NA TURE 



[July iS, 1901 



undertake them. The modern development of the theory 

 of functions arose largely from transplanting the ideas 

 of flux and force of physical mathematics into purely 

 abstract problems. In astronomy, M. Poincare's work 

 has partly repaid the debt ; it remains to be seen whether 

 in electrodynamics a further instalment will be repaid, or 

 analysis again become the debtor. 



Anyhow, while pure analysis is ramifying into vast new 

 regions and becoming more and more specialised, it is 

 fortunately still possible for a single person to acquire an 

 effective knowledge of the whole domain of theoretical 

 physics. As in literature, so in scientific exposition, the 

 saving virtue is style. If we call to mind the history of 

 any of the theories which form the established heritage of 

 common knowledge— such as hydrostatics or pneumatics 

 —in their early inception they presented just as comple.x 

 problems as the theory of the asther does now. But 

 by the efforts of successive generations of expositors 

 they have gradually been worn down, and the artificial 

 appliances of symbolic reasoning have been eliminated 

 or illuminated by the cultivation of new ideas and modes 

 of expression. A theory of the xther hardly existed in any 

 adequate sense half a century ago. Progress has recently 

 been so rapid both on the purely scientific side, and in the 

 reaction of modes of thought that have been fostered by 

 industrial developments, that in a short time we may be 

 able to picture to ourselves the operation of the ;ether with 

 as much clearness and directness as we now understand 

 the functions of the atmosphere. J. L. 



GILBERT WHITE OF SELBORNE. 

 The Life and Letters of Gilbert White of Selboriie. 



Written and Edited by his Great-Grandnephew, Rash- 



leigh Holt- White. Two Vols. 8vo. Pp., Vol. I., xv + 



330; Vol. II., ix + 300. (London; John Murray, 



1901.) Price 32.f. 

 The Natural History of Selbornc. By Gilbert White. 



Pp. vii + 381. (London : J. M. Dent and Co.) Price 



\s. bd. net. 

 TvJ OTHING nearly as good as Mr. Holt-White's book 

 i^ has ever yet appeared about Gilbert White ; it 

 supersedes Bell's two volumes, to which we have so far 

 had to go for the real characteristics of the great naturalist, 

 and it is hardly possible that it will ever itself be super- 

 seded. In its skilful treatment of materials it is amply 

 worthy of its dedication to a great scholar, the present 

 Provost of White's College. The editor has been content 

 to let White and his correspondents speak for themselves, 

 but rarely interposing to set us right on some miscon- 

 ception, or to explain (often, it is clear, after much 

 expenditure of time and trouble) who are the persons 

 referred to in the correspondence ; and the result is one 

 of the most delightful stories of a quiet life ever told in 

 our language. As we reluctantly close the second volume, 

 we feel that we now know White perfectly well as he 

 really was. There is no need for a reviewer to anticipate 

 the pleasure of readers by attempting to copy the picture. 



It should be said, however, that this is not only a book 

 for naturalists or lovers of nature, but for readers of every 

 kind. Indeed, the charm of it seems to lie chiefly in the 

 picture of life and manners it gives us — of the life of quiet 

 country folks, with sedate but real interests of their own, 

 NO. 1655, VOL. 64] 



using their time well, and sharpening their faculties con- 

 tinually under the gentle and unconscious stimulus of 

 their alert and keen-eyed neighbour, friend or uncle. 

 Gilbert White is the centre of the group, and he seems 

 to be setting all the members of it at work on something. 

 He lets drop a hint, asks a question, administers a very 

 gentle reproof, and the recipients of his letters treasure 

 them up, and must, we feel, have acted on them. 



One or two points of special interest may be noted 

 here. It is very pleasant to find that Mr. Holt-White has 

 been able to prove conclusively the falsity of the traditional 

 Oriel notion that White retained his fellowship when he 

 should not have done so. The four or five farms which 

 he inherited brought him hardly more than a hundred a 

 year ; and towards the end of his life his relations with 

 his College seem to have been quite cordial. It is, of 

 course, natural that in a College where Fellowships were, 

 few in number, yet open to competition from the whole 

 University, the locking up of a Fellowship for fifty years 

 should at the time have roused a certain amount of 

 criticism ; but that criticism was made under the 

 impression that White was a wealthy man, and to revive 

 it, as it has been revived, in these days, is to do White a 

 serious injustice. The Oriel of that day may be said to 

 have endowed science unconsciously as it has never done 

 since ; for White, though not a man of science in the 

 modern sense, has had a powerful influence in stimulating 

 scientific habits. 



Among the many delightful treasures in this book must 

 be mentioned the letters of Thomas Mulso, now published 

 for the first time — letters as bright, witty and natural as 

 any that have ever been printed ; and the two letters of 

 Montagu, written after the publication of the " Natural 

 History of Selborne," which offer a curious contrast, in 

 their intense and almost feverish ardour, to White's quiet 

 and leisurely way of going about his work. But perhaps 

 those who love the eighteenth century and all its ways 

 will find their greatest pleasure in the enthusiastic diary 

 of Miss Kitty Battle, a visitor at Selborne. Little did 

 that happy girl know that her notes, jotted down in the 

 fulness of a grateful heart, would be treasured more than 

 a century afterwards by readers as enthusiastic as herself. 



Let us hope that this work, undertaken by a member 

 of the White family, with full access to all records, and 

 with the invaluable aid of Prof Alfred Newton, may 

 permanently satisfy all who wish to know about White's 

 character and habits. 



The second book mentioned at the head of this notice 

 is a handy little volume in small octavo, which can be 

 carried in the pocket, and has the great merit of being 

 free from unnecessary notes and still more unnecessary 

 illustrations. The few notes which it contains, by Mr. 

 Charles Weekes, are at the end of the volume, and seem 

 to be for the most part accurate and to the point. The 

 text is reprinted from the first edition of the "Natura) 

 History," with a few slight alterations in spelling, which 

 might perhaps have been dispensed with. If, for example, 

 White wrote " plowed," there is no reason at all why an 

 editor should substitute " ploughed." And it is a pity 

 that the editor, in prefixing a few lines of Richard 

 Jefferies' to the book, should not have spelt his name 

 correctly. But on the whole the edition is a good one ; 

 far better, in fact, than many of much greater pretension. 



