2 20 



lYA TURE 



[January 3, 1895 



valve engine is well illustrated, and the description does 

 credit to what is probably the most economical steam 

 engine ever designed. A description is given of rotary 

 engines, but none are illustrated. The " Rota ' engine, 

 designed and made by MacEwan Ross, of Glasgow, 

 might have been included with advantage. The loco- 

 motive is outlined, and the compound type described ; but 

 no information as to tests is given, probably because no 

 trustworthy data can be obtained ; and as no British Rail- 

 way Company, with one possible exception, is likely to build 

 any more compound engines, it seems probable they are 

 not the unqualified success they were originally claimed to 

 be, although the Vauclain system, with four outside cylin- 

 ders, appears to be a success in the States. But it must 

 not be forgotten that the .American rival is a very un- 

 economical engine when compared with our own. 



N. J. L. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Das Verhdllniss licr Philo.wphie su dcr empirischen 

 Wissenschaft von der Xalur. By David Wetterhan. 

 (Leipzig : \V. Engelmann, 1894.) 



This is the essay which gained the prize of 1000 marks 

 offered, in 1891, by the Philosophical -Society of Berlin. 

 It consists of 1 10 pp., of which about twenty are occu- 

 pied by notes and abstracts from various writers, in small 

 print. 



Naturally, in giving forth his own views, some of which 

 possess considerable originality, the author makes con- 

 tinu.il and extensive use of ihe theories of Kant, Schopen- 

 hauer, Wundt, Bunge, and others ; and one noticeable 

 feature about the work is the full share of recognition 

 accorded to English philosophers and scientists, such as 

 Faraday, Herbert Spencer, Danvin, Romanes, and 

 Huxley. The writer well remarks that the limits of 

 scieniific knowledge are everywhere and nowhere. 



In the earlier pages the author discusses the relation 

 between the physical and the psychical sides of nature. 

 The theory of the conservation of energy has nothing to do 

 with mental processes : it governs the quantitative rela- 

 tions of all processes of nature, but does not explain 

 their qualitttive differences. Sensation, consciousness, 

 motor impulse, are not forms of energy, and do not corre- 

 spond to them, but to the causes of qualitative changes 

 in forms of energy. 



The world of psychics cannot be separated from that 

 of physic-, and we must look forward to the future pro- 

 gress in the latter science to bring the qu ilitative changes 

 into connection with the theory of the conservation of 

 energy. The author shows by a very simple example — 

 " .Shall I kill that spider, or leave it alone .' " — the effect of 

 his will on surrounding nature ; and the divergent 

 effects thereon which ivould result from each of the wo 

 altcrnaiive modes of procedure. 



Memory he believes to be caused by an impulse of a 1 

 certain kind, producing in the particular arrangement 

 of the sm.il e>t particles in the ganglion cells and nerve 

 fibres a modification in the s.iine directinn as was pro- | 

 duced by the original impulse, and resulting in corre- 

 sponding physical phenomena. But he acknowledges 

 that, at pre* nt, we cannot explain " brain oscillations." 



The principle of evolution sheds a light upon the 

 psycho-physical problem : physical development is not 

 the cause but the etfect of psychical dcvelDpment, and 

 the molific^tions in ihe brain and nervous system 

 through'iui the animal kingdom are intelligible as result- 

 ing from psychical causes, whereas the physical causes, if 



NO. I 3 14. VOL. 51] 



they exist, remain hidden. He considers that even in 

 paleontology we can detect traces of this psycho-physical 

 process by the examination and comparison of the cranial 

 capacity of the skulls of extinct reptiles and mammals. 

 As man is the culminating point in mental development 

 amongst mammals, so is the ant amongst insects ; but 

 clearly this position has in each case been attained 

 independently, and is independent of the structure 

 of the nervous system. The inheritance of ac- 

 quired characters is discussed, and the old difficulties 

 presented by a disbelief in it are once more brought 

 forward ; and especially the difficulty in the adapta- 

 tion of terrestrial mammals to a life in water, such 

 as must have occurred in the ancestors of the Cetacea. 

 The author endeavours to show that the principle of pro- 

 gressive psycho-physical development may admit of a 

 vital-mechanical explanation, if the transference of 

 acquired characters, as a consequence of changed 

 functions, is possible for " keimplasma. ' 



The author is apparently a practical man of science, and 

 not a mere arm-chair philosopher; he fully recognises that 

 philosophy must be based upon scientific experiments, 

 and quotes Huxley's words, '' fhe Laboratory is the fore- 

 court of the temple of Philosophy." 



Meteorology, Practical and Applied. By John William 

 Moore, B.A., M.D., M.Ch., F.R.C.P.l. (London: 

 F. I. Rebman, 1894.) 



It is to be hoped that this little book may meet with the 

 popularity it deserves. Well written and well illustrated, 

 it ought to recommend itself to that numerous class of 

 whom some knowledge of meteorology is now required. 

 The author, a medical practiiioner, has evidently, nrst of 

 all, but by no means exclu-iveh, sought to interest 

 medical otticers of health and those who seek a qualifi- 

 cation in preventive medicine and its allied b anches. 

 Writing for such students, the author has prudently not 

 burdened his work with technical terms, or attempted to 

 discuss with any completeness the geneial motions of 

 the atmosphere depending upon the application of 

 thermodynamics. Neither does he fall entiiely into the 

 popular and pleasing style of writing; though he does 

 seek legitimate inierest by exhibiting the many points 

 in which meteorological inquiry bears on social and 

 sanitary science, how it may benctii the agriculturist, 

 protect the traveller, or instruct the physician. 



The book is divided into four sections. In the fust we 

 find a very full and, consideiing the source Irom which 

 it is drawn, probably accurate account of the hisiory and 

 development of the United States Weather Bureau It 

 seems to have occurred to the author, that if he shows to the 

 reader at an early stage the inierest and devotion which 

 the shrewd American gives to this subject, he will con- 

 vince him that there is something in meteorology after all, 

 beyond the dre.iry and wearisome accumulation of baro- 

 meter and thermometer readings. Then we have, of 

 course, the description of the necessary instruments in 

 use, with their corrections. We are glad to see in this 

 section due prominence given to Mr. Aitken's iiiieresting 

 work on atmospheric dust ; and in the chapter on evap- 

 oration we notice that Mr. Apjohn's fornuil.x are given 

 correcilv, which is not the case in some other «ell-known 

 elementary works. The third section of ihe book ireats 

 of climate and weather, a section that might wiih advan- 

 tage have been made fuller ; but in reviewing the whole 

 subject of meteorology wiihin moderate compass, it is 

 necessary to curtail somewhere. The last section con- 

 siders the influence of season and weather on disease. 

 Here the author is apparently on very familiar grourid, 

 and the small space rievoied 10 this tope is full of in- 

 terest and suggestion. There are one or two slips in the 

 text, as, for instance, on page 10, where the oft-repeated 



