Dec. 7, 1871] 



NATURE 



99 



comical bits, the story of a new fossil discovered (p. 314) ; 

 the boundary of the Caradoc Sandstone at Pentre Voelas 

 (p. 318); and "a strange and marvellous history of a 

 temptation and what befel thereon " (p. 323), must be read 

 and laughed over, as also must the account of Miss 

 Moggore and Miss Bood, natives of Murray and Darnley 

 Islands, who loould walk arm-in-arm with Mr. Jukes 

 (p. 252). 



Besides a vast number of letters to Prof. Ramsay, all 

 more or less relating to geology, there are letters to Dr. 

 I nglcby and other relatives ; one on Versification (p. 377), 

 in which two of Mr. Jukes's own verses appear. The 

 annexed is a sample, probably intended for the Old Annual 

 Survey Dinner : * — 



Free o'er the hills our feet shall roam, 

 We'll breathe the mountain air, sir ; 

 Care shall not ever dare to come, 

 Nor grief pursue us there, sir. 

 Joyous in Nature's wildest scene. 

 Where rocks lie topsy-turvy, 

 And falling waters flash between. 

 We'll prosecute the .Survey. 

 Oh, the Survey, the Geological Survey ! 

 Health and good humour shall be queen 

 Of the Geological Survey ! 



We have religious beliefs considered (p. 375) ; views 

 on Providence (p. 386) ; creeds (p. 409) ; political opinions 

 (p. 405), and many other matters discussed. 



But we have said sufficient to recommend the book to 

 all who are likely to be interested in it. We would es- 

 pecially direct geologists to it, as being the record of the 

 life of a man who did very much for their science — indeed, 

 who died in its service. To his friends, who are to be 

 found scattered far and wide, the title of the book is suffi- 

 cient to recommend it to them. To his relatives and 

 intimate companions his memory will always be dear. 



It seems strange that Prof Jukes's life should be dedi- 

 cated to Prof. Sedgwick, his early teacher ; but so it is — 

 the old oak, though decayed and feeble, still puts out its 

 green leaves ; but the younger man, whom he bid God 

 speed thirty years ago, has already rested from his 

 labours. H. W. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



The Sciiiici: 0/ Arithmetic. By James Cornwell, Ph.D., 

 and Joshua G. Fitch, M.A. Thirteenth Edition. 

 (Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., 1870.) 



The School A'-ithmetic. By the same authors. Eleventh 

 Edition. (Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., 1871.) 



These books are too well known to mathematical teachers 

 to need detailed notice from us. Both are very good, 

 and stand in the first rank among the scores of arith- 

 metics pubUshed in England. The explanations, arrange- 

 ment and examples, especially in the former book, are 

 generally very good. We will venture, however, to 

 suggest two or three changes to the authors, which we 

 think would render the book better still, and which our 

 experience would make us wish to see universally 

 adopted. The rule for muUiplication of decimals given 

 in these books is the old one of counting the decimal 

 places. We think this becomes a rule of thumb. The 

 method ought to be the same as that in multiplication of 

 integers ; and it is at once seen by the pupil that as in 



* Alas ! that this time-honoured institution of meeting "all hands " once a 

 year should have fallen into disuse. It was a very bond of union. 



multiplying by tens and hundreds, the figures are shifted 

 to the left ; so in multiplying by tenths and hundredths, 

 they are shifted to the right. The decimal point is 

 brought down straight, and each line in the working has 

 its meaning; as in the example, multiply 7I2'35 by 

 15-807 :— 



712-35 

 15-807 



3561-75 

 7123-5 

 569-880 



4-98645 



This is more certain to be understood every time it is 

 done than the old counting rule, and each line means 

 something. Again, in that schoolmaster's crux; the di- 

 vision of decimals, we have in the books before us, the 

 old Case i. Case 2, and Case 3 ; and everybody knows 

 the result in an examination. A better method is this, 

 which we indicate briefly. Explain first that you cannot 

 divide until the quantities are of the same kind, and of 

 the same denomination. You cannot divide 2/. by 3 

 pence, till you have reduced the pounds to pence. Nor 

 can you divide tenths by thousan'lths, till you have re- 

 duced the tenths to thousandths. Hence, to divide 

 1-375 by -0025, the dividend must first be expressed in the 

 same denomination as the divisor, namely as ten thou- 

 sandths ; this amounts to marking off as many decimal 

 places in the dividend as there are in the divisor, which is 

 best done by drawing a line after the figure, and then 

 dividing. It is plain that the result is integral until the 

 figures on the right of the line are brought down. It is 

 worth while, perhaps, to give examples of the different 

 cases ; the explanation is obvious from what has been 

 already said — 



Divide 7-9 by 4-308 — 



4'3o**)7'90o^oo(i'83- • 

 4-308 



14560 

 Divide 34-79628 by 2"5 — 



2-5) 34719628 (13-91 



25 



97 



7S 



229 



225 



46 



Lastly, the methods of summation by differences and 

 interpolation are essentially arithmetical, and of consider- 

 able interest, and we think might be introduced with 

 advantage in the larger work. 



The miscellaneous questions at the end of the larger 

 book are not particularly good. They are often tedious, 

 and not sufficiently varied, suggestive, or difficult. Never- 

 theless, the books are very good, and will teach teachers 

 as well as learners. J- M. W. 



SkiDidinaviens Coleoptera, synoptiskt bearbetade of G. C. 



Thomson. Tom. X. 8vo. (Lund, 1S68. London : 



Wilhams and Norgate.) 

 There are few investigations of more interest to the 

 student of British Natural History than the comparison 

 of our native productions with those of the Scandinavian 

 peninsula, and no descriptive works published on the 

 Continent, a knowledge of which is of greater importance 

 to him, than those of the acute and laborious naturalists 

 of Scandinavia and Denmark. The work done by these 



