June 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



135 



autobiographical or biographical sketches of a Bond by 

 himself or by another Bond, and the rest is a repetition of 

 the same, paraphrased by Prof. Holden. The second part 

 is not so dull, consisting as it does of Prof. George Bond's 

 diary during his visits to Europe. Its interest chiefly 

 lies in the comments of a personal nature on contemporary 

 philosophers. We confess to being mterested in hearing 

 that he " found M. Plantamour a young man of thirty, 

 and very good looking for a savant": that he noticed 

 " that the most distinguished scientific men are bad. 

 hesitating speakers — except, perhaps, Sir John Herschel." 

 The last part of the book consists of letters from or 

 to the Bonds from other scientists, which are simply the 

 short epistles that one astronomer must write to another 

 in the ordinary course of business. We fail to see why 

 they were inserted, except that they occupy some sixty 

 pages. 



A Treatise on Magnetism and Electricity. By Prof. 

 Andrew Gray, LL.D.,F.R.s. (London: Macmillan andCo.) 

 143. net. Students of physics have been long awaiting 

 the publication of Prof. Gray's treatise on magnetism and 

 electricity, the first volume of which is now before us. 

 The plan adopted is to " regard electric and magnetic 

 forces as existing in a space-pervading medium in which 

 the electric and magnetic energies are stored, and by which 

 they are handed on from one place to another with a finite 

 velocity of propagation." We need hardly say that this 

 modem plan of regarding the subject has, in the hands of 

 Prof. Gray, resulted in a book which no serious student of 

 physics can afford to neglect. Though an elementary 

 acquaintance with electric phenomena and apparatus is 

 assumed, the reader possesed of a fair knowledge of the 

 calculus will have no difficulty in intelligently following 

 the subject as it is here presented. As stated in the words 

 of Bacon, quoted upon the title page; "All true and fruit- 

 ful natural philosophy hath a double scale or ladder, an 

 as3endant and descendant, ascending fi-om experiments to 

 the invention of causes and descending from causes to the 

 invention of new experiments." Prof. Gray is concerned 

 with both these processes ; and by showing how, first, 

 electrical phenomena can be satisfactorily explained by 

 action in a medium, he is able to also indicate the con- 

 sequences to which they lead. This treatment is the 

 natural outcome of the pioneer work of Maxwell, who, 

 following the ascendant ladder, elaborated a mathematical 

 theory of electricity which was not only retrospective but 

 prophetic. The volume, of nearly five hundred pages, 

 includes an account of the ordinary facts of magnetism 

 viewed from a theoretical standpoint, a discussion of 

 electrostatics and electric currents, of electro-magnetism, 

 and of the electro-magnetic theory of light. It wUl un- 

 doubtedly occupy a prominent place as a book of reference 

 in every well-equipped library, and will be read wherever 

 the modern aspects of magnetism and electricity are 

 studied. 



Mcwori/ and itx C'.dti ration. By F. W. Edridge-Green, 

 M.D., F.R.c.s. (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, i Co.) 

 The author of this addition to the " International Scientific 

 Series " claims that the facts he has discovered enable him 

 to learn a subject in about a fifth of the time that it pre- 

 viously took him. With such a tempting allurement, one 

 sets about the task of reading the manual with no little 

 avidity. Unfortunately, however, it is difficult to main- 

 tain this preliminary enthusiasm. Though a few of the 

 instances given to exemplify the statements made are in- 

 teresting reading, we very much doubt whether the volume 

 will find many appreciative readers. The idea of using a 

 physiological basis for the analysis of memory is good, but 



it needs more careful treatment than it receives in the 

 present book. Physiologists and psychologists wiU be 

 content to differ from Dr. Edridge-Green's view, that 

 "memory is a definite faculty, and has its seat in the 

 basal ganglia of the brain, separate from, but associated 

 with, all the other faculties of the mind " (page 8). 

 As for the author's elaborate scheme of thirty-seven 

 faculties, it would perhaps be kindest to limit ourselves to 

 the statement that scientific men consider them fantastical 

 and that the general reader will find them misleading. 

 Whoever purchases the book with the idea of improving a 

 bad memory will be disappointed ; and few people will be 

 deeply interested in the views which the author has taken 

 the pains to expound. 



Ainhroise Par' and his Times. By Stephen Paget. 

 (G. P. Putnam.) This is a very attractive volume, beauti- 

 fully printed and well illustrated. As most of our readers 

 will know, Pare was contemporary with a number of dis- 

 tinguished men whose names are famUiar to everyone. We 

 need only mention Shakespeare and Rabelais, Calvin and 

 Knox, to enable Part 's place in history to be located. He 

 was born three years before the battle of Flodden Field, 

 and died (after an eventful life of eighty years) a year and 

 four months after the destruction of the Armada. The 

 volume, upon which we cordially congratulate Mr. Paget, 

 is well worth reading. It is brimful of interesting matter, 

 and though it is but natural that the ".Journeys in Diverse 

 Places " from Part's own pen should attract most attention, 

 yet Mr. Paget's work is well able to sustain the reader's 

 interest throughout. To medical students and practising 

 surgeons this biographical sketch should be particularly 

 readable. How many of them would be content to do as 

 Pare did at Turin ? This is what he says in the " Journey 

 to Turin," 1537 : " I found a surgeon famed above all others 

 for his treatment of gunshot wounds, into whose favour I 

 found means to insinuate myself, to have the recipe of his 

 ' balm,' as he called it, wherewith he dressed gunshot 

 wounds. And he made me pay my court to him for two 

 years before I could possibly draw the recipe from him. 

 In the end, thanks to my gifts and presents, he gave it to 

 me." (Page 3.5.) Knowledge is more easily gained nowadays 

 and is less highly prized. 



SHORT NOTICES. 



The Centuries. Second Edition. (Xewman & Co.) ob. 6d. post free. 

 Intended to supply a skeleton conspectus of general history, and to 

 serve at the same time as a note-book for the reception of additional 

 memoranda, this book is designed as a study-table companion for 

 readers in biography or history. It forms a chronological synopsis of 

 history on the " space-for-time " method, a page being allowed for 

 every century, which is divided into ten-year periods, and each event 

 is inserted as nearly as practicable in its proper position. The year 

 '• one," it is edifying to note, in this work is placed ten thousand 

 years before the Christian era ! 



Modern Architecture. By H. Heathcote Statham. (Chapman 

 & Hall.) Illustrated. Mr. Statham has treated a very intncate 

 subject in a lucid style. At the preseut day bridges, theatres 

 and many buildings of a commercial kind are too frequently con- 

 structed rapidly and without any serious effort at artistic effect. 

 Believing that the sight of artistic buildings will produce ennoblin" 

 results on the rising generation, the author in Iiis book — which is 

 compreheusive, and embraces street, public, and domestic architecture 

 — exerts himself to arouse greater enthusiasm for decorative effect in 

 those who have never been able to raise themselves above the purely 

 utilitarian. 



Elementary Sotan)/. By Percy Grroom, M.A., F.L.s. (George Bell & 

 Sons.) Illustrated. Ss. 6d. " Though by no means a ' cram book ' 

 for elementary examinations, a thorough knowledge of the contents 

 of this book will enable a candidate to pass with distinction." This 

 is what the author says in his preface. Mr. Groom insists on the 

 free use of the simple microscope in commencing the study of botany, 

 and in these lessons the compound microscope is deemed unnecessary. 



