APRIL 22, 18977 
of art and of all admirers of technical skill in the working 
of metals. 
It is our purpose not to discuss these results, but to 
draw attention to his geological investigations which he 
‘describes in the work before us, for here we have pre- 
sented a series of facts which have been brought together 
by a trained observer of physical phenomena, and a 
number of deductions which claim the careful thought of 
those who deal with the science of anthropology. 
By the aid of “black and white” maps, we have a brief 
account of the early geological changes which took place 
in Western Asia and resulted in the formation of Egypt, 
and the old course of the Nile now called “the river 
without water,” and its relation to the bases are fully 
described ; this is followed by an account of the gradual 
development of the Nile as we know it, and the causes 
which produced the fertile lands on each side of it. The 
first peoples who lived on the latter were the autochthonoi, 
who perfected the art of stone polishing: who became 
almost civilised, and who were known by the historical 
Egyptians as the “followers of Horus”; these M. de 
Morgan divides into two classes, z.e. paleeolithic and 
neolithic. Of palzolithic man many remains have been 
found, and four places, at least, where it is certain that 
he flourished are now well known, and many examples of 
his stone work are figured on pp. 57-66 of M. de 
Morgan’s book. 
Passing next to the remains of neolithic man, we find 
that numerous sites, both in Lower and Upper Egypt, 
produce objects which prove his skill and knowledge ; 
these are here described with care, and the deductions 
which are to be made from the objects on each are 
soberly stated. 
Without going into details, M. de Morgan proves with 
tolerable certainty that we have authentic remains of the 
historic Egyptians of the first and second dynasties, and 
there are many objects known to him which he would 
attribute unhesitatingly to the period immediately pre- 
ceding. Here, naturally, comes an account of M. Améli- 
neau’s discoveries, which have stirred up a great deal 
both of interest and strife, and a statement of the ex- 
cayator’s own views on the subject has been given 
from his paper entitled Zes Nouvelles fouilles @ Abydos, 
Angers, 1896. Whether the objects found in the tombs 
at Amrah, near Abydos, belong to as early a period as 
M. Amélineau asserts; or whether they come from what 
M. de Morgan calls “tombes de transition,” and are to 
be attributed to the kings of the autochthonoi of the time 
of the first and second dynasties ; or whether they belong 
to a much later period, as Brugsch Bey, Maspero and 
Petrie declare, cannot be decided off-hand ; but there is 
no doubt whatever that they are exceedingly ancient, and 
that they form a sort of half-way stage between the 
antiquities of the sixth dynasty and those of the period 
somewhat anterior to the reign of Menes. At all events, 
they form a factor which must be reckoned with, and 
they are not to be lightly pooh-poohed without careful 
study ; we agree with M. de Morgan that they are of 
royal origin, and that they indicate a transition period 
when both polished stone and metals were used as 
materials for weapons. 
Following these considerations, M. de Morgan shows 
by a figure how the skeleton, vases, &c., were arranged in 
NO. 1434, VOL. 55] 
NATURE 
57g 
the tombs of Amrah, and some hundreds of drawings 
illustrate the flints and other objects found therein. The 
painted vases are, naturally, the antiquities to which the 
attention of most readers will be drawn, and it seems 
tolerably certain that few archeologists in the present 
state of the case will agree in their deduction as to date 
and period. With the advent of the historical Egyptian, 
neolithic man disappeared in Egypt, and then came into 
being the monuments which have long excited the wonder 
and admiration of the whole civilised world. 
But where did this Egyptian come from? M. de 
Morgan agrees with many in thinking that he came from 
Asia, and he looks upon Chaldea or Southern Babylonia 
as his probable home; but many will be surprised to 
learn that the /e//ah, or peasant countryman, whom 
many experts have regarded as the lineal descendant of 
the Egyptian who built the pyramids and temples, is the 
product of the mingling of the autochthonoi with Nubians 
and Egyptians. In an “Appendix” Dr. Fouquet, the 
famous craniologist, gives the results of his examination 
of nineteen boxes of bones from Amrah, and, though 
asking his readers to suspend their judgment for the 
moment, he seems to be on the whole inclined to believe 
generally in the great antiquity assigned to the tombs 
and their owners by MM. de Morgan and Amélineau. 
M. de Morgan’s book bristles with interesting points, 
but many are unfortunately debateable, and there can 
be no doubt that some of his views will be rejected by 
his fellow-workers. The value of his book consists not 
only in the newness of the facts which he produces, but 
also in the carefulness of his arrangements of them and 
the deductions therefrom; and something is to be said 
for the honesty which he displays in discussing subjects 
with which he is well acquainted, and in leaving those of 
which he has no special knowledge to the investigations 
of experts. 
OUR BOOK SHELF. 
Magnetic Fields of Force. By Prof. H. Ebert. 
lated by Dr. C. V. Burton. Part 1. 
(London: Longmans, 1897.) 
THE author’s preface points out the advantage of in- 
vestigating the different phenomena of magnetism from 
the conceptions of Faraday, which were further developed 
by Maxwell and Helmholtz. Special prominence Is 
given to the principle of the lines of force, the field as 
being the seat of the energy, and the symmetry of the 
eld. 
: Part i. is intended as an introduction to the subject, 
and is quite elementary. The book is divided into two 
sections, of which the first treats of the phenomena of 
magnetism, and the second of the phenomena of the 
galvanic current and electro-magnetism. ies 
The first section deals with the properties of artificial 
magnets, and describes several easy experiments which 
illustrate clearly the various principles. It also contains 
much general information on the magnetic effects which 
are met with in nature. In contrast to the rest of the 
book, there are a few places where the explanations are 
very confusing. Thus, on page 131, the following de- 
finition is given of magnetic induction 7 bheymage 
netic condition is determined by the number of lines 
of force per unit of cross sectional area, the important 
magnitude thus measured being called the magnetic 
induction. In order to arrive at the equation B= 4m I + H 
the usual method of cutting a gap in a uniformly 
Trans- 
Pp. xviil + 297. 
