76 



NATURE 



[May 22, 1890 



predominate among all large groups of criminals. These 

 are well set forth by Mr. Ellis, chiefly under the titles of 

 cranial characteristics, physical insensibility, moral insen- 

 sibility, and emotional instability. A fresh indication of 

 frequent misshape in their heads may be derived from the 

 three composite portraits of criminals (who were by no 

 means of a bad order) that are given in this volume. 

 Here the outlines of the heads of the composites are very 

 hazy, testifying to large and various differences in the com- 

 ponent portraits. These composites show no prevalence 

 of any special deformity in head or features. 



The hope of the criminal anthropologist is to increase 

 the power of discriminating between the natural and 

 accidental criminal. He aims at being able to say with 

 well-founded confidence of certain men that it is impos- 

 sible to make them safe members of a free society by 

 any reasonable amount of discipline, instruction, and 

 watchfulness, and that they must be locked up wholly 

 out of the way. Also, to say of some others that it 

 would be both cruel and unwise to treat them as ordinary 

 criminals, because they have been victims of exceptional 

 circumstances : they are not naturally unfit, and therefore 

 still admit of being turned into useful members of society. 

 Extracts are given in this book from the oflficial reports of 

 the prison at Elmira in the United States, where experi- 

 ments are made in educating prisoners of the latter class. 

 They describe a system of massages and Turkish baths 

 three times a week, courses of literature, ccsthetics, and 

 ethics, including a study of Jovvett's translation of the 

 " Republic "of Plato, and of the works of Herbert Spencer, 

 together with a gymnasium and a drum corps, suggesting 

 to the unprepared reader a chapter in Gulliver's account 

 of the institutions of Laputa. 



Francis Galton. 



ELEMENTARY PHYSIOGRAPHIC 

 ASTRONOMY. 

 Lessons on Elcmcittary Physiographic Astronomy. By 

 John Mills. (London: Chapman and Hall, 1889.) 



THE expressions of approval of the physiography 

 syllabus of the Science and Art Department by the 

 British Association Committee on science teaching lend 

 an additional interest to new text-books of this subject. 

 The book before us covers the portion of the syllabus 

 dealing with the movements of the earth. We believe 

 Mr. Mills has occasionally been employed as an Assistant 

 Demonstrator at the Normal School of Science, and on 

 the strength of this he claims to have had four years' ex- 

 perience as a teacher of the subject in that institution. 

 It is rather late for Mr. Mills to state that, "in the hope 

 of encouraging teachers and students to make the subject 

 a more practical one, instructions have been given for 

 making some inexpensive apparatus," considering that 

 all the practical work given is taken from the book of 

 instructions supplied to students at the Normal School, 

 and which was distributed by the authorities of the 

 Science and Art Department to teachers throughout the 

 country some months ago, with the sole object of en- 

 couraging practical demonstrations in classes. Anyone 

 can now obtain the same for twopence. There are 

 many indications that the author is only acquainted 

 with a limited part of the subject. The article on the 

 NO. 1073, VOL. 42] 



use of the micrometer, for example (p. 25), is sure to- 

 impart the idea that a definite fraction of an inch repre- 

 sents a definite amount of arc, irrespective of the telescope 

 employed ; and that, in consequence, the distance between 

 two stars or the apparent diameter of a planet can be 

 stated in inches ; further, the zero for position angles is 

 given as "the normally horizontal wire," which is ob- 

 viously an inconstant, and therefore useless one. Wrong 

 impressions are also given as to the functions of the 

 ''Nautical Almanac," for p. 81 distinctly implies that it is 

 a record of actual observations, whereas it is published 

 three or four years in advance. Again, on p. 20, it is 

 stated that the transit circle is made to read 90° when the 

 telescope is pointing to the Pole, and therefore that 

 " when the telescope is directed to any star crossing the 

 meridian we obtain the north polar distance of the star, 

 and this being known, we can easily determine its de- 

 clination," which is neither clear nor correct. 



After deducting the practical instructions, the most 

 casual comparison with Prof. Norman Lockyer's " Move- 

 ments of the Earth," will show the source of inspira- 

 tion of the remainder, although there is not a word 

 of acknowledgment. The head-lines, diagrams, and 

 occasionally the language, remind one of that book. 

 The order of things has certainlyibeen slightly changed, 

 but the only result is to introduce disconnections and 

 anticipations. The micrometer, for example, is de- 

 scribed before the chapter on angular measurements, and 

 the chronograph precedes that on the measurement of 

 time. The terms " right ascension " and "declination" 

 are frequently used, although the explanation of them is 

 reserved for the very last page. Further instances might 

 be multiplied almost without limit. 



The whole book is of a very sketchy character, and the 

 only redeeming feature is the excellent series of diagrams. 



A. F. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



i 

 Theoretical and Practical Treatise on the Strength o 

 Beams and Columns. By Robert H. Cousins, Civi 

 Engineer, formerly Assistant Professor of Mathematics 

 at the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va. 

 (London and New York: E. and F. N. Spon, 1889.) 

 The author of this treatise comes forward with an 

 attempt at an explanation of the paradox of the beam, 

 which is that a beam is about double as strong as theory 

 makes out it should be, when the resistance of the beam 

 to bending is calculated from the tension and pressure of 

 the fibres, considered as acting independently and without 

 lateral support. 



To account for this discrepancy, which is well known 

 to practical men, a paper by W. H. Barlow, in the Phil. 

 Trans., 1855, proposed a theory of lateral support of the fibres 

 to account for the extra strength, while his careful experi- 

 ments showed that the neutral plane was certainly very 

 close to the position which theory assigned to it. Pre- 

 viously it had been usual for practical men to place the 

 neutral plane at the top or bottom of the beam, and 

 thence to calculate the strength ; a better agreement with 

 theory being thus obtained. 



The author of the present treatise adopts the more 

 modern method of taking a different tenacity and modu- 

 lus of elasticity of the material for extension and for 

 compression ; his calculations are principally directed to 

 finding the breaking load of the beam ; but as all the 



