Jdns 1, lyoo.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



1 •^^^ 



making quite a difference. To wliat I have said of this 

 star in March Knowledge I will add nothing till I sgt 

 more of it. David Flanery. 



Memphis. Tenn.. U.S.A., 

 11th April, 1900. 



« ♦ ♦ — 



AVIRELESS-TELEGKAPH RECEIVER. 



Mr. R. Child Bay ley, Editor of Photographij, writes 

 to us : — 



'■ The interesting letter fi-om Jlr. Nonuan Robinson in 

 your May issue and the appeal by Mr. Little, leads ine to 

 think that jtossibly those gentlemen may not be acquainted 

 with the very remarkable paper by Mr. Glew read before 

 the Royal Photographic Society about a year ago. In 

 that eommimieation the author described a method by 

 which it apjieared perfectly possible for the Hertzian 

 disturbances to which a flash of lightning gives rise, so to 

 actuate the shutter applied to a camera, that the plate 

 itself should be exiiosed to record the lightning before the 

 light waves had time to i-each the plate " 



This paper was published in the Photographic Journal 

 of March, 1899. 



OBSITHOI.OGICAL XoTES. — In the absence from England of .Mr. 

 Harry F. Witherby, the Ornithological Notes are held over. 



j^oticts of Boolts. 



— • — 



"Text-book of Palsontologr." By K. A. von Zittel. Translated 

 and edited by C. R. Eastman. Vol. 1. (Macmillan.) Illustrated. 

 25s. net. Professor von Zittel's " Handbuch " and the smaller 

 " Grundzuge (Outlines) der I'aleontologie " have attained such a 

 world-wide reputation, and contain such a vast amount of matter 

 which can be found nowhere else within the limits of a single work, 

 that it is a matter for congratulation that the latter is at last 

 produced (so far as the Invertebrates are concerned) in English. 

 The English edition has been undertaken by Mr. Eastman, of 

 Harvard College, with the assistance of a brilliant staff of American 

 specialists ; and the result seems, as might have been expected, 

 all that can be desired. At the commencement of the undertaking 

 it was intended to give a literal translation of the German original 

 of the " Grundzuge," but as the work progressed it was found, 

 with the lapse of time since the publication of the former, the 

 incorporation of so much new matter was essential in order to 

 bring it up to date that this became a practical impossibility. 

 Accordingly, after the tran.slation of the chapters on Protozoa and 

 Ccclenterata, which stand almost in their original form, it was 

 determined, with the assent of the author, to rewrite and expand 

 the remaining sections so as to bring them thoroughly abreast of 

 the present state of science. It will be found, therefore, that while 

 some of the later chapters, especially the one on the MoUusca, are 

 but little altered from the German text, a large portion of the work 

 although following the general lines of the original, is practically a 

 new production. A praiseworthy feature is the large amount cf 

 bibliographical matter added in the form of foot-notes, which 

 renders the work more valuable not only to the ordinary student, 

 but likewise to the advanced .specialist. 



Taken as a whole, the work is written in a much more technical 

 style than the corresponding portion of the "Manual of Palieon- 

 tology " by Nicholson and Lydekker ; and it cannot, therefore, in 

 any sense be regarded as a " readable " volume, in which the 

 mere amateur will find deliglit for his leisure moments. It is, in 

 fact, a purely scientific manual, written for students and scientific 

 men ; and as such may lay claim to the highest praise. To assimi- 

 late its contents the reader must, indeed, be well acquainted with 

 the meaning of a large vocabulary of abstruse terms ; and almo.st 

 the only improvement we can suggest would be the addition of a 

 glcssary of such terms. 



In a brief notice like the present it is impossible to attempt 

 criticism ; and we can only state that the definitions are drawn up 

 with a precision and preciseness which are really admirable, while 

 the illustrations (reproduced from the original) are all that can be 

 desired. Especial attention may be directed to the figures of 

 Ammonites, in which the form of the complicated " sutures " is in 

 most cases clearly shown on a small segment of the shell in a 

 manner rendering ea.sy the determination of the generic characters. 



We hope before long to have the opportunity of according an equal 

 hearty welcome to the Vertebrate section of this most valuable and 

 important work. 



"The Boyhood of a Naturalist." By Fred Smith. (Blackie.) 

