NovEMBER 13, I913]| 
NATURE 317 
ties, and chemical composition. In the other, and 
principal, part the characters, chief occurrences, 
and uses of the principal mineral species are very 
fully described. 
Since the reader for whom the book is intended 
is mainly interested in knowing what each mineral 
is used for, the species are grouped together, not 
-as is customary in modern text-books according 
to their crystallo-chemical relations, but to the 
uses to which they are put, an arrangement which 
has much to commend it in a popular work. Thus 
in the first section we find the ores and the minerals 
resulting from*their weathering, meteorites form- 
ing an appendix to iron; in the second the precious 
stones; in the third the rock-forming minerals, a 
group of extreme importance, though individually 
not often attaining to very prominent size; in the 
third the mineral salts, which includes, besides 
rock-salt, the phosphates, and the minerals supply- 
ing the rare earths, &c., several species left over, 
such as the calcite and barytes groups; and lastly 
we have the organic compounds. Some useful 
hints on the collection and preservation of speci- 
mens are given in an appendix. A valuable feature 
of the book consists in the extensive series of 
coloured plates, on which are depicted as faith- 
fully as the chromo-lithographic process will 
permit some of the finest specimens contained in 
the principal German collections. 
The English translation was entrusted to the 
efficient hands of Mr. L. J. Spencer, of the 
Natural History Museum, and Prof. Brauns was 
fortunate in securing the services of one so well 
qualified for the task. While adhering to the 
made many small additions and alterations which 
render the book of greater value to English 
readers. Since the German edition appeared 
mearly ten years ago, he has introduced more 
‘recent statistics than were given in the original. 
Owing to a change of publishers the English 
edition, which, like the German, was issued in 
parts, was considerably delayed, and was not 
finally published until last year. For that reason 
some of the information—for instance, that re- 
‘garding the carat-weight—is already out of date. 
OUR BOOKSHELF. 
The Golden Bough: a Study in Magic and Reli- 
gion, Third edition. Part vi., The Scapegoat. 
By Prof. J. G. Frazer. Pp. xiv+453. (London: 
Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price ros. net. 
E sixth part of “The Golden Bough” deals 
teristic human failing, the avoidance of responsi- 
larity of the popular ideas and practices in the 
matter of sin-transference, expulsion of evils, 
NO. 2298, VOL. 92] 
general design of the original, Mr. Spencer has. 
bility. The extraordinary prevalence and simi- | 
expiatory sacrifices, and vicarious atonement, as 
shown by Prof. Frazer in a myriad cases from 
China to Peru, is enough to make the social and 
political philosopher despair of humanity. The 
story of “The Scapegoat” depicts the negative 
aspect of representation, which is the dark and 
lurid side of social morality. In his famous de- 
scription of the periodic rage of the people against 
social offenders Macaulay simply illustrates the 
modern form of the savage “expulsion of evils.” 
The idea culminates in the use of the Dying God 
as a scapegoat to free his worshippers from the 
troubles with which life is beset. The author con- 
cludes that “the idea resolves itself into a simple 
confusion between the material and the imma- 
terial, between the real possibility of transferring 
a physical load to other shoulders, and the sup- 
posed possibility of transferring our bodily and 
mental ailments to another who will bear them 
for us.” What was in the previous edition the 
spectacular climax of the exposition, viz., the 
brilliant explanation of the Gospel story of the 
Crucifixion as embodying the ritual of the mock 
king and popular (not to say royal) substitute in 
sin, is relegated to an appendix, as being doubt- 
ful. This is possibly a mistake. Prof. Frazer 
goes out of his way to assert his belief in the 
historicity of Jesus. The occasion demanded an 
examination of the facts. 
An important addition is a careful study of the 
Aztec religion of human sacrifice, the secret lever 
of which has not yet been discerned. It should be 
compared with the auto-da-fé of Christianity. 
Such comparisons are avoided by Prof. Frazer, 
who will not go down to the ultimate depths. 
Another new feature is an extended treatment of 
the use of games as magical processes to change 
the weather, and so forth. Hence the author too 
easily assumes that certain games were originally 
magical rites, which is absurd. 
But the book is a storehouse of social facts, 
sympathetically treated, and invaluable to those 
interested in the development of society and the 
moral law. As an analysis of religious ideas, of 
course, like the other volumes, it is epoch- 
making. A. E. CRaw_Ley. 
Reports from the Laboratory of the Royal College 
of Physicians, Edinburgh. Edited by Dr. G. L. 
Gulland and Dr. James Ritchie. Vol. xii. 
(Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1913.) 
Tuis volume of Reports contains contributions 
of workers in the laboratory of the Royal College 
of Physicians, Edinburgh, during the year 1912, 
and is edited by the Curator, Dr. Gulland, and 
the Superintendent, Professor Ritchie. Anatomy, 
pharmacology, pathology, and bacteriology are the 
branches of medical science represented, and the 
| papers are valuable contributions to science and 
| are evidence of the useful work which is being 
| done in this laboratory. 
With the folklore and priest-craft of that charac- | 
Of the papers of more general interest, we note 
Dr. Gardner’s on soaps and their effects on the 
skin. He concludes that all soaps are more or 
less irritant to the normal skin, particularly the 
cheaper soaps made with cotton-seed and other oils 
