Aug. 4, 1870] 
NATURE 
273 
Physics and Meteorology” fills an English reader. Ina 
volume which, when completed, is to contain scmething 
less than 6co pages, we have an account of the funda- 
mental phenomena of natural philosophy, which is 
at once readable and scientific. It is published at 
6s., is illustrated with 600 admirable engravings, and 
is to be accompanied by a collection of examples 
which, with the chapter on heat, will make up the re- 
mainder of the book. It is just such another treatise— 
as copious and accurate, and at the same time as clear 
and concise— that is wanted in teaching the elements of 
natural philosophy in England, There are a huncred 
schools which are compelled to put up with books twice 
as big as boys care to read or carry, which would intro- 
duce such a book as this at once. 
The great difficulty which has to be faced and oyer- 
come in an elementary treatise of the kind is well stated 
by Professor Miiller in the preface. “The facts of phys:cal 
science ought never to be presented to the pupil in a mere 
dogmatic fashion, as acquired results. It is essential that 
he should ccmprehend the mode in which tkey have becn 
deduced, and grasp the connection between the facts thcm- 
selves and their systematic presentation in a logical systcm, 
which eyhibits their mutual relations, Even in an elemen- 
tary treatise like the present the reader ought to find an 
introcuction to the processes of thinking and reascning 
which are employed in physics, and should see every- 
where examples and applications of the inductive method,” 
It is of course impossible for the author within his limits 
to give more than the briefest account of the main facts 
of the physical sciences, We turn, for instance, to the 
subject of thermo-electricity, the article on which, we are 
told in the preface, has been entirely re-written for this 
tenth edition, It contains just two pages. Nevertheless 
there is a gcod account of the fundamental law, and illus- 
trations which enable the reader to ccmprehend in a very 
satisfactory way the use of the thermo-pile. There follow 
two pages more on animal electricity, the bulk of which 
is deyoted to an account of the familiar electric actions 
exercised by certain fish, with illustrations showing the 
nature of the organs to which that action is cue. The 
article closes with a few lines indicating the results 
obtained by Nobili and Du Bois Raymond in cenfirma- 
tion of the ideas of Galvani. These brief summaries of 
subjects could scarcely fail to be obscure were it not for 
the abundant Ciagrams which serve as texts for them, 
The book before us is the condensed quintessence of 
Dr. Miiller’s well-known larger book on the same subject, 
which travels over the same ground, giving abcut four 
times as much space, and nearly four times as many 
Ulustrations. It is obvious, of course, what an enormcus 
advantage it must be, in a task which is, of necessity, 
one of great difficulty and discretion—that of saying the 
very least which is requisite for clearness—to have pre- 
viously arranged the subjects treated in a manner which 
allows a distinct perception of their relative importance, 
Without the larger book, this little text-bock could scarcely 
have been what it is. We hope to sce some day—the 
sooner the better—a comprehensive English treatise on 
Natural Philosophy which will take the place of Miiller’s 
large book in Germany, appealing to mathematics as little 
as it is possible to do without wearisome circumlocution, 
sufficiently simple to be accessible to any student who has 
a sericus purpose, and at the same time scientifically 
accurate. From such a trectise it would ke easy to ccn- 
dense ore which should be for English schools what Prof. 
Miiller’s bock is fer schools in Germany. It would ke 
extremely difficu%t, in any other way, to put into forty-five 
Fages an account of the theory of sound, and its applica- 
tions, so full and so simple as that which we find here. 
Everything is preserved in its proper proportions, and the 
reader rises from its perusal, not of course imagining that 
he knows the subject fully, but with a clear apprehension 
of the fundamental ideas involved, of the main questiors 
of difficulty in the inquiry, and of the more recent dis- 
coveries which have enlarged the borders of the science. 
He is left, at the end of the book, with his curiosity 
stimulated, and not destroyed. If his after occupaticrs 
give him sufficient leisure, the boy who has mastered this 
text-book at school will be certain to ask for more, 
WILLIAM JACK 
OUR BOOK SHELF 
Mucrescepical Menifulation. By W.T, Suffolk, F.R.M.S. 
(Gillman, 1870.) 
Tuis little book is the substance of a course of instruc- 
tion given Ly Mr. Suffolk in the spring to members of 
the Quekett Club. It will be useful to those persons who 
amuse themselves with microsccpes, and do not care to 
purchase the scientific treatises of Dr. Carpenter or Dr. 
Beale. There is a chapter for the very youngest begin- 
ner cn the various paits of an English ccmpcund micrc- 
scope and their uses; then we have hints about tke 
cutting of glass and the old directions as to making cells ; 
mounting objects in balsam and in fluid is next dealt 
with—the old, old routine methods being detailed once 
again, with an allusion to Dr. Bastian’s process with ber- 
zine, Itisa pity that Mr. Suffolk has not made himsef 
acquainted with some of the many methods of mcunting 
and preparing objects in use on the Continent, which ke 
might have pickcd up from Stricke1’s handbock, Frey’s 
work, or other similar treatises. The best chapter in the 
book is that on polarised light, because it deals with a 
subject rather slightcd in other works of this kind, in a 
clear and intelligent manner, We were not, however, 
prepared for the following in a work on microscopical 
manipulation :—“ The undulatory motion of light would 
seem to be expressed with considerable clearness in tle 
Ist chapter of Genesis, when read in the original Hebiew, 
which, in common with the other languages of the same 
family, is remarkable for the numerous i1flexions of its 
verb, which gives it a delicacy and precision of expres- 
sion unattainable in Western languages.” Mr, Suffolk is 
guite right in considcring that more attention should be 
paid to the use of polarised light as demonstrating struc- 
ture, than has been done hitherto, A necessary stcp 
towards this is that microscopists should properly under- 
stand what are the conditions of production of colour 
with the polariscope, and not be content with the 
mere sight of a pretty display, This little book of 
Mr, Suffolk’s will not do much, we fear, to conyert 
what we may call microscopical play into microscopical 
science. Its receipts and directions are such as will be 
useful to the man who cares merely to make a series of 
pretty slides for exhibition to his friends, but do not help 
the student wishing to add to the storehouse of science. 
Nothing is said of the manner of studying living objects, 
living cells, living cilia, living protoplasm; nor co we 
find an aliusion to the use of chromic acid, section instru- 
ments, methods of cmbedding, of gold and si.ver staining, 
or other processes important to a working microscopist. 
The gold and silver-staining methods might have been 