 3s. 6d. It is only <mce in a while that we come across such an 

 optimistic book as the one under notice. All who wish to recall the 

 happy days of boyhood, and to again rehearse the buoyancy of 

 youth — and who does not? — will do well to rea<l this most exhilara- 

 ting narrative of a naturalist. The .author, as a boy, was devoted 

 to natural history, and preferred a countiy ramble ten limes over 

 to a game of cricket. He relates the stratagems by means of which 

 ho avoided the national ])astime, and the fines he had to |)ay as the 

 result of foll(iwin>; the bent of his mind. Very amusing is the 

 account of a lecture on the snail given by the author as a boy of 

 twelve years of age, and the enthusiastic description of the building 

 of an aquarium will aflcjrd delightful reading. We feel sure tliat 

 the decidedly charming way in whidi the author has narrated his 

 experiences will commend itself to all young jieople who are fortu- 

 nate enough to gain access to the book, the jjages of which will 

 indeed appeal to all lovers of nature whether of large or small 

 growth. 



"A First Book of Organic Evolution." By D. K. Sluite, M.n. 

 (Kegan Paul.) Illustrated. 7s. 6d. net. " Tlieie is nothing great 

 in the world but man, nothing great in man but mind, and 

 nothing great in mind but character." ])r. Shute's idea as 

 to the goal of evolution seems to be men with great minds 

 of high character, and he holds that the subject is of such 

 vast importance and commamling interest as to be a necessary 

 ingredient in what is called a libenil education. The truth of the 

 theory of evolution is herein assumed, and the author disposes facts 

 collated by other observers in a way which he regards as most likely 

 to be helpful to the beginner in finding the .shortest route through 

 the labyrinthine maze of ways and bye-ways investing the whole 

 fabric. The title is misleading, as no one unacquainted with the 

 elements of gener.al biology can aiqireciate the theme, and, seeing 

 that the book amounts to no more than an essay, the ground covered 

 is too comprehensive to admit of the amplification necessary for 

 those beginning the subject. A good bibliography is provided, 

 and some excellent coloured plates adorn the text. 



"Practical Exercises in Elementary Meteorology." By Robert 

 De Courcy Ward, ((jinn.) The teaching of meteorology in thi.s 

 country, though scanty at present, is probably on the increase, an 1 

 many who are engaged in it will reg.ard with interest this American 

 book, in which Mr. Ward offers us the fruits of some ten years' 

 experience as "instructor in climatology" at Harvard (U.S.). 

 American ways of dealing with weather, as well as American 

 weather, differ from ours ; and if this ju'obably detracts from tha 

 usefulness of such a book " on this side," one may see compensating 

 advantage in a widened view ; perhaijs, also, if we are not too 

 " insular," in the dtscovery of some things brother .Jonathan does 

 better than ourselves. After showing how weather may be 

 studied, so far, without instruments, the author gives a good 

 account, first of " elementary," then of " advanced," instrumental 

 observations (a .somewhat rough distinction, of course). With the 

 aid of a sheet of weather data for six days at a number of American 

 stations, the pupil is next shown, in an interesting way, how to 

 draw isotherms, isobars, wind-arrows, etc., and generally prejiare 

 a " daily weather map." Further on, he learns to make " couip<isite 

 portraits " (not photographic) of various features of cyclones and 

 anticyclones. Then we have a discussion, in eleven chapters, of the 

 correlation of certain elements of weather, and weather forecast- 

 ing ; next, six chapters on " problems of observational meteoro- 

 logy," followed by 24 pages of tabular matter relating to humidity, 

 dew-point, etc. A frequent practice throughout the book is that of 

 telling the pupil to do this or that, and then jnitting a, number of 

 suggestive questions as to what he finds when he has done it. lii 

 the section on instruments the author might have been more ex- 

 plicit as to the best hours for observing temperature, etc. The 

 neplioscope is described, but not the sun.shine recorder (which is 

 growing in importance with us). The weather table lacks d.ates, 

 and is incorrectly referred to in several places as " the table in 

 chapter VIII." (where it is not). This chapter is headed " weather." 

 but the word is, confusingly, sometimes lestricted (,as here) to the 

 state of the sky, and precipitation, occasionally used in the common 

 wider sense. Mr. Ward, in general, writes clearly and well ; though 

 here and there doubtful statements are met with. There is also 

 some useless repetition (comjjare, e.g., what is said of the sirocco 

 on pp. 103 and 133). Indeed the general plan of the book tends, 

 we are afraid, to repetition. Apropos of this, we note the remark 

 (p. 183) that "the correlation exercises will, as a whole, teach few 

 entirely new facts to the brighter scholars who have faithfully com- 

 pleted the preceding work." The aim appears to be to "impress 

 firmly" the lesson "by repeated illustrations." Still, we are 



