246 
NA PORE 
| JANUARY 10, 1907 
OUR BOOK SHELE: 
John Dalton. By J. P. Millington. 
(London: J. M. Dent and Co., 1906.) 
net. 
Tuts: yolume constitutes the latest addition to the 
series of ‘‘ English Men of Science ’’ now in course 
of publication by Messrs. J. M. Dent and Co., and 
is a concise and well-written account of the illus- 
trious author of the atomic theory. Everything there 
is to tell about the old Quaker philosopher has already 
been told in such well-known works as_ the 
“Memoirs ’’ of Henry and of Angus Smith, and in 
the lesser-known biography of Dr. Lonsdale, and all 
that a modern historian can do is to put together, 
with such literary slxill as he can command, the facts 
of his simple, uneventful life. The publication of the 
““New View of Dalton’s Atomic Theory”? by Sir 
Henry Roscoe and Dr. Harden, and the criticism 
which the ‘‘New View ”’ has received from Debus, 
might have afforded an opportunity to Mr. Milling- 
ton for the exercise of his critical acumen, but Mr. 
Millington fails to avail himself of it, the quotation 
from the ‘‘ Fundamental Satze der Chemie,’ pub- 
lished two years before the appearance of the ‘‘ New 
View,’’ having little relevance to the matter in dis- 
pute between them. 
Mr. Millington’s narrative is simple and unaffected 
in style, befitting the character it seeks to describe. 
It is calculated to give the reader a just and faithful 
impression of a calm and beautiful life, utterly un- 
worldly, and free from any taint of self-seeking, envy, 
or greed. 
It might at first sight be thought there was no 
room for another book on Dalton, but we cannot have 
too much of such an example, and certainly no bio- 
graphical series of ‘‘ English Men of Science ’? would 
be complete which omitted his great and honoured 
name. 
Pp. xii+225. 
Price 2s. 6d. 
Gesell- 
1906. ) 
der deutschen 
(Leipzig: W. 
Verhandlungen 
schaft, 1906. 
Price 10 marks. 
zoologischen 
Engelmann, 
Tuts volume contains the papers read at the sixteenth 
annual congress of the society held at Marburg, June 
5-7, 1906. The number of subjects covered by the 
papers and ‘‘ demonstrations’? is so great that it is 
only possible to refer to a few. On account of being 
fully illustrated, special mention must be made of a 
communication by Prof. L. Plate on the evolution of 
species in the Bahama land-shells of the pupa group 
classed under the title of Cerion glans. The grada- 
tion from a large-sized, heavily-ribbed, and uniformly 
coloured type to a diminutive one in which the place 
of ribs is talken by bands of colour is admirably illus- 
trated in the plate. ; 
In the second paper, illustrated by a plate, Dr. F. 
Doflein deals with the fauna and oceanography of the 
Japanese coast, especially from the point of view of 
the dispersal of organisms: in his opinion conti- 
nental barriers offer much less serious obstacles to 
the dispersal of marine organisms than is commonly 
supposed. The zoological distribution of animals also 
forms the subject of a paper by Dr. E. Stromer, who 
discusses the bearing of the recent discoveries of fossil 
vertebrates in the Tertiaries of Egypt on current 
theories as to the origin of the modern African 
fauna. ; 
Considerable general interest likewise attaches to a 
Jong paper, by Prof. Simroth, on the fauna of Sardinia, 
which deals in considerable detail with the origin and 
relationships of the native .breeds of domesticated 
animals, and brings out some noteworthy points in j 
NO. I941, VOL. 75 | 
connection therewith. Most of the other papers deal 
with subjects of interest only to specialists. It may 
be added that methods of modern research form the 
subject of the opening address to the session by Prof. 
Hertwig, and that at the inaugural meeting Prof. 
KXorschelt gave an historical sketch of the rise and 
progress of the zoological institute of the University 
of Marburg. 
Photograms of the Year 1906. (London : 
Dawbarn and Ward, Ltd., n.d.) 
In these pages we are introduced to a series of excel- 
lent reproductions of typical photographic pictures of 
the year. This has been compiled by the editors and 
staff of the Photogram, and a descriptive article 
accompanies the series. Mr. A. C. R. Carter con- 
tributes a criticism of the two great photographic 
exhibitions, namely, the ‘‘ Salon’ and ‘“ Royal.’ 
In addition to the above, pictorial photography is 
dealt with in several other essays by various writers. 
Thus Mr.- Roland Rood writes about America, Mr. 
Mortimer Lamb about Canada. The year’s photo- 
graphy in Spain is dealt with by M. Mendez Leon, 
while *‘ Western Workers in the United States ”’ is the 
subject of an article by M. Fayette J. Clute. 
As this annual is noted chiefly for the reproduction 
of photographs, and in this issue the standard is 
excellent, it may be mentioned that the principal illus- 
trations are reproduced by Messrs. Carl Hentschel, 
Ltd., and the printing by Messrs. F. W. S. Clark 
and Co., Ltd., on the “first quality art ’’ paper of 
Messrs. John Dickinson and Co., Ltd. 
One of the frontispieces is an excellent three-colour 
picture reproduced and printed by Hentschel-colour- 
type from negatives by Mr. William Gill. To those 
photographers who are mainly concerned with the 
“pictorial”? branch of photography this annual will 
therefore prove of great interest. 
Pp. 164. 
Price 2s. 
Les Nombres positifs. Exposé des Théories modernes 
de l’Arithinétique élementaire. By M. Stuyvaert. 
Pp. xii+132. (Gand: Van Goethem, 1906.) Price 
3 franes. 
Tuis treatise certainly deserves a trial by school 
teachers. The author realises that there is a great 
gulf between arithmetic, as usually taught in schools, 
and the strict logic of the subject, and, at the same 
time, that it is impossible to teach it with complete 
rigour to a school class. He assumes the commu- 
tative law of addition, and then proves the elementary 
rules in a way which is quite sufficient for school 
purposes, and does not involve any fallacies which 
afterwards have to be renounced. The treatment of 
irrationals follows Dedekind; that of fractions is 
based upon the definition that a/b=c/d if ad=be. 
Proportion is treated in the way that is usual in 
France; the section on this subject would require to 
be expanded and illustrated by the teacher; the same 
is true of other articles, notably § 13, which is unduly 
condensed, and where the distinction between alge- 
braic and arithmetical divisibility is rather blurred. 
Many teachers will regret seeing contracted multipli- 
cation expounded by Oughtred’s rule of reversing the 
digits of the multiplier. The rule for contracted 
division, though instructive, is needlessly complicated 
from a practical point of view; and, alas! the rule 
for arithmetical subtraction is given in its old- 
fashioned form. However, these are minor points, 
and it is worth while to refer to them only because 
the book is so attractive in other respects. Attention 
should be drawn to the author’s way of considering 
fractions, which he sketches out in his preface. 
