340 
OUR BOOK SHELF. 
Register of the Associates and Old Students of the 
Royal College of Chemistry, the Royal School of 
Mines, and the Royal College of Science. Edited 
by Theodore G. Chambers, Assoc.R.S.M. Pp. 
cxxii + 231. (London: Hazell, Watson, and Viney, 
Ltd., 1896.) 
THIS Register contains the names and short biographical 
notices of many hundreds of the past students of the 
three institutions, the history of which has been so 
closely interwoven. Much praise is due to Mr. Chambers, 
and those who have assisted him, for the care and 
patience with which man after man has been tracked 
down and run to earth, that he may yield a few lines of 
print to this book. A glance over its pages cannot fail 
to be gratifying to any old student, for it is at once 
apparent how much the pure sciences, as well as Mining 
and Metallurgy, owe to the men who have been trained 
at these colleges. Such names as those of De La Rue, 
Odling, Frankland, Armstrong, Tilden and Abel among 
chemists ; of Mathiessen, Roberts-Austen, Bauerman and 
Gilchrist among metallurgists; of Judd, of Le Neve 
Foster, and of the Blanfords, are indissolubly linked 
with the history of the sciences which they respectively 
represent. But besides these, on almost every page of 
the Register the names occur of men, Fellows of the 
Royal Society and others, of whom any college or 
university might well be proud. 
The history of the united schools, which is also given, 
clearly shows their continuous growth from their 
foundation up to the present time, and the biographies 
and excellent portraits of the past and present professors 
will be highly valued by their old students as interesting 
mementos of those who have largely influenced and 
directed the course of their lives. 
Fruit-Culture for Amateurs. By S.T. Wright. With 
an Appendix on Insect and other Pests injurious to 
Fruit Trees. By W. D. Drury. Pp. 244. (London: 
Upcott Gill, 1897.) 
THE culture of hardy fruits has received a great impetus 
of late years from the depressed state of agriculture, 
whilst the enormous importations from America and 
from France have at length enabled our cultivators to 
realise the consequences of their own neglect. 
It might be supposed that a market thus captured by 
the foreigner would never be regained ; but there are 
signs that this is not so. Our home-grown supplies, to 
a large extent, come at a season when foreign com- 
petition is least active. English-grown apples, properly 
marketed, are the finest the world produces, and com- 
mand the highest prices. Plums can be grown here so 
well and so abundantly as to effectually neutralise com- 
petition. Small fruits—under which category are in- 
cluded strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, &c.—do 
not pay for long carriage, a point in favour of the British 
cultivator. The culture of grapes under glass has also 
increased to such an extent that lately it has been found 
profitable to export them even to the United States. All 
this shows that fruit-culture is extending, and that when 
carried on ina business-like way it returns a fair amount on 
the capital invested and the labour expended. The little 
book before us is specially intended for amateurs ; but it 
contains just the sort of information which the novice in 
fruit-culture for market requires. It is the work of an 
experienced practitioner in whom the reader may place 
the fullest confidence. In this place we need not enter 
into cultural details ; but it is instructive to note through- 
out Mr. Wright’s pages, whether he be treating of apples 
or of figs, of strawberries or of medlars, how identical 
are the general principles of cultivation. 
NO. £424, VOL. 55 | 
NATURE 
[FesBRuARY 11, 1897 
Mr. Wright had no intention of dealing with physi- 
ological matters—his aim is entirely practical—and yet 
we find throughout the general principles brought into 
prominence, unconsciously, perhaps, on the part of the 
author, but still manifestly so to the amateur reader. 
This is a great advantage to the book. Amateurs now-a- 
days know that no progress can be expected in practical 
arts unless the practitioner has some knowledge of the 
principles on which they are based. This is only another 
way of saying that a man must know his business before 
he can hope to succeed in it. Mr. Wright’s book will 
greatly help the reader to this knowledge, and may be 
recommended accordingly. 
The Appendix, by Mr. Drury, occupies nearly as much 
space as the chapters of the book. It is devoted to a de- 
scription of the principal noxious insects and fungi, and is 
interesting as showing that, somewhat tardily perhaps, our 
cultivators are realising the advantages of “spraying,” a 
detail in which our American cousins have got the start 
of us. 
Annuaire de VObservatoire Municipal de Montsouris, 
pour (Année 1897. Pp. xii + 664. (Paris: Gauthier- 
Villars et Fils, 1897.) 
THE Montsouris Meteorological Observatory was estab- 
lished by M. Duruy in 1871, by the influence of Dumas 
then president of the Municipal Council of the City of 
Paris. The work carried out in it is divided into three 
principal sections, which, while including purely scientific 
researches, take in also subjects relating to the climat- 
ology and hygiene of Paris. The first branch of the 
Observatory’s work belongs to physics and meteorology, 
among the subjects included in this section being :—atmo- 
spheric electricity, the usual meteorological observations, 
the influence of smoke and vapours upon atmospheric 
variations, &c. The chemical work done at the Observ- 
atory refers to the variations in the composition of air 
in different parts of Paris, analysis of water, variations 
in the composition of sewage waters and of the Seine at 
different points, and methods of filtration. Tothe micro- 
graphic section of the Observatory is entrusted not only 
bacteriological statistics, and the determination of the 
meteorological conditions which affect the abundance of 
micro-organisms in air, soil, and water, but also the ex- 
amination of the specific characters of bacteria. A 
bacteriological laboratory for the diagnosis of diphtheria, 
and of other diseases of which the active principles are 
known, was joined to the micrographic section of the 
Observatory at the beginning of last year, and has been 
found of great service to the public and to medical 
practitioners. 
A large amount of valuable information on these 
and many other matters is given in this Azzzuaire. 
Meteorologists, bacteriologists, and students of public 
health will be particularly interested in the volume. 
Essays of George John Romanes. Edited by C. Lloyd 
Morgan. Pp. 253. (London: Longmans, Green, and 
Co., 1897.) 
By collecting and republishing these essays, Prof. Lloyd 
Morgan has carried out a wish of Romanes, and at the 
same time has given general readers of science a very 
interesting volume. The subjects of the essays here 
reprinted from various magazines and reviews are :—primi- 
tive natural history, the Darwinian theory of instinct, 
man and brute, mind in men and animals, origin of 
human faculty, mental differences between men and 
women, the object of life, recreation, hypnotism, hydro- 
phobia and the muzzling order. Such an attractive 
selection from the writings of a master-mind like 
Romanes, should appeal successfully to a wide circle of 
readers. 
