March 9, 1905] 



NA TURE 



437 



The physiological side of the game is not lost sight 

 of, and is dealt with by the author in three short 

 chapters, while Part iv. is devoted to " lawn tennis 

 encyclopaedia," containing much miscellaneous in- 

 formation useful to players, including a bibliography 

 of the literature on the subject, which, by the way, 

 is very considerable. 



The volume concludes with an account of the 

 history and growth of the game of lacrosse, by 

 William Harvey Maddren. 



The very complete index adds considerably to the 

 utility of this publication, which should form a 

 welcome addition to any sportsman's library. 



In the second of these volumes, which is the com- 

 bined work of Messrs. G. Beldam and P. A. Vaile, 

 we have another valuable contribution to the 

 literature of lawn tennis. Mr. Beldam presents us 

 with 229 of his action photographs, all of which are 

 here beautifully reproduced. In his book on " Great 

 Golfers " he showed how much could be learnt by 

 closelv studying action-photographs, and in the 

 present volume on great lawn tennis players a 

 similar attempt is rewarded with equal success in 

 spite of the greater difficulties involved, since both 

 player and ball are in rapid motion. The photo- 

 graphs here given are not casual snapshots, but taken 

 specially to illustrate the positions occupied by 

 players for particular strokes. Mr. Vaile, writes, so 

 to speak, round these pictures, and in his breezy and 

 straightforward style points out which in his estima- 

 tion are the good or bad points. This author is of 

 the opinion that the true science of the game is but 

 dimly appreciated in this country, and it is his main 

 endeavour throughout these pages to indicate in 

 which direction progress can be made. The lawn 

 tennis reader will find, therefore, much to think over 

 in these pages, and particular attention is drawn to 

 the first chapter, in which the racket, per sc, and the 

 methods of holding it are discussed. Mr. E. G. 

 Meers contributes an interesting chapter on " Ad- 

 vanced Tactics of the Single Game," while " The 

 Half-Vollev " is treated bv Mr. G. A. Caridia. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



i\'ew Streets : Laying Out and Making Up. Bv 

 A. Tayler Allen. Pp. 175. (London : The Sanitary 

 Publishing Company, Ltd.) 3s. net. 

 This is not the sort of book that anyone but a proof- 

 reader could read straight through, not even a 

 reviewer or a surveyor or architect, for whom 

 especially it is written. This statement is not made 

 by way of disparagement, quite the reverse, and the 

 author would be the first to agree to it. 



In these days, with a multiplicity of petty and of 

 local bye-laws and regulations, all put together 

 primarily and ostensibly to prevent scainping of 

 different kinds, but often, and the more so the more 

 petty the authority, used as weapons to compel public 

 spirited parties to go to unnecessary and extravagant 

 expense so that the members of the petty body or 

 their friends may be the more prosperous, it is above 

 all essential that the survevor or architect or engineer 

 or even private individual,' who has occasion to make 

 a new street or a cottage or a side-walk or a retro- 

 spective drain should act warily, and have before him 

 NO. T<S45, VOL. 71] 



the several acts and bye-laws that regulate or hamper, 

 as the case may be, the particular work he has in 

 hand. The author, judging by this, and by the title> 

 of his previous works, seems to be a good Samaritan 

 and to take pleasure in pointing out the numerous 

 pitfalls that must be avoided by the man who would, 

 if possible, live at peace. The present book is 

 largely filled with a recitation of laws and of district 

 council requirements which no one would wish to 

 read unless under compulsion. The latter part con- 

 tains examples of work in very full detail and with 

 illustrations. 



However, the author has not, as might have been 

 expected, lost all interest in the progress of his subject 

 in wrestling with these dismal details. For instance, 

 on p. 2 he says : — 



" The author is one of a few surveyors who believe 

 that all wide carriageways (where traffic is consider- 

 able), should have the channel in the centre instead 

 of at the sides, thus obviating the tendency of 

 vehicles to slide down the haunches of the road 

 towards the kerb. The gradient to the centre channel 

 from the kerb need not exceed i in 40." 



Whatever advantages or the reverse there may be 

 in this plan, spectators on the pavement would no 

 doubt prefer to see this sliding in the direction 

 desired by the author, especially if the vehicles 

 happened to be quick motor-cars going in opposite 

 directions. 



The author is to be complimented on performing a 

 tedious and uninteresting task for the general good. 



C. V. B. 



.4 Popular Guide to the Heavens. By Sir Robert S. 

 Ball, LL.D., F.'R.S. Pp. xii-l-96; 83 plates 

 (London : George Philip and Son, Ltd., 1905.) 

 Price 15.?. net. 



This is a new edition of the " Atlas of AstroiiO^riy," 

 by the same author, which appeared in 1892, the 

 revision having extended even to the title of the book. 

 As before, star maps and pictures of the heavenly 

 bodies are the chief feature, but in many cases 

 drawings have been replaced by admirable reproduc- 

 tions of some of the finest celestial photographs at 

 present available. The star charts, comprising 

 twelve maps indicating the aspect of the heavens 

 in the different months, and twenty others showing 

 much greater detail, are excellent in every respect, 

 and will meet the needs of those making a first 

 acquaintance with the stars as well as of those who 

 may wish to observe interesting objects with tele- 

 scopes of moderate aperture. A valuable feature in 

 connection with the maps is an index to the planets, 

 whereby the positions of these bodies in each month 

 during the next fifty years may be approximately 

 ascertained. A very complete guide to observation's 

 of the moon is also provided by the maps and cata- 

 logues of lunar formations. So far, the book 

 justifies its title, but the remaining parts give the 

 impression of a scrap-hook with pages still remaining 

 to be filled, and pages which would have been filled 

 differently by different owners. The sun, for 

 example, is inadequately represented; the only photo- 

 graph of a sun-spot which is given conveys no indica- 

 tion of the dimensions of the spot, and there are no 

 illustrations of faculae or photographs in mono- 

 chromatic light. A more serious omission, In a book 

 which is styled a " guide," is the absence of all refer- 

 ence to the modes of observing the sun, although 

 careful drawings of the paths of spots at different 

 times of the year are included. Again, there is an 

 elaborate chart of the planet Mars, but nothing to 

 show what the planet looks like in an ordinary 

 telescope. 



