July 5. 1894] 



NATURE 



221 



affecting the safety of the ship, provided they were not 

 so situated as to cause the ends to be submerged, or the 

 ship to capsize." It is surely, however, the object of the 

 naval constructor to obtain such a rehition between 

 water-tight subdivision and the stability of a ship, both 

 transverse and longitudinal, as would prevent capsizing, 

 or going down head or stern first, if a few small compart- 

 ments were filled wherever these might be situated. With 

 regard to bilge keels, also, it is stated that they are gener- 

 ally fitted for about two-thirds of the length of a ship. 

 The usual length is, however, from one-third to one-half. 

 It might appear hypercritical to call attention to such 

 points as the above when dealing with a work that is so 

 well adapted for the elementary purposes which the 

 authors designed it to serve ; especially as these do not 

 affect the principal lessons that deal with those me- 

 chanical details and elements of construction that junior 

 students require to be instructed upon. We can recom- 

 mend the book to the diligent attention of those for 

 whom it has been prepared. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast oj 

 West Africa ; their Religion, Munners, Customs, 

 Laws, Language, S^c. With an appendi.v: contain- 

 ing a comparison of the Tshi, Ga, Ewe, and Voruba 

 Languages. By A. B. Ellis. (London : Chapman 

 and Hall, 1S94.) 



The late Colonel Ellis, whose death was almost simul- 

 taneous with the publication of this book, had devoted 

 long and earnest attention to the study of the West 

 African tribes, amongst which his military duties led 

 him. This volume completes and brings into focus his 

 life-work. Like the previous volumes on the Tshi- and 

 the Ewe-speaking peoples, ic is a contribution to anthro- 

 pology of the very highest order, combining the enthu- 

 siasm of a student and the literary power of a cultured 

 scholar with the simple and unobtrusive directness of 

 the soldier. Colonel Ellis touches no controversy, and 

 records, with no more commentary than is necessary to 

 do justice to the narrative, the facts of his own obser- 

 vation. The book begins with an excellent geographical 

 and historical summary of the Voruba country and people, 

 goes on to consider their deities, priests and super- 

 stitions, and the laws and customs which prevail, and 

 concludes with the citation of 250 'S'oruba proverbs, 

 many of them worthy mates of those of Solomon, and a 

 series of folk-lore tales, in which we see the origin of 

 many of " Uncle Remus s " best stories. 



As the Tshi tribes represented the lowest stage of 

 primitive culture, the Voruba represent the highest, 

 having fairly emerged from animism into polytheism. 

 The similarities in their mythology to that of the Greeks, 

 and in their customs to those of the early Hebrews, are 

 in many instances remarkably close. In municipal 

 government they show considerable enlightenment, 

 having a female functionary, the " Mistress of the Streets," 

 to deal with all disputes between women, only those 

 which she is unable to settle being passed on to the Bale 

 or civil governor. They are observant of the phenomena 

 of nature, calling Sirius the canoe star, as it is believed 

 to be a guide to canoe-men. The Milky Way is called 

 "the group of chickens," the clearer stars being the 

 hens ; while Venus, according to the position in which it 

 appears, is known as the morning or evening star, or 

 when near the moon as " the moon's dog." The 

 Voruba calendar is based on the lunar month, and it is 

 interesting to note that while the Tshi- and Ga-speaking 



NO. 1288, VOL. 50] 



people divide this period into four weeks of seven days 

 with some odd hours, the Vorubas count six weeks of five 

 days minus a few hours. .-Ml the tribes commence the 

 reckoning of the day with the evening, the first day of 

 each month being reckoned from the appearance of the 

 new moon. The first day of each group of five is held 

 as a day of rest, and looked upon as generally unlucky : 

 but the follower of each of the recognised gods must 

 observe another day of rest also, on which those not 

 worshipping the same deity are at liberty to work. 



The appendix to the book is an elaborate philological 

 treatise in the form of a comparison of the grammar and 

 vocabularies of all those West African languages which 

 Colonel Ellis had minutely studied. 



A Handbook to the Study of Natural History, for the 

 use of Beginners. By various authors. (London : 

 George Philip and Son, 1S94.) 

 Students of science are usually inspired with the 

 desire to create in others an enthusiasm for the pursuit 

 of natural knowledge. This fact probably explains why 

 so many books of mediocre quality are foisted upon the 

 public. Lady Isabel .Margesson, who has edited the 

 book under review, had the laudable ambition of " putting 

 before the Beginner a clue to the many paths of the some- 

 what bewildering labyrinth called Natural Science." To 

 carry out her idea, she procured persons to write short 

 descriptions which could be used as finger-posts point- 

 ing the way to the acquisition of knowledge concerning 

 all manner of living things, of minerals, &c., and, to the 

 whole. Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff has contributed 

 an introduction, in which he expatiates upon the book's 

 inception and the qualifications of the authors of the 

 various parts. Lady Isabel's plan may appear excellent 

 in the abstract, but its realisation is not deserving of 

 much praise. We venture to say that there is scarcely a 

 section in the book exactly meeting the requirements of 

 beginners. Scientific names are frequently given without 

 any explanation, and the beginner is led into the maze of 

 botanical nomenclature before he is told how to dis- 

 guish the parts of plants. One or two of the authors have 

 confined themselves to describing the spirit in which 

 their branches of natural science should be wooed in order 

 to be won ; others give descriptive lists of books suitable 

 for sequential reading ; while a third section devote their 

 space to methods of work. When fourteen writers assist 

 in making a book, inequality may be confidently expected. 

 Thus it is that Lady Isabel's idea has not crystallised 

 into a very symmetrical form. 



Surveying and Surveying Instruments. (The Specialists 

 Series). By G. A. T. Middleton. (London : Whittaker 

 and Co., 1894). 

 The contents of this book have already appeared 

 in a series of articles in the Building News, but there 

 is no doubt that in book form they will be found more 

 serviceable to readers in general. The articles in ques- 

 tion deal in a practical way with the methods of pro- 

 cedure adopted in surveying, and with the descriptions 

 of the different instruments employed. The first chapter 

 treats of surveys with chains only ; here the author gives 

 some very sound advice, and concludes it with a descrip- 

 tion of a worked-out survey, showing also the method of 

 entering measurements in the field-book. In case of 

 obstructions such as rivers, sheets of water, bog land, 

 &c., modifications in the chain line methods have to be 

 adopted, and these are discussed in chapter ii. ; the 

 reader is also brought in contact with right-angle instru- 

 ments, such as the now comparatively little used cross- 

 staff, the optical square, and Weldon's right-angle prism. 

 Next is described the uses of that very important instru- 

 ment the level, and the different methods of " levelling " 

 are each dealt with. The numerous worked-out " level- 

 lings " with figures, should bring the subject home to the 



