60 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[Mabch 1, 1900. 



case, and we mav expect that tlie uhiquitoiis agitator will no longer 

 have the simple task of rousing indignation in the popular mind by 

 distorted and erroneous aeeounts of wliat is being done. Mr. Paget's 

 twehe \ ears' work as Secretarr to the Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Medicine by Eesearchhave afforded liim unique opportunities 

 to become conversant with such investigations, and tliat he has fully 

 availed himself of his chances Lord Lister's introduction amply testifies. 

 AVe trust the book will soon become widely circidated and carefully 

 studied by those pei-sons wlio have been led to believe that our leading 

 physiologists revel in experiments remarkable only for wanton cruelty 

 and the absence of useful results. Mr. Paget's book is just wliat was 

 necessary to disprove such stati'ments to the satisfaction of all persons 

 amenable to reason. 



"Telephofcographv: A n Elementary Treatise on the Construction 

 and Application of the Telephotographie Lens." Bv Thomas R. 

 Dallmeyer, f.r.a.8. Illustrated. ISs. net. (London : Wm. Heine- 

 mann.y Little has been written about telephotogra])hy, and nothing 

 has before appeared comparable to tliis eminently scientific treatise. 

 It was not until the year 1891 that workable telephotographie 

 instruments were designed, and that designed by Mr. DaUmeyer was 

 the only one in this country. Since then much has been done, and 

 pliotographers who are provided with a good bellows camera and 

 ])ortrait lens can, by fixing a tele-attachment to their lens, obtain a 

 verv considerable magnification. In this book Mr. Dallmeyer treats 

 the'subject in a full and masterly manner. Beginning with elementary 

 facts regarding the properties of light and the formation of images 

 in a camera by means of a pin-hole, he shows the effect on rays of 

 light in their passage through a lens. Then, by explaining the 

 elements of a positive and a negative lens, tlie author demonstrates 

 the practicability of forming an enlarged image by a combination of 

 the two. In other chapters the improved perspective rendering given 

 by the telephotographie lens is dealt with and its practical applications 

 arc described. The illustrations are excellent, and include such different 

 subjects as sun-spots, glaciers ten miles distant, architecture, and 

 natural history. By placing an ordinary photograph by the side of a 

 tele-photograph, the two great advantages of the latter are clearly 

 shown, namely, large magnification and true perspective. The only 

 fault we have" to find with tlie work is that mathematical formulae are 

 too much in evidence. The book is well worth reading, not only by 

 the students of this interesting subject, but by aUwho intend making 

 use of tlie telephotograpliic lens. 



"On the Theory and Practice of Art-EnameUing upon Metals." 

 By Henry Cun^^lg'hame, m.a. (A. Constable.) 6s. net. Our national 

 workshops, says the author of this attractively produced volume, are 

 becoming filled with " hands," not men. Unfortunately one of the 

 prices we have to pay for the wonderful development of machinery, 

 which will always be pointed out as one of the most remarkable 

 characteristics of" the passing century, is the sacrifice of initiative on 

 the part of the individual workman. Where a man has, day by day, 

 to give his whole attention to some single step in a long series of pro- 

 cesses through which an article passes during its manufacture, there is 

 little opportunity for him to develop originality — that prime necessity 

 for the true art-craftsman. One of the consequences of these t<'nden- 

 cies is the introduction of the sorry substitute — stamped metal — for 

 making jewellery, a practice which, as Mr. Cunynghame points out, 

 deprives modern' work of most of its artistic value. Imbued %vith the 

 laudable desire of placing within the reach of the workman the informa- 

 tion necessary for the making of enamels, the author has collected 

 much valuable material on this interesting branch of technology. As 

 Mr. Cunynghame has studied German, French, and Italian authorities, 

 as well as books in English, and in addition is a practical worker in 

 enamels, his book cannot fail to be useful. The volume is clearly 

 printed and lavishly illustrated. 



" Babylonians and Assyrians. Life and Customs." By the Eev. 

