532 



NATURE 



[April 4, 1895 



chemistry. When this book becomes generally known 

 and studied by English chemists, it seems to me it will 

 be impossible for any of them to refuse to acknowledge 

 the marvellous advances which have been made in 

 the science by the introduction of the conception of 

 electrolytic dissociation. 



I would recommend every student of advanced 

 chemi jtry to study this work. Merely to glance through 

 it is little use : it must be studied laboriously ; and it will 

 well repay the labour. Of course there are weak parts 

 in the book. I think the treatment of the constHution 

 of the molecule is too sketchy ; and chapter vi. of Book 

 iv., on electrochemistry, should, in my opinion, have been 

 either expanded or omitted. 



Of the translation it is difficult to speak advisedly. 

 I think the translator has attempted an impossible task, 

 the task, namely, of literally changing German into 

 English. If the meaning of sentences in one language 

 is to be conveyed in another language, it seems to me 

 that a paraphrase, not a so-called literal translation, is 

 needed. The task of translation must have been ex- 

 tremely difficult ; the subject-matter is complicated, and 

 German is not a language distinguished by its lucidity. 

 The meaning of the original is conveyed on the whole ; 

 but the sentences read strangely. See, for instance, 

 the most peculiar sentence near the bottom of page 591. 

 There is an extraordinary sentence about plucking 

 fruit from stepping-stones, on p. 354. Several cases 

 of absolute mistranslation are to be found ; for instance, 

 the sentence in italics in the ninth and tenth lines from 1 

 the bottom of p. 254, and the sentence at the beginning 

 of Book iii., p. 353. Beliebig is sometimes translated 

 " casual," sometimes " selected." 



I admit the great difficulty of the task undertaken by 

 the translator : as I have said, he has generally suc- 

 ceeded in conveying the meaning of the original ; but I 

 think the rendering into English might have been at once 

 more accurate, more elegant, and more readable. 



M. M. Pattison Muir. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Bird Notes. By the late Jane Mary Hayward. Edited 



by Emma Hubbard. Pp.181. (London: Longmans, 



Green, and Co. 1895.) 

 Cataloi;ue of the Birds of Prey {Accipitrcs and Strides). 



By j. H. Gurncy, F.Z.S. Pp. 56. (London : R. H. 



Porter, 1894.) 



A DAINTY book is Miss Hayward's, the pretty little pro- 

 cess-blocks, representing a number of our common birds, 

 matching the short sketches of avian habits. The 

 lamented author had a " deep-rooted love of the beauty 

 of the world." She was a close and unwearied watcher 

 of bird traits, and her notes possess the charm of all 

 original observations. From a scientific point of view, 

 the chief failing of many of the notes is that they endow 

 the birds too largely with human consciousness. Mrs. 

 Hubbard recognises the objection, and says something 

 in favour of this "anthropomorphism"; but while such 

 fancies are poetically attractive, and may be psycho- ; 

 logically justifiable, they must always be of less value 

 than the facts which give them birth. | 



The ornithological papers of the late Mr. J. H Gurney | 

 were both numerous and important, and in the volume ' 



NO. 1327, VOL. 51] 



under notice we have further evidence that the son 

 worthily carries on his father's interest in the collection 

 at Norwich Museum. All the birds of prey (hawks and 

 owls) in the Museum were catalogued by Mr. J. Reeve, 

 the veteran custodian, and from this MS. catalogue, and 

 his father's '' List of Diurnal Birds of Prey,' Mr. Gurney 

 has compiled thelistof Accipitresand Striges. According 

 to the list of the former order, the total number of exist- 

 ing species of diurnal birds of prey is now 470, of which 

 at least 89 are only sub-species. The total number of 

 existing species of owls is placed at 26S, of which 87 

 appear to be only sub-species. 



Before each bird's name, in the two lists, a letter is 

 placed to mark the zoological region to which it belongs, 

 on Mr. Sclater's classification. A striking testimony to 

 the efficiency of this system is given by Mr. Gurney, in 

 the following words : " The way in which these several 

 divisions [Mr. Sclater's] are justified by the Birds of 

 Prey, and especially by the Diurnal Birds of Prey, is 

 remarkable, and if they were to be decided afresh by 

 that class of birds alone they could not very well be 

 improved upon. Seven-eighths of the Raptores are 

 found in one region only — i.e. not in more than one ; 

 and the region which has the greatest number is the 

 Neotropical or South American region, which contains 

 181 Hawks and Owls." 

 The whole of the Raptorial collection of Norwich 



j Museum is now being transferred to Norwich Castle ; 



■ and the completeness of the collection can be judged 

 from the fact that it comprises 403 out of the total of 

 470 accepted species and sub-species of Accipitres, and 

 195 out of 26S known species and sub-species of the 

 order of Striges. Mr. Gurney may well be proud of the 

 collection, and of the fine Castle Museum in which it is 



I housed. 



Prince Henry the Navif^ator. By C. Raymond Beazley, 1 

 M.A., F.R.G.S. (Heroes of the Nations Series.) I 

 (Putnam's Sons). 



In this most interesting and valuable book, Mr. Beazley 

 shows us clearly the growth of geographical knowledge, 

 carrying his researches back earlier even than 130 A.D., 

 he tells us that the first maps and charts of the old world 

 are due to Eratosthenes and -Strabo. Ptolemy succeeded 

 them, improved their work, and, where knowledge failed 

 him, ni.Tde errors himself; the author writes thus of his 

 g'eat chart: " Never was there a clearer outrunning of 

 knowledge by theory, science by conjecture, than in 

 Ptolemy's scheme of the world {c. a.d. 130)." 



We gather much information concerning Greek and 

 Arabic geographers, of the early Christian pilgrims, and 

 of the discoveries of the Norsemen. Throughout the 

 book, we watch, as it were, the growth and improve- 

 ments of the maps and charts. We see the expansion of 

 geography due to the crusades and land travel. Finally we 

 are bro\ight to Prince Henry the Navigator himself. From 

 youth upwards, retired and studious, he withdrew him- 

 self at the age of twenty-one to his Naval Arsenal at 

 Sagres, and devoted the rest of his life to the accomplish- 

 ment of his three chief objects— "to discover, to add to 

 the greatness and wealth of Portugal, and to spread the 

 Christian faiih" We can but marvel at this great man, 

 at the untiring energy with which he worked, but still 

 more at the greatness of that work. 



Mr. Beazley has treated the subject in a very thorough 

 and interesting manner, and the numerous maps form a 

 most important part of the book ; they date from 

 130 A.D.-1492. No pains have been spared to m.ake the 

 subject quite clear to the student. All ihtmigh the boolc 

 we see liow the dominion of the sea has been continu- 

 ously enlarged by the perpetual application of science 

 to the art of navigation. W. 



