January 22, 1903] 



NA TURE 



269 



to say, with the sound and speech curves produced by 

 the phonautograph, phonograph and gramophone, and by 

 the observation of the movements of vibrating flames, 

 discs and membranes. He also describes in great detail 

 the harmonic analysis of such curves. The next part of 

 the work is devoted to the perception of speech, and 

 here we find a full description of the ear, a discussion of 

 the theories of hearing now so much debated, and, lastly, 

 a detailed consideration of what may be termed the 

 psychology of speech, such as the perception of speech 

 elements, the nature of speech ideas, the laws of 

 association, more especially the special associations of 

 speech and the formation of such associations. Dr. 

 Scripture rightly sees that the discussion of the nature of 

 language must not be concerned only with the vibrations 

 that constitute the sounds of words, or with the 

 physiological mechanism of the articulating organs, but 

 must take into account psychical phenomena associated 

 therewith. 



The following section deals with the production of 

 speech, and here we find by far the most complete 

 account that has yet been written of the action of the 

 larynx and the movements of the tongue and pharynx. 

 Most ingenious are the methods for determining tongue 

 contacts, or the exact position of the tongue and soft , 

 palate in articulate speech. Here also the author treats 

 of the tones of the vocal cavities in connection with the 

 vexed question of the nature of vowels, and in general he , 

 supports the views of Prof. Hermann. Last of all, we 

 have a section on the factors of speech, in which Dr. 

 Scripture deals with vowels, consonants, melody, rhythm, 

 accent, &c. There are three valuable appendices, the 

 second of which, being studies of speech curves, shows 

 magnified tracings taken by the author from gramophone 

 records of certain admirable recitations. These tracings 

 are by far the best that have yet been obtained, and they : 

 are carefully analysed as to varying amplitude or intensity, 

 pitch, and period or frequency. When one looks at the 

 long series of waves representing the sounds of spoken 

 words, as shown in these tracings, the ultimate analysis ] 

 seems almost hopeless, and more sure progress would be 

 made if an analysis were carried out of very simple 

 monosyllabic sounds, such as " pat," " bat," " cat," &c. 

 Dr. Scripture also gives a table of phonetic symbols, and 

 there is an excellent index. There are full biblio- 

 graphical references to the works of all who have con- 

 tributed to experimental phonetics, and the only name 

 we miss is that of Dr. Marage, of Paris, whose recent 

 researches are of much interest and value were it only 

 for the fact that he has succeeded in placing the theory 

 of vowel tones in a concrete and simple form. 



It is not easy to find fault with such a work as we are 

 considering, which, in the way of thoroughness and 

 clearness of exposition, may take its place alongside 

 the "Sensations of Tone " of Helmholtz. An author 

 must be allowed to work out his subject in his own way, 

 and if we think certain parts, such as the description of 

 the ear and of the larynx, and the phonetic discussion of 

 sound fusion, might have been shortened, still Dr. 

 Scripture may not be of the same opinion. We would 

 also observe that in dealing with psychological pheno- 

 mena (and the same fault may be found with some 

 NO. 1 734, VOL. 67] 



physiologists as to the language they use in describing 

 nervous phenomena) there is a tendency to make use ot 

 expressions which have a definite meaning in physics, 

 but when applied to other phenomena they are words, 

 mere words. Thus, at the beginning of chapter x., on 

 speech ideas, we have the following sentences : — 



"The current of thought in consciousness varies in its- 

 density from moment to moment. The regions of less 

 density may be used to divide off parts of greater 

 density ; such portions of greater density are what we 

 usually term 'ideas' or 'thoughts.' Each denser portion 

 of the speech current in consciousness is an 'auditory 

 idea ' or — as a matter of speech— a ' phonetic unit.' " 



The use of the words "density" and "current" are- 

 liable to misconception ; at all events.it does not appear 

 to us that this mode of stating the case makes it any 

 clearer. Altogether, however, this is a great book, and 

 we congratulate the author on its production. 



John G. McKendrick. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Notions fondamentales de Cliimie organique. By Pror. 



Ch. Moureu. Pp.292. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1902.) 



Price 7.50 francs. 

 There is nothing calling for special remark in this 

 little compendium of organic chemistry. It belongs to 

 a type of scientific literature with which we are thoroughly 

 well acquainted in this country, and has been written 

 for the use of elementary students as an introduction to 

 this branch of the science. The six chapters deal re- 

 spectively with preliminary theoretical notions, hydro- 

 carbons, oxygen-containing compounds, nitrogenous 

 compounds, organomctallic compounds and heterocyclic 

 compounds. This classification will be unfamiliar to 

 English chemists, and although it may possess certain 

 advantages, it necessarily results in the association of 

 the most heterogeneous groups. With the exception of 

 this arrangement, the work follows the usual course, and 

 the subdivisions of the chapters bring out with sufficient 

 clearness the family resemblances arising from similarity 

 of chemical type. Of course, the great difficulty which 

 all writers of these short manuals have to contend with 

 is the compression of such an enormous range of subjects 

 into a limited number of pages without distorting the 

 perspective view of each branch. Every original worker 

 — and M. Moureu's contributions to synthetical chemis- 

 try entitle him to a prominent position in this capacity — 

 has a tendency, often quite unconsciously, to give undue 

 prominence to his own branch of the subject or his own 

 particular theoretical views, and this is a real danger 

 from which the elementary student cannot be too care- 

 fully guarded. No fault can, however, be found with the 

 work from this point of view, and the author has main- 

 tained a fairly uniform balance throughout. The short 

 treatment of stereochemistry (12 pp.) is particularly 

 lucid so far as it goes, although the author only leaves 

 himself half a page for the stereochemistry of nitrogen 

 and sulphur. On the whole, this manual, regarded as a 

 descriptive treatise to be used in association with labor- 

 atory work and lecture- room attendance, may safely be 

 commended to the class of students for whom it is 

 written : — 



"Ouvrir l'esprit de l'eleve en l'initiant graduellement 

 au mecanisme des transformations de la matiere et en lui 

 preseniant les grandes lignes de la Science avec le relief 

 qui Ieur convient, le preparer ainsi a suivre avec fruit un 

 Cours complet et a faire un usage profitable des Traites 

 proprement dits, tel a ete notre but, notre unique objectif 



