474 



NA TURE 



[September 13, 1S94 



distribution is obtained. Another good point is that 

 each of the great divisions of the earth's surface is shown 

 in its relation to the whole ; in other words, the earth is 

 the unit throughout the book. But it is in the matter of 

 illustrations that the work excels all others of its kind. 

 The hundreds of pictures and maps are really works of 

 art, and the author does not claim too much when he 

 expresses the thought that they are superior to those in 

 any similar school book. They are true to nature, most 

 of them having been engraved from photographs; they 

 well illustrate and supplement the text, and they present 

 typical forms. Only in two or three cases can any fault 

 be found. In some of the relief maps showing hemi- 

 spheres of the earth, the parts of continents extending 

 beyond the hemispheres are, as it were, lifted from the ', 

 other side, and drawn in outside the containing circle. 

 We are sure that this will lead to misconception, for 

 children will get the idea that the continents are surfaces 

 King on the earth instead of portions of the earth itself 

 above sea-level. But this is a small matter, and one 

 easily remedied. The book is both attractive and iii- 

 structive ; it reflects great credit upon the author for his 

 originality, and upon the publishers for their enterprise. 

 We should be glad to sec a similar work produced on 

 this side of the Atlantic. 



Theoretical Mechanics. Vol. i., Solids. \'ol. ii., Fluids. 

 By J. Edward Taylor, M.A., B.Sc. (London: 

 Longmans, Green, and Co., 1894.) 



When Solomon delivered himself of the sage remark 

 that "there is no new thing under the sun,' his prophetic 

 eye may have been looking up the corridors of time, and 

 seen the" soul-destroying text-books " (as Dr. Armstrong 

 terms examinational literature^ of the present day. It 

 IS only r.irely that a text-book writer goes beyond his 

 brief. He designs his book to meet the requirements of 

 a particular examination, and feels that he has performed 

 his task successfully if future questions set by the 

 examiners are more or less anticipated in the text. Such 

 a writer has little scope for originality. If he departs 

 much from the lines laid down in the examiners' 

 syllabuses, his production fails in its object, and if he 

 keeps the contents within the examiners' bounds, he 

 incurs the censure of the reviewer. Thus it is that text- 

 books are often mere summaries, and that there is a 

 family likeness between those covering the same ground. 

 The volumes which Mr. Taylor has put together 

 cannot, by the greatest stretch of imagination, be 

 termed interesting. They are little more than collections 

 of exercises and examples. We do not, however, raise 

 any objection to this. Theoretical mechanics, like 

 arithmetic, can only be learned by steadily working at 

 exercises, and of these there is an abundance. The 

 «xamples are also numerous, and they are so clear that 

 the most obtuse student cannot fail to understand them. 

 There is nothing remarkable about the illustrations 

 except their familiarity. Most of them are very 

 old, and many have done duty time after time. 



The Animal as a Afachine and a Prime Motor, and the 

 Laws of Encr:.;,tics. By K. H. Thurston. Pp.97- (New 

 York : John Wiley and Sons. London : Kegan I'aul 

 and Co., 1894.) 



Prof. Thurston, the head of Sibley College, Cornell 

 University, ranks very high among .\merican engineers. 

 He is well known as the author of several widely-used 

 text-books and of numerous important papers on 

 engineering matters. The volume just published runs into 

 less than one hundred pages ; but in that space, energy 

 and its tr.insformations,and the relations between matter, 

 force, and energy are skilfully described. The chapter 

 which deals with the animal as a prime motor will be 

 found attractive from many points of view, and should be 



NO. 1298, VOL. 50] 



read by all vho have to do with the muscular work of 

 men and animals. -Among the many matters with which 

 it is concerned are the processes of vital machines, the 

 eliiciency of the animal system, efi'ective methods of ap- 

 plication of power, intensity of muscular eiiort, dietaries, 

 and the draught of vehicles. To a large extent the book 

 is made up of reprints from magazines, and selections 

 from various works : nevertheless, it contains many 

 original and valuable points, and will add to the authors 

 already high reputation. 



The Aborigines of Western Australia. By Albert F. 

 Calvert. Pp. 55. (London : Simpkin, Marshall. 

 Hamilton, Kent, and Co., 1S94.) 



Captain Willi.am Dampier, the first Englishman 

 known to have made the acquaintance of the Australian 

 natives, referred to them as '' The poor winking people 

 of New Holland . . . the miserablest people in the 

 world.' Mr. Calvert, who has had a little experience 

 with the natives, looks upon their imperfections with a 

 more lenient eye than the plain-spoken buccaneer, who 

 visited Western Australia in 16SS. He gives descriptions 

 of a few of their habits and rites, the information being 

 drawn in some cases from journals in the British Museum, 

 while in others it is based upon his own recollections. 

 Their marriage laws are curious. Children of either sex 

 always take their mother's family name, but a man may 

 not marry a woman of his own family name. Interesting 

 descriptions are given of aboriginal funeral ceremonies, 

 and these, with one or two other matters of interest to 

 anthropologists, render the book worth reading, if a little 

 discretion is used. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



{Tht Editor does not hold himsel/ responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertaki 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of rejectt : 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications. ] 



A Remarkable Meteor. 



The course of the meteor of .-Vugust 26 can only be .iscer- 

 tiined by comparing observations from different points of view. 

 If the meteor fell near Gloucester, other observers to the north, 

 east, or west of that city will have seen it in a part of the heavens 

 (ar removed from Draco and Ursa Major. 



I was at Wimborne (about 75 miles south of Gloucester) on 

 the 26;h ult., and, as I was gazing up to the zenith at the time 



V'...->^ 



neb. 



This figure accompanied Mr. Earlc's Idler last week. To ila x iiias Wen 

 added lo show the position of nebulous remains of meteor as seen from 

 Wimborne. 



the meteor fell, I missed its descent, but attracted by the vivid 

 rIow, 1 was just in time to catch sight of a brilliant light, which 

 seemed to me two or three times as bright as Venus at its 

 brightest. Any elongated trail disappeared quickly, but a 



