March i, 1906] 



NA TURE 



411 



SCIENCE IN ARCH.EOLOGY. 

 Manuel dc Recherches prehistoriques. Issued by the 

 Soetete pr<§historique de France. Pp. 332 ; with 

 205 figures and 4 plates. (Paris : Schleicher 

 Freres, editeurs, 1906.) Price 8 francs. 



LAST year an eminent English Egyptologist pub- 

 lished a handbook for excavators, with especial 

 reference to Egypt, and remarked in his preface that 

 ■' a complete archaeological training would require a 

 full knowledge of history and art, a fair use of 

 languages, and a working familiarity with many 

 sciences." The present work embraces a large 

 number of subjects that should be familiar to the prac- 

 tical archaeologist, especially if engaged in field-work 

 on French soil. 



The manual is issued by the Prehistoric Society of 

 France, and has been written by several of its lead- 

 ing members. Taken in conjunction with the first 

 congress of the society, held in the autumn at 

 Perigueux, it indicates a widespread interest in the 

 remote past as represented by Hint implements, cave 

 deposits, dolmens, and Gaulish burials. Of recent 

 years, more and more emphasis has been laid on the 

 need for systematic excavation as opposed to hap- 

 hazard relic-hunting- by amateurs; and this publica- 

 tion is intended, not only to assist the explorer in his 

 search for records of the past, but also to render them 

 accessible and self-explanatory when found. Private 

 interest and personal feeling always stand in the way 

 of corporate action in such investigations, but much 

 would be gained if the advice contained in this manual 

 were followed by the depredator, if only for his own 

 ends. To put it on the lowest ground, relics 

 accurately labelled and located gain enormously, not 

 only in scientific, but also in market value; and if 

 archasologv is to justify its claim to be regarded as a 

 science, scientific exploration must be the rule, and 

 not the rare exception. 



The chapters are all much compressed, and none 

 can be singled out as more important than another. 

 There are instructions for all the ordinary branches 

 of exploration in a most compact form ; but in spite 

 of the French tradition, we venture to think that the 

 volume would have been even more practical if pub- 

 lished in a light but stout binding. A handbook in a 

 paper wrapper is hardly fit for use in the field. Atten- 

 tion may be directed to the method of hardening and 

 preserving skeletons and other bones by means of 

 silicate of potash, and to the practical advantages of 

 the process advocated for preserving iron. This metal 

 is the scourge of museum curators, and neither the 

 soda nor paraffin treatment has proved altogether 

 successful. The simpler, and apparently the more 

 satisfactory, method is to allow the metal to drv for 

 several hours after brushing in water, and then to 

 heat it to a dull red; if allowed to cool slowly, 

 the object should then be rust-proof, and the surface 

 1 lean and firm. 



One of the most useful features of the manual is 



the table for computing the height of a subject from 



various bones of the skeleton ; this method would no 



doubt greatly reduce the number of 7-feet skeletons 



NO. 1896, VOL. 73] 



found even in this country. Another point on which 

 emphasis is laid is the desirability of photographing 

 dolmens, menhirs, and other antiquities of the kind 

 precisely from the four cardinal points; picturesque 

 views are dear to the ordinary photographer, but are 

 of little value for purposes of comparison. On this 

 point a caution should have been given as to the 

 difference between the true and magnetic north, as 

 accurate compass bearings of megalithic monuments 

 may often prove of considerable importance. 



The student of prehistoric archeology in France and 

 elsewhere will be glad to find the various classifi- 

 cations of the Stone age brought together, even if no 

 attempt is made to coordinate them. The most 

 important are those of Mortillet, Piette, Salmon, 

 Boule, and Rutot, and in the last mentioned occurs 

 (as occasionally elsewhere) the irritating term " Forest 

 Cromer bed." Among the few cases where no scale 

 is indicated for the illustrations is that of the 

 Pressigny nucleus (Fig. 74); the extraordinary size of 

 these flints ought surely to have been stated. Finally, 

 it is somewhat of a shock to the orthodox to find the 

 following item in the glossary at the end : — " Bulbe 

 dc percussion. — Mot impropre (voir Conchoide). " 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Smoke Abatement : a Manual for the Use of Manu- 

 facturers, Inspectors, Medical Officers of Health, 

 Engineers, and Others. By William Nicholson. 

 Pp. xiii + 256. (London: Charles Griffin and Co., 

 Ltd.) Price 6s. net. 

 The author of this handbook is chief inspector to the 

 Sheffield Corporation, and seems to have an extensive 

 acquaintance with the various enactments that have 

 been passed in this and other countries with a view 

 to ameliorate one of the greatest nuisances of modern 

 times, and devotes more than a third of the 250 

 pages the book contains to their recital. This is 

 undoubtedly useful to those desiring to make them- 

 selves acquainted with the legal aspects of the case, 

 but scarcely justifies the subtitle of a " practical 

 handbook," as the author's idea of the nature of 

 smoke is of a most delightfully rudimentary character, 

 and his power, therefore, of prescribing remedies 

 necessarily limited. On searching the book for 

 a clear definition of smoke and a description of the 

 constituents that go to build it up, we find on p. 12 

 the following : — " Nature of the Nuisance — Smoke 

 consists of minute particles of carbon together with 

 a sticky tarry matter which settles and sticks to every- 

 thing it comes in contact with. It is dirt. Lord 

 Palmerston's definition of dirt from a health point of 

 view is ' Matter in the wrong place,' and carbon or 

 coal in the atmosphere is matter in the wrong place." 

 One of the chief remedies suggested by Mr. Nichol- 

 son is that the Sanitary Institute should now deal 

 with the question, and arrange for courses of lectures 

 on the subjects of " Smoke and the Injury there- 

 from," " The Causes of Smoke," and " The Practical 

 Prevention of Smoke," after which examinations 

 should be held, and " certificates of competency given 

 to all who satisfy the examiners." The result of this 

 is foreshadowed by the author as follows : — 



" If such facilities were offered, hundreds of 

 engineers and others would avail themselves of them, 

 and would not rest satisfied until they had procured 

 a smoke inspector's certificate, which would become 

 as popular and as valuable as the sanitary inspector's 



