. A careful revision 

 has removed the slight errors of the previous issue ; a very 

 useful book is the result. 



The Open Court Publishing Company, of Chicago, have sent 

 us some specimens of its projected series of portraits of the 

 leading philosophical and psychological thinkers of the world. 

 We think the idea an excellent one, and so far as the reproduc- 

 tions before us are concerned, it has been most efficiently carried 



out. *-•-• 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Colour: A Handbook of the Theory of Colour. By George H. 

 Hurst, F.c.s. (Scott, Greenwood & Co.) Illustrated. 7s. 6d. 



Living Pictures: Their History, Photo-Production, and Practical 

 Workinrt. By Henry V. Hopwood. Illustrated. 2s. 6d. net. 



All About Birds. By W. Pereival Westell. ("Feathers" 

 Publishing Co.) Is. 6d. 



Early Work in Photography. Second Edition. By W. Ethelbert 

 Henry. (Dawbarn & Ward.) Illustrated. Is. net. 



Scientific Chemistry in Our Own Times. Prof. Tilden, F.B.S. 

 (Longmans.) 5s. net. 



Curious Epitaphs. By WiUiam Andrews. (Wni. Andrews & Co.) 

 Illustrated. 7s. 6d. 



The Use of Lead Compounds in Pottery, By William Burton, 

 F.c.s. (Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co.) Is. 



The Geography of Mammals. By W. L. Sclater and P. L. 

 Sclater. (Kegan Paul.) Illustrated. 



Animals in Motion. Bv Eadweard Muybridge. (Chapman & 

 Hall.) Illustrated. 20s. net. 



The Choruses of Sophocles — " Antigone." Bv P. Abdy Williams. 

 (Breitkopf & Hartel.) 



Evolution by Atrophy in Biology and Sociology. By Demoor, 

 Massart, Vanderrclde. (Kegan Paul.) 5s. 



Liverpool Observatory, Report of the Director for 1S9S. 



Handbook of the Marriage Act, 1S9S. By M. Koberts-Jones. 

 (Evan Bees : Cardiff.) 2s. 



A Russian Province of the North. By Alexander Platonovich 

 Engelhardt. (Archibald Constable & Co.) 



Import in East Central Africa. By. F. Vaughan Kirby. (Rowland 

 Ward, Limited.) Illustrated. Ss. 6d, 



