December 25, 1902] 



NA TURE 



fever and another series on the occurrence of peculiar 

 proteid substances in the urine must also be noted. 



Together with these positive results, there is necessarily 

 included a mass of detail concerning results which proved 

 negative. The writer has, further, added to his account of 

 the experimental work performed a quantity of some- 

 what miscellaneous facts gathered in Para and elsewhere 

 on the subject of yellow fever and malaria, with a general 

 account of the sanitary condition of the town. But when 

 it is remembered that the work of the expedition was in 

 great part crippled by the illness of both and the death 

 of one of its members, we can but congratulate the 

 survivor on the work which was accomplished, regretting 

 that opportunities were not forthcoming for carrying it to 

 a further stage of completeness. Yellow fever is a 

 disease which has long been a puzzle to sanitary science, 

 but appears at the present day to be on the verge of ex- 

 planation. An immense step in advance has been made 

 by the discovery of its transference by the gnat ; the 

 complete solution of the problem must be attained by 

 further investigations on the lines of those embodied in 

 this report, and carried out by skilled and unbiased 

 investigators such as those sent out by the Liverpool 

 School of Tropical Medicine. 



Eyes Within. By Walter Earle, M.A. Pp. 155. (Lon- 

 don : George Allen, 1902.) Price $s. 

 This little volume of poems contains some good references 

 to Nature and her handiwork. We are led to realise the 

 ever-changing condition of the earth's surface, and pheno- 

 mena of many kinds are dealt with. Thus : — 



" See where upon a world-old mountain face 

 Some mighty glacier has left its trace, 

 A few faint scratches, all that marks to-day 

 Time's agonies along his primal way." 



Allusions are also made to the great variety of changes 

 always going on around us, and to the disturbing elements 

 raging ceaselessly in the interior of the earth : — 



" Shrill crash of breaker plunging in the cave, 



The soughing wind, waves grinding on the shore, 

 Weird wail and scream of bird, set evermore 

 In fuller diapason stern and grave." 



" Crack, rent and crush of overwhelming rock, 

 Steam bursting into flood of liquid blaze, 

 A world vibrating with each thunder-shock, 

 Suns setting in a pall of wreckage-haze. 



All through the book we are struck with the delicate 

 and subtle way with which common and every-day 

 occurrences are referred to. Birds, flowers, insects, all 

 have their due. 



The author shows the true poetical spirit in many of 

 his descriptions, and reveals to us the joy of possessing 

 an eye which goes beyond the outside of the objects 

 around it. 



Handbook of Instructions for Collectors. Pp. v+137; 

 illustrated. (London : Printed for the Trustees of the 

 British Museum, 1902.) 



With the view of obtaining the aid of naval and military 

 officers, explorers, missionaries and others whose duty or 

 inclination takes them to foreign lands in adding to the 

 collections of the Natural History Branch of the British 

 Museum, the Trustees have issued this excellent little 

 handbook. It consists of a series of pamphlets describing 

 the methods of collecting and preserving the various 

 groups of animals, as well as plants, fossils and minerals. 

 The different sections into which the book is divided 

 have been written by members of the staff of the Museum, 

 each of whom is a specialist in his own particular branch, 

 and although the manner of treatment varies somewhat, 

 each section is admirably adapted to its special subject, 

 illustrations being introduced when necessary. The 



NO. 1 730, VOL. 67] 



section on mammal collecting is divided into two parts, 

 one dealing with the latger and the other with the smaller 

 forms, a feature of the former being the inclusion of a 

 list of species specially wanted by the Museum. Birds 

 and the lower vertebrates follow next, after which come 

 the various invertebrate groups, the work closing with 

 chapters on plant and mineral collecting. The book 

 is of a size convenient to be carried in the pocket, and 

 has the corners rounded off the better to withstand 

 constant use. R. L. 



The First Principles of Ratio and Proportion and their 

 Application to Geometry. By H. W. Croome Smith, 

 B.A. Pp. iv + 32. (London : Macmillan and Co., 

 Ltd.) Price is. 

 THE strict theory of geometrical proportion is difficult, 

 and, with few exceptions, elementary students are quite 

 unable to understand it. Opinions differ as to the com- 

 promise that is best suited lor school teaching, and sug- 

 gestions on this topic deserve careful consideration. 

 Mr. Smith bases his method on the variation of two 

 geometrical quantities ; it is supposed that they vanish 

 together and that any given increment of the one is 

 associated with a fixed increment in the other ; or, as he 

 puts it, " when two variables change in such a way that 

 equal changes in the one are accompanied always by 

 equal changes in the other." A theory of proportion 

 which starts from this idea is necessarily imperfect, and 

 ignores the most troublesome part of the subject ; but it 

 will probably serve very well as a provisional com- 

 promise. At any rate, Mr. Smith's book deserves a 

 trial. 



Year-book of the Scientific and Learned Societies of Great 

 Britain and Ireland. Pp. viii + 295. (London: 

 Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1902.) Price ys. bd. 



The nineteenth annual issue of this handy book of refer- 

 ence does not deal with a single calendar year, but with 

 an actual workrng year of the great majority of the 

 learned societies. Consequently, there are here brought 

 together the papers read before the chief scientific 

 societies throughout the United Kingdom from October, 

 1901, to June, 1902. The list of societies included in the 

 new volume seems fairly complete, but we notice that the 

 Geographical Association is not mentioned. 



Papers on Etherification and on the Constitution of Salts. 

 By Alexander W. Williamson, LL.D., F.R.S. (1850- 

 1856.) Alembic Club Reprints, No. 16. Pp. 62. 

 (Edinburgh: Published by the Alembic Club. Edin- 

 burgh agent, William F. Clay. London agents, Simp- 

 kin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co., Ltd., 1902.) 

 Price is. bd. net. 

 THE Alembic Club is doing valuable work by reprinting 

 the accounts of classical researches in science in the 

 words of the experimenters themselves. We are glad 

 to know these reprints are increasing in popularity among 

 teachers of science in schools where the "research" 

 method of obtaining knowledge is encouraged. It is a 

 matter for gratification, too, that this collection of papers, 

 which have appeared in the publications of various 

 scientific societies, has been printed durtng the author's 

 lifetime. 



Dove Dale Revisited : with Other Holiday Sketches. By 



the Amateur Angler. Pp. xiv + 130. (London : 



Sampson Low, Marston and Co., Ltd., 1902.) Price 



is. bd. net. 



The amateur angler writes pleasantly of a beautiful 



country for which he has great affection. The volume 



is the seventh and concluding one of a series, and will 



encourage its readers to take an intelligent interest in 



animate and inanimate nature. The illustrations are 



numerous and exceptionally good. 



