354 
NATURE 
(AucusT 17, 1899 
of the combination of “the pleasure of intense stimulus ” 
and the ‘pleasure of conflict” in our enjoyment of a 
tragedy, are models of delicate zsthetic analysis. The 
author’s attitude towards the various current theories of 
“play” is eminently judicious. As he well points out, 
both the “surplus activity” theory and the “recre- 
ation” theory are one-sided, the former doing less than 
justice to the pastimes of adults, the latter to those of 
children. His own view that play must be regarded by 
the biologist primarily as the great educator and per- 
fecter of imperfect instincts has been most nearly ap- 
proached by Prof. Baldwin. Prof. Groos’s treatment of 
the sociclogical aspects of “play,” both as the child’s 
earliest form of experimentation and as the earliest 
school of obedience to authority, should prove useful to 
students of ethics as well as to professed sociologists. 
The admirable literary style of the book, no less than 
the interest of its contents, should recommend it to all 
persons of general culture who care for anthropological 
studies. ened 
Physique et Chimie Viticoles. By A. de Saporta. Pp. iv 
+ 300. (Paris: G. Carré and C. Naud, 1899 ) 
IN the preface to this book, contributed by M. P. P. 
Dehérain, the immense importance of the vine culture 
to France is pointed out, the wine from the department 
of Hérault alone having in 1897 a value of 212,000,000 
francs.’ The questions of suitability of soil, of manures, 
of the remedies against the many diseases of the vine, 
of fermentation, and preservation of wine all depend 
largely upon simple chemical and physical consider- 
ations ; hence arises the necessity for such a work as 
the present, dealing with the physics and chemistry of 
vine culture and wine production. Of the eight 
chapters composing the book, the first two are pre- 
liminary, giving a very brief outline of the atomic theory 
and the measuring instruments used in the laboratory. 
The third chapter deals with the soil, especial attention 
being directed to the use of various insecticides, and 
to the causes of vine disease generally residing in the 
soil. In the third chapter, on account of the importance 
of the estimation of calcium carbonate in the soil, 
numerous calcimeters are described, some of consider- 
able and apparently unnecessary complexity, as, for 
example, the self-registering calcimeter of Houdaille. 
The description of the properties of manures is lucid, and 
their analysis is treated in a simple manner. Chapter 
vi., dealing with the remedies for vine diseases, is, on 
account of the evident practical knowledge of the author, 
the most valuable portion of the book. The number of 
remedies that have been invoked to combat mildew, 
black rot, chlorosis, phylloxera, and other vine diseases, 
is so great as to render their classification and intelligent 
use difficult. Especial attention is here directed to the 
use of carbon bisulphide, ferrous sulphate, sulphur, 
copper sulphate and acetate, and mercury salts, the last- 
named being emphatically condemned in spite of their un- 
doubted efficacy in combating fungoid diseases. The 
concluding chapters deal briefly with the fermentation of 
the grape, analysis of the wine, and the diseases to 
which it is liable. The book will be of great practical 
service to vine growers. 
Remy Perrier. 
Cours Elémentaitre de Zoologte. Par 
o = 
Masson et Cie., 
Pp. 734. 697 illustrations.. (Paris: 
1899.) 
THIS work contains a great deal in brief that is to be 
found in its predecessor, the authors ‘“ Eléments 
d’Anatomie Comparée,” published in 1893. In some 
respects it may be said to be a “Grundriss” to that 
volume, but, in contradistinction to it, the Vertebrata are 
here treated on a greater equality with the Invertebrata, 
and the order of presentation is more rational and in 
accordance with precedent. For example, the Cheetopod 
NO. 1555, VOL. 60] 
Worms are dealt with before the Arthropods, the in- 
version of this order being a notorious feature of the 
“Eléments.” Chapter i. is devoted to broad principles 
and definitions, Chapter ii. to the elements of histology, 
and Chapter iii. to the classification of the metazoa— 
177 pp. in all. Tables of affinity and structural relation- 
ship are here and there given, and the 565 remaining 
pages of the work are devoted to a systematic con- 
sideration of each of the greater groups of animal forms 
in an ascending order, the Echinoderms, Rotifers, 
Polyzoa, and Brachiopods being taken after the Coelent- 
erates and before the Leeches and Worms. Some of the 
groups receive but scanty treatment, meagre and wholly — 
Insufficient, and throughout the work the author has 
conspicuously neglected the rendering clear the extremes 
of modification of the great groups, which we consider 
should be an indispensable feature of an elementary 
text-book on organic forms that shall do justice to our 
present knowledge. In dealing with such an assemblage 
as the Tunicata, where octoradiate, valved, stalked, and 
many other well-known forms occur, a great opportunity 
has in this way been lost, and the same may be said of 
the author’s treatment of the Bryozoa. 
The illustrations are for the most part good and clear ; 
some of the new ones are admirable, and we congratulate 
the author upon such as his aortic arch series (p. 602), 
which are the most accurate and up to date of any text- 
book set yet published. They are sure to be popular 
and reproduced ad nauseam. But why that old night- 
mare the Cuvier’s “ Chimera” (Fig. 589), a badly drawn 
Chimera with a Callorhynchus tail! Surely the time 
has come when this and other persistent atrocities of 
our text-books, which have so long offended, should be 
condemned. 
A really sound elementary treatise on zoology has long 
been a desideratum, and the present work is the outcome 
of a commendable attempt to supply the need. Though 
desperately thin in parts it is up to date in its leading 
themes, well arranged, and written in a good easy style, 
and it may be safely recommended as trustworthy so far 
as it goes. 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 
pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. 
No notice is taken of anonymous communications. | 
Thermometric Scales for Meteorological Use. 
IN the course of some recent work on the meteorology of 
Ben Nevis, which involved extensive extracting and computing 
work, I have again had forcibly impressed on me the great ad- 
vantage which Fahrenheit’s thermometer has over that of 
Celsius for meteorological use, especially in temperate regions. 
In chemistry and physics the range of temperature covered is 
so great that Celsius’ scale, which is now universally used, 
adequately meets every case. The size of the degree and the 
change of sign at the melting point of ice do not cause any in- 
convenience in the laboratory. . It is otherwise in the meteor- 
ological observatory. There the range of temperature dealt 
with is very restricted, and the Celsius degree is too large, while 
the change of sign in the middle of the working part of the 
scale is simply intolerable. The latter peculiarity is the 
fruitful introducer of error into both the observations and the 
reductions, and besides it greatly increases the fatigue of both 
classes of work. 
In view of the agitation to abolish the use of Fahrenheit’s 
scale, and to replace it universally by that of Celsius, it may 
not be inopportune to direct attention to some of the advantages 
in securing accuracy and in relieving labour which Fahrenheit’s 
scale offers over that of Celsius when used for meteorological 
purposes. 
In tropical countries it matters little whether one scale or the 
other is used, except that the size of Fahrenheit’s degree is much 
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