632 
NATURE 
[AUGUST 20, 1914 
results are much more easy of attainment when 
dealing with fresh-water fishes than when dealing 
with those of the sea. The methods of artificial 
hatching and rearing have been thoroughly worked 
out and put into practice, and they are here well 
described. 
The book is profusely illustrated and the illus- 
trations are of such a character that both the 
interest and the clearness of the descriptions are 
enhanced. 
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS. 
(1) Investigating an Industry: a Scientific Diag- 
nosis of the Diseases of Management. By W. 
Kent. With an Introduction by H. L. Gantt. 
Pp. xi+126. (New York: John Wiley and 
Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 
LO14.) Price 4s:)76d." net. 
(2\oPrnciples of Heonomics. Pay. Profs ike 
Seager. Pp. xx+650. (London: G. Bell and 
Sons, ‘Ltd.; New York: Hi.” Holt ‘and *Go;, 
1613.) rice. 10s.,.6a. net. 
(1) R. KENT?’S book belongs to a branch of 
investigation which has been specially 
developed in America. It might seem at first that 
business management scarcely belonged to science, 
but was rather a question of personal qualifica- 
tion, tact, and resource. When we speak of good 
management in this country we are inclined to 
regard it mainly as concerned with labour-saving 
methods. But this book, and others on the same 
lines, aim at applying to the faults of business the 
scientific methods of medical diagnosis; and Mr. 
Kent has given great vividness to his analysis 
by working it out in the concrete case of an indi- 
vidual business faced with competition and a fall- 
ing market. To meet the case, each aspect of 
organisation, within and without the factory, is 
examined in detail by an expert. Is the location 
of the works where it should be, in view of the 
buying and selling markets, and conditions of 
transport? Are the buildings well equipped, and 
are they too large or too small for the most 
economical output? Is the power plant modern, 
or does it waste fuel? Are the high-priced men 
on work which really requires their skiil, or are 
they being wasted on low-price work? What is 
the “load-factor ” of the machinery—its percent- 
age of running full—both in general and for each 
machine? How are accounts kept and audited ? 
Are the directors and manager ‘running full” 
themselves? An inquisition into each aspect 
shows, in the case taken, that the main technical 
fault is the want of a supplementary product to 
balance fluctuations in the main output, and 
occupy the spare factory space; while the main 
defect of organisation is in the work of the direc- 
NO, 2338; VOL./93] 
tors themselves. The book is full of the keen 
business spirit of America. Students of scientific 
economics will be interested to see how, in various 
detailed ways, the broad principles of the ‘“‘mar- 
ginal” method are illustrated. 
(2) Prof. Seager has revised and exnanded his 
“Introduction to Economics,” and the ‘“ Prin- 
ciples’? are now a very full treatment of both 
theory and description. There are also some im. 
portant historical chapters, so that the book is 
much wider than its title suggests. In _ the 
theoretical chapters, the marginal principle is de- 
veloped and illustrated with a welcome abundance 
of comment and illustration. The most interest- 
ing, to English readers, of the new chapters are 
those on social insurance and on profit-sharing ; 
but Prof. Seager is content rather with descrip- 
tion here, and some important general questions 
might have been raised from the point of view of 
analysis and social ethics. To American readers 
the chapter on the income tax is appropriate and 
up to date. It is one of the most valuable of those 
text-books which are now confirming and estab- 
lishing the structure of the science. 
DH 
OUR BOOKSHELF. 
Geological Map of the Caucasus, with Explanatory 
Notes. By Dr. F. Oswald. (London: Dulau 
and:Co., Lid., 1904))Neb mice. ss:mec: 
Dr. OswWatp’s colour-printed map of the Caucasus 
is on the scale of I : 1,000,000, and covers the 
country from the Sea of Azov to the Caspian. We 
may regret that the heights are given in English 
feet ; but those who use it will generally have other 
topographic maps at hand. It is produced in a 
bold style, somewhat like that of Noé’s map of the 
Alps, and embodies a good deal of personal study 
by the author. The descriptive pamphlet directs 
attention to the production of crystalline schists 
and the intrusion of granite in pre-Carboniferous 
times. Intense folding took place in the Upper 
Jurassic epoch, the pressure acting from the south- 
west; and the latest and still more important fold- 
ing, this time induced from the north-east, is of 
Miocene and even post-Sarmatian age. Kazbek 
and Elburs are enormous volcanic piles, due to the 
outwelling of lavas along fractures connected with 
the final earth-movements of Pliocene times. The 
author’s classification of the Miocene strata brings 
the Sarmatian into the middle of the system, so 
that almost all the beds regarded as Miocene in 
western Europe are crowded into one Lower or 
Vindobonian series. He retains an Oligocene 
system, mostly marine, which is well marked off 
from the prevalent fivsch type of Eocene strata. 
This work will be of service to many travellers, 
now that the district is so accessible through 
Constantinople or Odessa, and it will be of much 
help to readers of Suess’s description of the range. 
GC: AMEE 
