December 13, 1894] 



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149 



The excellence of the work, and it is great, lies in the 

 histological and bacteriological portions, and in the 

 numerous and ingenious theories and suggestions ; but 

 the necessity of finishing the book soon, and of keeping 

 it within reasonable size, appear to be responsible for the 

 less satisfactory accounts of the morbid anatomy and of 

 the etiology of the lesions in certain of the sections. This, 

 however, will probably be remedied in later editions. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



The Mechanism of Weaving. By T. \V. Ko.\. Pp. 464. 

 (London: Macmillan and Co., 1894.) 



One result of the application of the "beer money" to 

 education is the increasing production of technical hand- 

 books similar to that before us. Technical Instruction 

 Committees found, very soon after their responsibilities 

 were thrust upon them, that there were few competent 

 teachers of technology, and that the literature of arts and 

 crafts was very limned. .Many books have been made 

 for the purpose of supplying the need, some good and 

 others of doubtful utility. The new conditions have been 

 favourable to the development of technological books and 

 teachers, and we must not complain if a few monstrosities 

 occur in the case of each, for they are more than counter- 

 balanced by many admirable examples on the other side. 

 The book under review is one of these new guides to in- 

 dustries, and nothing but good can be said of it. It deals 

 with a branch of weaving that has been almost ignored by 

 previous writers. Much has been written on designing 

 and fabric structure, but practically nothing on the 

 mechanical processes of the weaving trade, though new 

 machinery and new processes have been increasing ever 

 since the power-loom supplanted the hand-loom. This 

 gap is admirably filled by Mr. Fox's treatise. The 

 leading types of weaving machinery are clearly described, 

 and the numerous illustrations (256 in all) of machines, 

 appliances, and constructions pertaining to the te.xtile 

 industry are most instructive. We have no hesitation in 

 saying that Mr. Fox, who is the lecturer on textile fabrics 

 at the e.xcellent Municipal School at Manchester, has 

 produced a practical handbook of great value. 



Memorials of Old Whithy. By Rev. J. C. Atkinson, 

 D.C.L. Pp.326. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1894.) 

 Fiction, " like the baseless fabric of a vision, leaves 

 not a wrack behind," because it has no foundation in 

 iact. Stories that are commonly classified as ''fabulous" 

 usually have, however, a nucleus of scientific import. 

 In the words of Canon Atkinson : " The myth, the fable 

 (of the mystic sort), the legend, has always a base, a 

 substratum or foundation of some sort. Like the 

 Pentacle, with its mystic application and use, or the 

 Svastika, Fylfot, or Hammer of Thor, the Monolith or 

 Standing-stone — from Jacob's stone at Bethel, and before 

 and since — it has always had its own something to rest 

 upon, to spring from its actual material 'base' or occasion." 

 Scientific inquiry is required to reveal this base ; but by 

 this we do not mean that facts of physical or of natural 

 science are necessarily involved in every marvellous 

 story, but rather that the investigator of legendary lore 

 should conduct his research in a scientific spirit, discard- 

 ing speculative evidence, and reducing the problem to 

 its simplest appearance. This is the spirit in which 

 Canon Atkinson has investigated the myths, legends, 

 and traditions connected with Whitby. His treatment 

 of the Caedmon legend is worthy of special mention. It 

 will be remembered that Caedmon produced his great 

 sacred poem at Whitby. According to Baeda, he was a 

 common cowherd or oxherd, to whom the gift of poesy 

 was miraculously, or at least suddenly,- given, and this 

 story has been generally accepted in spite of its great 



NO. I 3 I I , VOL. 5 I 1 



improbability. Canon Atkinson rids the story of its 

 miraculous element, and justifies the dictum poeta 

 nascitur, non ft. He shows that it is largely mythical, 

 and that Caedmon was probably a homeh native poet 

 of some genius, but undeveloped, before the Abbess Hild 

 took him up. This view is practically clinched by 

 the evidence that Caedmon's name is of Celtic origin, 

 and that therefore he doubtless possessed the fervid im- 

 agination and vivid fancy of the Celtic temperament. 

 It need hardly be said that the miracle described by 

 Baeda would have been eliminated from the story at 

 once by a man of science. To us it seems that Canon 

 Atkinson comes to the only conclusion possible after a 

 careful consideration of historical records, and a com- 

 mon-sense view of the case. Other stories and customs 

 connected with Whitby are discussed with a similar 

 broad-mindedness, and in a manner which local historians 

 generally would do well to follow. 



Die Schopfung der Tierwelt. Von Dr. Wilhelm Haacke. 

 Pp. 552. (Leipzig and Vienna : Bibliographisches 

 Institut, 1893.) 



It is just as well to state at once that this is a scientific- 

 ally-arranged description of the animal kingdom, pro- 

 fusely and beautifully illustrated with twenty coloured 

 plates and 469 figures in the text. The illustrations are 

 certainly among the finest of their class, and one cannot 

 help regretting that, as the text is in German, the work 

 can only have a limited sale in England. We can con- 

 sole ourselves, however, with Mr. Lydekker's ''Royal 

 Natural Histor\-." now being published, and which is 

 rather more popular than the volume under review. The 

 order in which Dr. Haacke treats his subject is un- 

 common. The book is' divided into two parts,, one deal- 

 ing with the various forms of animal life from the point 

 of view of their development, while in the second part 

 the characteristics of different groups of animals are 

 described. The first part is thus chiefly concerned with 

 embryology and palosontology in their relations to 

 zoological affinities ; with the functions of organs and the 

 influence of environment ; and with the distribution of 

 animal life upon the earth. In the second part, inverte- 

 brated and vertebrated animals occupy two separate 

 sections, and life is traced from the protozoa up to the 

 higher forms. From this brief sketch it will be seen that 

 the book has the theory of evolution as the basis of its 

 construction. It is therefore a work in which the facts 

 of natural science are presented in scientific order, and 

 as such deserves high commendation. 



The Vaccination Question. By Arthur Wollaston Hutton, 

 M.A. Pp. 128. (London: Methuen and Co., 1894.) 



Mr. Hutton is among the mistaken people who dis- 

 trust vaccination, and advocate the repeal of the com- 

 pulsory laws relating to it. His book is in the form of a 

 letter addressed to Mr. Asquith, in the hope of converting 

 him to the opinion that compulsory vaccination is inde- 

 defensible. It would be futile for us to discuss the subject, 

 or to attempt to show the fallacy of much of the evidence 

 adduced against vaccination. We may, however, point 

 out that, to be consistent, the anti-vaccinationists must 

 oppose the treatment of diphtheria by anti-toxic serumt ; 

 but this they are doubtless ready to do. 



Dr. William Smellie and his Contemporaries. By John 

 Glaister, M.D. Pp.360. (Glasgow : James Maclehose 

 and Sons, 1894.) 

 Dr. Gi.aister'S book throws some new light upon the 

 history of obstetrics in Great Britain and France, during 

 the eighteenth century, in addition to tracing the career 

 of one of the founders of scientific midwifery. 



Smellie's work, however, was so purely medical in 

 character, that a review of it would be of little interest to 

 most of the readers of NATURE. 