 A. H. Sayee. (Ninimo.) " 5s. net. " There is nothing new under the 

 sun," is the ejaculation whieli rises to the lips after the most cursory 

 glance at Prof. Sayce's interesting book. Many persons regard Ictter- 

 wTiting as a modern invention, and speak as if the correspondence of 

 Cicero and Pliny represented the earliest examples of what is at 

 present verv coinmonly considered a plague. Yet in the volume 

 before us we can read of the private correspondence of a prince who 

 took part in the campaign against Sodom and Gomorrah ! Moreover, 

 tlie original documents tlieniselves, written on clay, have been foiuiil, 

 and one of them rests in the Museum of Constantinople ! That we 

 should possess the autograph letters of a contemporary of Abraham is, 

 indeed, what Prof. Sayce calls a romance of historical science. Again, 

 everybody surely regards the present statu,s of wonu'ii, with their high 

 school and university training, as at least a consummation on which 

 we moderns liave a right to congratulate ourselves. Yet the ladies of 

 Babylon could read and write as well as the men, and the women were 

 in other respects on an equal footing. One or two letters from the 

 hand of a lady of Babylon show, too, that she took an active part in 

 politics. In "the present time of intellectual activity in this coiuitry, 



the chapter dealing with the education of the Babylonians is of 

 especial interest. Girls shared in the education given to their 

 brothei-s. The instruction imparted was in many respects similar to 

 that which is common in modern schools. Copy-books with head-lines 

 were known ; one of the copies states " He who would excel in the 

 school of the scribes must rise like the dawn." Reading books were 

 in use. Geography, literature, grammar, spelling, all were taught ; 

 and judging from the minuteness of some of the cuniform characters, 

 and the magnifying glass which Layard discovered at Nineveh, short- 

 sight was a familiar defect. Considerations of space forbid otlier 

 examples, but equally interesting ones could be multiplied indefinitely. 

 Prof. Sayce's book is as fascinating as it is scholarly, and we heartily 

 advise our readers to obtain it. 



Messrs. Thornton and Pickard (Altrincham) send us their catalogue 

 of photographic appliances. That the shutters made by this firm 

 are still the finest in the market is fully borne out by the continued 

 public appreciation of them. We would draw attention to the focal- 

 plane shutter, which is an ingenious piece of work — an adjustable slit 

 in the roller blind makes exposures of from one-twentieth to-one 

 thousandth of a second possible. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



The Hlory of Life s Mechanism. By H. W. Conn. (NewBes.) Is. 



The Principles of Mechanics. By Heinrich Hertz, translated by 

 D. E. Jones, B.sc, and J. T. Wallcy, M.A. (MacnuUan.) 10s. 



Malaii Magic. By Walter William Skeat. (Macmillan.) Illus- 

 trated. 21s. net. 



The Witness of Creation. By M. Cordelia Leigh. (Jarrold.) 

 Illustrated. 2s. 6d. 



Journal of Researches. Vol. II. By Charles Darwin. (Ward, 

 Lock. ) 28. 



A Soak of Whales. By F. E. Beddard, f.e.s., (Murray.) 

 Illustrated. 63. 



TextBook on Palaontology. By Karl Von Zittel, translated by 

 Chas. E. Eastman, PH.D. (Macmillan.) Illustrated. 253. net. 



Matriculation Directory. No. XXVII., January, 1900. (Clive.) 



The Practical Electrician's Pocket Book and Diary, 19tlO. 

 (Rentell & Co.) Is. 



The Railways of Ungland. Fifth Edition. By W. M. Acworth. 

 (Murray). Illustrated. 10s. 6d. 



Artificial Wood in Decoration ; Stained and Leaded Glass ; 

 Marcjueiry ; Church Decoration. Useful Arts and Crafts Series. 

 (Dawbarn & Ward. ) 6d. each. 



Church Decoration (Temporary). No. 14 of "Useful Arts and 

 Handicrafts Series." (Dawbarn & Ward, Limited.) 6d. 



Conducted by Habby F. Witherby, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 



Thrush's Nest made op Moss. — On February 4th, 

 while out ferreting for rabbits, I saw a last's year'.s 

 thrush's nest of an emerald green colour. It was made 

 entirely, except the mud lining, of the beautiful bright 

 moss that abounded on the ti-unks of the ash saplings 

 around. One day last month, in this same cover, m/ 

 host saw 13 brown owls fly off one tree. — Jos. F. 

 Green, Benacre Hall, "Wrentham. 



