March 15, 1894] 



NA TURE 



463 



of ihe latest additions to the series is " Electrochemische Unter- 

 uchungcn," edited by Prof. Ostwald, and containing Sir 

 Humphrey Davy's Bakerian Lectures of 1806 and 1807, dealing 

 with chemical changes produced by electricity {Philosophical 

 Transactions, 1807 and 1S08). Another reprint just received 

 s Briicke's observations on the colour-changes of chameleons, 

 originally published in 1852 under the title " Untersachungen 

 liber den Farbenwechsel des Afrikanischen Chamiileons." The 

 editor of this reprint is Dr. M. v. Frey. 



What is written by Dr. Paul Carus in a " Primer of Philo- 

 sophy," published by the Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago, 

 is writtea cleaily. The book does not set out the ideas of any 

 particular school of recent thought, but is rather " a critical re- 

 conciliation of rival philosophies of the type of Kantian apriorism 

 and John Stuart Mill's empiricism." At the present time the 

 man of science frequently ignores philosophy, and the cause of 

 true science is injured thereby. Dr. Carus shows, however, 

 that as all the sciences are inseparable from each other, so 

 philosophy is inseparable from the sciences. When this truism 

 is more widely recognised, a new vista will be opened to us, in 

 which the old aad the new scientilic methods will be happily 

 combined. 



We have received a copy of the official organ of the National 

 Department of Hygiene in tlie Argentine, which is published 

 weekly at Baenos .-^yres, under the direction of the President of 

 the Department, Dr. Jose M. Ramos Mejia. Besides contain- 

 ing original memoirs, it is intended to give, in a concise and 

 handy form, abstracts and reviews of the more important papers 

 on subjects connected with hygietiic science which have appeared 

 in foreign journals. We find in the present number an account 

 of work recently published in the Deutsche Medicinal Zeituvg, 

 the Therapeutic Gazette (Philadelphia;, the Zeitschrifl fiir 

 Hygiene, the Revue Internationale de Bibliographic MSdicale 

 (Paris). &c. The abstracts are not bare outlines, but are very 

 full, containing elaborate tables and many details of the 

 experiments described. 



The maps and plans illustrating the Report of the Royal 

 Commission on Metropolitan Water Supply have now been 

 issued. Of most general interest are a contoured map of the 

 Thames Basin, and a geological map of the same area, reduced 

 from the Geological Survey map. Both sheets are on the scale 

 of four miles to one inch ; the latter is illustrated by three 

 geological sections. Diagrams are given of the flow of the 

 Thames and Lea; rainfall and percolation at Lea Bridge; 

 gaugings of the Chadwell Spring ; quantity of water purified from 

 the wells of the New River Company. There is also a map of 

 Hertfordshire illustrating Mr. R. S. Middleton's special report 

 to the Commission, which shows the underground water-con- 

 tours, and a map by Mr. G. J. Symons showing the rainfall in 

 the basins of the Thames and Lea. There are in all fourteen 

 plates. 



Collections of aphorisms do not" appeal veiy favourably to 

 us, for the reason that they are apt to create aj" conceit of know- 

 ledge." The tendency of to-day is to be content with bits of in- 

 formation on diverse subjects, and to eschew the steady reading 

 necessary for a clear understanding of anything. A further objec- 

 tion is that it is extremely difficult to select extracts which give 

 a true impression of the author's meaning. This has been done, 

 however, by Miss J. R. Gingell, in "Aphorisms from the 

 Writings of Mr. Herbert Spencer," published by Messrs. 

 Chapman and Hall. The selections deal with education, 

 evolution, science, sociology, politics, justice, liberty, truth and 

 honesty, sympathy, happiness, self-control, &c. They are well 

 arranged and to the point, and illustrate the scope of the synthetic 

 philosophy. Miss Gingell's volume may therefore serve a 



NO. 1272, VOL. 49] 



useful purpose by presenting in a handy form Mr. Spencer's 

 views on many subjects. 



Mr, J. E. Walker defines his " Voices of the Stars " (Elliot 

 Stock) as " a book of scientific facts and of mystical correspond- 

 ences between the natural and the supernatural." Just as in 

 early records we find that many peoples have endeavoured 

 to accommodate natural phenomena to the prevailing type of 

 religion, so Mr. Walker finds that the facts of astronomy sug- 

 gest spiritual similarities. His book is very largely made up of 

 extracts from the works of various astronomers, all the sources 

 of information being acknowledged in foot-notes. The com- 

 pilation shows clearly that the author is in touch with- 

 recent advances, and is capable of properly estimating the 

 vveights of the words and works of different observers. We 

 cannot enter much into his spiritual interpretations of astrono- 

 mical marvels, though the book abounds with such comparisons 

 of the material and immaterial. To our mind, however, the 

 analogues are frequently far-fetched and never impressive. By 

 all means let life be put into what are often regarded as the dry 

 bones of science ; but it may be doubted whether dogma is able 

 to assist in the resuscitation. 



The observations made at the Blue Hill Meteorological Ob- 

 servatory, Mass., in the year 1892, have recently been published 

 as vol. xl. part ii. of the Annals of the Astronomical Observatory 

 of Harvard College. There is an appendix giving particulars 

 of experiments on atmospheric electricity. The volume con- 

 cludes with an article on sudden changes of atmospheric tem- 

 perature, in which it is suggested that there is a meteorological 

 period as well as a magnetic one corresponding to the period of 

 the sun's rotation. 



A USEFUL contribution to our knowledge of the tropical 

 hurricanes of the South Sea, between Australia and the Paumotu 

 Islands, appears in Aiis dem Archiv. der Deuischen Seewarte 

 for 1893, by E. Knipping, formerly Director of the Meteorolo- 

 gical Observatory at Tokio, Japan. It contains a list and short 

 description of all storms observed since 1789, with references to- 

 the sources whence the information has been obtained, and the 

 frequency of the hurricanes and their paths are plotted in five- 

 degree squares. Of 125 hurricanes on which the discussion is 

 based, 109 occur between December and March, 12 in April and 

 November, and 4 in September, October, and May. Near the 

 Fiji Islands the number of storms increases regularly from De- 

 cember to March, but near New Caledonia and the Samoa. 

 Islands ihe majority occur in January. The prevalent direction 

 of their course is south-easteily, while others take a southerly 

 and south-westerly direction. Some useful hints are also given 

 as to the courses to be steered by vessels overtaken by the 

 hurricanes. 



Dr. Alfred Koch's Yahresbericht iiber die Fortschritte in 

 der Lehrevon den Gdhrungs-Organisvien for 1892 has just been 

 published. This is the third year of its issue, and affords an 

 invaluable volume not only for purposes of reference for those 

 engaged upon the original work on, but also for those 

 interested in the history and literature of, the important subject 

 of fermentation. Under the respective headings of i. Lehr- 

 biicher, Zusammenfassende Darstellungen, &c. ; ii. Arbeitsver- 

 fahren, Apparate, &c. ; iii. Morphologie der Bakterien und 

 Hefen ; iv. Allgemeine Physiologic der Bakterien und Hefen ; 

 v. Giihrungen in Bssonderen ; vi. Fermente— are to be found 

 notices of, and excellent abstracts of the more important original 

 memoirs published during the year. It is, in fact, a record of 

 scientific progress, not only in the department of fermentation, 

 but also in other branches of bacteriology mjre or less closely 

 connected with it. The work is admirably done, and it is to be 

 hoped that Dr. Alfred Koch will find sufficient support to ensure 



