148 



NA TURE 



[December 18, 190: 



objects which it contains, while the interest and curiosity 

 of the young pupil are further secured by a good drawing 

 of a spider and his web, as well as by an excellent picture 

 of a pair of boots. 



This part of the book deals, then, as the author says, 

 solely with ideas of comparison, measurement and count- 

 ing. The extent to which we get in part i. may be 

 inferred from the last two questions or problems in it : — 



" A book cost 3 dimes, a pencil 3 cents, and a blank book 

 3 nickels. How many cents did all three cost ? Count 

 from I to 30 ; from 5 to 100 by fives. Count as high as 

 you can by hundreds.'' 



Part ii. treats of the elementary operations — addition, 

 subtraction, multiplication, division — and the meaning of 

 fractions (halves, thirds, quarters, &c.) is gradually un- 

 folded during these operations. The pictorial method is 

 continued in this part, but the pictures are of the geo- 

 metrical kinds that we get by cutting out and folding 

 paper, so that the measurement of simple areas and the 

 nature of an angle are explained to the little learner. 

 Thus, one of the things here learnt by folding is that the 

 sum of the angles of every triangle is two right angles. 

 Near the end of this part, the nature of a decimal is 

 explained, and the extent to which the pupil has pro- 

 gressed may be seen by the following, taken from the 

 last lesson in part ii.: — 



" At the rate of 56 miles per hour, how far will a 

 train travel in 56 hours? A bookseller paid %!)\ for 

 books. How many did he buy if each cost Sg ?" 



Part iii. treats of "elementary operations classified," 

 that is, the operations of part ii. are treated more in 

 detail and the philosophy of the subject is expounded. 

 Near the end, the nature of ratio and proportion is ex- 

 plained, instruments, such as a two-foot rule, being 

 employed. Among the terminal problems in this part 

 are the following : — 



" Express 9 cu. yd. as a decimal of a cord " (from 

 which we conclude that the author does not antici- 

 pate an early introduction of a thorough-going metric 

 system into America) ; " what is the sum of g, 3, 

 i and I ? The rate of taxation of a city is 1 A . What 

 tax must a citizen pay whose property is assessed at 

 $4500?" 



There are no answers supplied to any of the questions 

 (except in two or three instances) throughout the book ; 

 it is, as we have said, a guide to the teacher ; the young 

 pupils for whose instruction it is intended are not yet 

 students. 



Of course, the American coinage, with which the ques- 

 tions deal, would require alterations to render the book 

 suitable to English use ; but there is no doubt that the 

 author has very skilfully conceived the nature of an 

 effective process of teaching young children, and we 

 think that the exact following of his course and method 

 would prove to be productive of excellent results. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 The Trees, Shrubs and Woody Climbers of the Bombay 



Presidency. By W. A. Talbot, F.L.S. Second Edition. 



Pp. xxv + 385. (Bombay, 1902.) 

 When Sir Joseph Hooker's " Flora of British India," now 

 completed, was undertaken, one of its main objects was 

 stated to be to furnish a basis on which local floras could 

 be constructed. India is so vast, its climatic features are 



NO. 1729, VOL. 67] 



so varied, the economic requirements of its several 

 provinces so diverse, that a general work like that of 

 Hooker needs to be supplemented by local floras in which 

 the special requirements of particular districts can be 

 fulfilled. There is gratifying evidence to show that these 

 requirements are in course of being supplied. There is, 

 for instance, the " Forest Flora of the North-West," by 

 Sir Dietrich Brandis ; Sir George King is engaged on the 

 " Flora of the Malay Peninsula" ; the "Flora of Ceylon" 

 was completed by the late Dr. Tnmen ; and General 

 Collett's book on the plants of the Simla district has 

 just been published. We might cite many similar works 

 from the pens of Prain, Clarke, Duthie, Watt, Kurz and 

 others, but enough has been said to show that Sir Joseph 

 Hooker's aim is in process of fulfilment, and that the 

 splendid botanical heritage handed down to us by 

 Roxburgh, Wallich, Wight, Griffith and others is in no 

 danger of being squandered, but is being utilised and 

 extended by the labours of the present race of botanists. 

 When we bring to mind the fact that instruction in 

 botany, at any rate in systematic b >tany, no longer forms 

 part of the curriculum in the education of medical 

 students, and that complaints have been made as to the 

 lack of interest felt in the subject by the majority of 

 forest officers, this evidence of substantial progress may 

 at least be adduced as a set-off. 



The work before us is another instance of the same 

 kind. In form it is modelled upon Hookei's "Flora," in 

 substance it contains a "fairly correct" list of the 

 indigenous ligneous vegetation of the Presidency, together 

 with additional matter relating to distribution, bark, 

 woods and economic products, along with a large 

 number of vernacular names. « 



The book is in its second edition, and hopes are thrown 

 out that the "next edition" will expand into a handy 

 Bombay forest flora. Actual use in the field or forest, 

 or even in the herbarium, is needed to enable the reviewer 

 to form a complete estimate of the value of such a work. 

 It must suffice to say that the author's method is good, 

 and that it bears the impress of care and accuracy in its 

 production. 



La Geologic generate. By Stanislas Meunier, Professeur 



de Geologie au Museum d'Histoire Naturelle. Pp. 



vi + 336; 42 woodcuts. (Paris: Alcan, 1903) Price 



6 francs. 

 In this volume, Prof. Stanislas Meunier undertakes, for 

 the International Scientific Library, a presentation of 

 those branches of geological science not already dealt 

 with in his "Experimental Geology" and his "Com- 

 parative Geology," published in the same series. 



In the introduction to the book, the author defines the 

 ideas which have successively dominated geological theory 

 during the nineteenth century as (1) the cataclysmal views 

 of Cuvier ; (2) the uniformitananism of Lyell ; (3) the 

 " actualism " of Constant Prevost ; and (4) the " activism," 

 which he regards as the distinctive feature of modern 

 geological thought. 



In conformity with this latter point of view, the author 

 then proceeds to discuss the three great causes of change 

 in the earth's crust, namely, the central heat of the 

 globe, the effects of pressure and the influence of the 

 sun's heat. Pursuing this deductive, rather than induc- 

 tive, mode of treating his subject, the questions next 

 considered are the flexible earth's crust, volcanoes, the 

 action of subterranean and superficial waters, the sea, 

 glaciers, the atmosphere, and vital action. In dealing 

 with each of these subjects, the originality of the author 

 is everywhere manifest, the examples and illustrations 

 chosen being, for the most part, new, and often of a very 

 striking character. 



In the second part of the work, which is entitled 

 " Comparative Physiology of Successive Geological 

 Epochs," the effect of the several agencies enumerated 



