FEBRUARY 25, 1904] 
NA TORE 391 
tenstein, who wrote in vol. vi. of the Linnean Trans- 
actions, about a century ago, that before he knew 
Fabricius personally, he thought the latter had been 
disrespectful to Linné and his other predecessors 
because he wrote that very little was known of 
entomology at that time, and that the study, especially 
as compared with botany, was still quite in its infancy. 
Our own conception of present and future progress 
is doubtless equally imperfect, and it has been well said 
that no race of mankind is permitted to anticipate the 
prerogatives of its successors. To our grandfathers 
and great-grandfathers the very idea of carriages 
going without horses seemed ridiculous, and the mere 
suggestion of the wonderful discoveries of the last 
half-century would have been regarded a hundred years 
ago as the ravings of a lunatic. 
A New Geometry for Junior Forms. By S. Barnard, 
M.A., and J. M. Child, BLA. Pp. vii+306. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1904.) Price 
2s. 6d. 
Tuts work is a selection from the larger work of 
Messrs. Barnard and Child published a few months 
ago. It is, of course, on the modern lines of teaching 
now almost universally adopted in England. There is 
no necessity for entering into a detailed account of the 
contents of the book, for the order and method of treat- 
ment are the same as those of the larger volume, which 
has already been highly commended in these columns. 
The work is simple, very thorough, and in every way 
suited to the requirements of junior students. 
Although employing instruments and devoting much 
space to “‘ practical ’’ work at the outset, the authors 
never lose sight of the fundamental fact that geometry 
is a science of strict logic. Even those reformers of 
geometrical teaching who have done most to break 
with the difficult and stilted formalism of Euclid are 
sometimes alarmed by the methods adopted by the ex- 
pounders of ‘‘practical mathematics ’’—methods 
entirely reprehensible because of their ignoring the 
logical foundations of science. The fact is that the 
teaching of modern improvements should be in the 
hands of skilled experts who have a commanding 
knowledge of scientific methods and results, and who 
are able to simplify matters for the student without 
sacrificing any portion of logical reasoning. We must 
take care that mere manual work, mechanical pro- 
cesses, and slipshod reasoning do not undermine the 
principles of accurate thought either in pure or in 
applied mathematics. So far, the works on geometry 
which give expression to the principles of the British 
and Mathematical Associations are beyond suspicion. 
The danger—though by no means absent from pure 
mathematics—is certainly greatest in physics and 
applied mathematics. 
Fragments from Continental Journeyings. By A. R. 
Sennett. Pp. vi+516. (London: Whittaker and 
Co., 1903.) Price 4s. 6d. net. 
WE have all done it; R. L. Stevenson with a prose 
fancy that would elevate road-metal itself to a place 
among the humanities; Henry James with a just deli- 
cacy, that seems to add a decorative touch to the 
familiar chateaux and the well-worn ways; the rest of 
us, in this latter time, at a long distance and in various 
measure, yet drawn irresistibly into print. And now 
Mr. (or Miss?) A. R. Sennett is moved also to attempt 
to give to others some of the abiding pleasure ex- 
perienced on the open road. 
We have doubts as to the writer’s sex, mainly on 
account of the references to female costume at Monte 
Carlo; the male author, moreover, is usually more cir- 
cumspect in revealing his ignorance of foreign lan- 
NO. 1791, VOL. 69] 
guages. This little book is crowded with inaccuracies 
in French and German, in fact, even the single words 
printed in italics are frequently incorrect. Names, 
which can be found on the maps in the library of the 
Automobile Club, are also occasionally misspelt. 
Hence we can hardly treat the work as a contribution 
to geography. The ground covered is that dealt with 
by the post-chaise travellers of the early nineteenth 
century, when the close of the great wars again allowed 
of observation. The frontispiece of Grindelwald and the 
Wetterhorn gives sufficient clue to the scope of the book 
as a record of continental journeyings. We have no 
right in this place to deal with it from a literary point 
of view; nor do we think that the author would wel- 
come the remarks which we reserve. Gy Ana: 
Recueil d’Expériences élémentaires de Physique. First 
part. By Henri Abraham. Pp. xii+247. (Paris : 
Gauthier-Villars, 1904.) Price 5 francs. 
Tuts volume of less than three hundred pages has been 
produced with the collaboration of 154 physicists from 
all parts of the world! 2 
The book is the outcome of a request made primarily 
to the members of the French Physical Society by its 
secretary, with the authority of its council, that they 
should aid in the production of a volume describing 
elementary experiments in physics by forwarding an 
account of any special experiments forming part of 
their laboratory courses. M. Abraham is editing these, 
and this is the first part of the result—a second part is 
to follow. 
The descriptions of the experiments are not accom- 
panied by theory. The only incursion into the domain 
of theory has been to direct the reader’s attention to 
the degree of precision possible in each measurement, 
and to the need or uselessness, as the case might be, of 
introducing corrections. 
On the other hand, great attention has been paid to 
describing the arrangement of the experiments; for 
example, all necessary sizes are specified in order that 
they may be reproduced as easily as possible. 
No attempt has been made to unify the style of the 
very various methods which the author selected from ; 
on the contrary, the desire has been to present as great 
a variety as possible. 
The first chapter consists of elementary instruction 
in workshop practice (including glass-blowing), and 
has an appendix containing many useful receipts. The 
second is on geometry and mechanics, the third is on 
hydrostatics, hydrodynamics and capillarity ; the fourth 
chapter deals with heat. 
The experiments described are, in the majority of 
cases, of a very simple character, less suitable for 
colleges than for schools, where they should be very 
welcome. Many of them, indeed, are arranged as 
they might be by an amateur at home, and the instruc- 
tions are certainly simple enough for a lad with 
mechanical and experimental tastes to derive a large 
amount of useful pleasure in carrying them out with 
out the aid of a teacher. 
Cassell’s Popular Science. Edited by Alexander S. 
Galt. Volume ii. Pp. xii+556. (London: Cassell 
and Co., Ltd., 1904.) 
Tus attractive volume, with its numerous excellent 
illustrations and its clear type, is calculated to create 
interest in the study of science. The editor has 
arranged matters in such a manner that most branches 
of natural knowledge are drawn upon to provide in- 
teresting reading. The first six articles, for example, 
deal with subjects belonging to physics, biology, 
astronomy and geology—and the reader’s attention is 
certainly not kept upon one subject for too long at one 
time. 
