SEPTEMBER 14, 1916] 
NATURE 
27 
‘trace of any kind that it had ever existed. There 
is no mention of Nestorianism in the Chinese 
dynastic histories; no mention of it in any of the 
‘contemporary or later Chinese authors whose 
writings have covered every department of litera- 
ture. Nor should we now know anything of the 
early advent of Christianity in China but for an 
vextraordinary accident. In 1625 it came to the 
notice of Catholic missionaries that the tablet 
above described, and of which all knowledge had 
long been lost, had been unearthed somewhere 
near the old capital, at which we now know from 
‘the tablet that Christianity had flourished as above 
stated. The tablet was denounced as a Jesuit 
forgery by Voltaire and others, but for a long 
‘time there has not been the slightest doubt of its 
genuineness, and this point is somewhat laboured 
by Prof. Saeki, who thinks that it “has been pre- 
‘served by the Divine Providence to reveal to us 
the true condition of the spiritual side” of China 
between a.p. 618 and go7. 
Prof. Saeki’s work is divided into three parts. 
The first part gives a general history of Nes- 
torianism, especially in relation to the Far East, 
and the full story of the tablet, not omitting the 
attempt of Mr. Frits Holm in 1907 to carry it 
away to America. This enterprising traveller had 
‘to be content with a replica, now in the Metro- 
politan Museum, New York. Prof. Saeki men- 
tions a second replica, ‘which stands to-day at 
the top of Mt. Koyd, the Holy Land of Japan,” 
where, we are told, “it was dedicated, with full 
Buddhist ceremonial, on Sunday, October 3, 
Igit. ; 
The second part of the book—the translation 
of the inscription—is the least satisfactory, though 
it is just there that improvement would be most 
welcome. A single example must suffice. In the 
description of the Messiah we read (p. 164): 
“Hanging up the bright Sun, He swept away the 
abodes of darkness.” This, of course, is unin- 
telligible. The Chinese text means, “He was 
hung up, a bright sun, in order to prevail against 
the gates of hell ”—a light to “lighten our dark- 
ness,” alluding to the Crucifixion. 
The notes on the text which form the third 
part are interesting and in many cases valuable. 
OUR BOOKSHELF, 
Preservatives and Other. Chemicals in Foods: 
Their Use and Abuse. By Prof. Otto Folin. 
Pp. 60. (Cambridge: Mass. Harvard Univer- 
sity Press. London: Oxford University Press, 
1914.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 
Pror. Fouin’s lecture is a judicious and temper- 
ately expressed statement of the arguments for 
and against the use of preservatives in foods, but 
it adds little or nothing to our knowledge, and will 
scarcely tend towards forming a sound public 
pinion. He who seeks for an ex cathedra state- 
tment whether the addition of “chemicals” should 
be permitted to food at all, and if so, what alone 
‘should be tolerated, will find nothing in the way 
‘of definite pronouncement and not much in the 
way of light or leading. The author apparently 
NO. 2446, VOL. 98] 
halts between two opinions. He is constrained to 
admit that modern conditions of food supply would 
seem to require the use of such substances. They 
have been forced upon the community as a com- 
mercial necessity, and the consumer is powerless 
to resist. 
The uncertain attitude of the author, however 
disappointing it may be to his readers, is at least 
intelligible. The fact is, no one is in a position to 
dogmatise on the subject, for as regards certain 
of the chemical products which are capable of 
retarding or preventing the decomposition of: ali- 
mentary substances we have no positive know- 
ledge concerning their action on the economy. 
Nor is it easy to obtain this knowledge. The 
usual argument that if they retard or prevent the 
action of the enzymes or bacteria which are con- 
cerned in the decomposition or decay of food they 
will equally inhibit the action of those agencies in 
effecting its digestion, begs the question and is 
unsound. Age, idiosyncrasy, condition of health, 
and a number of other circumstances affect the 
matter : what is toxic to one person is harmless to 
another. This is true of food itself, even in the 
absence of all preservatives. The aphorism of 
caveat emptor affords little comfort to the con- 
sumer, but in the present condition of matters it is 
all that can be offered him; yet it is at least due 
to him to know whether the food he buys is “ pre- 
served,” and if so, what preservative and how 
much of it has been employed. But this is pre- 
cisely the kind of information that purveyors of 
food decline to supply except under pressure of 
legal pains and _ penalties. 
The Bearings of Modern Psychology on Educa- 
tional Theory and Practice. By Christabel M. 
Meredith. Pp. 140. (Constable and Co., Ltd., 
1916.) Price 1s. 6d. net. 
Tue author’s aim has ‘been “to give a- brief 
account of some portions of recent psychological 
work which have had and are likely to have a 
special influence on education.” Part i. of the 
little book is devoted mainly to genetic psycho- 
logy, part ii. to certain special observational and 
experimental studies. Within her limits Mrs. 
Meredith has done distinctly useful work, choosing 
her topics with discretion and treating them in a 
competent and serviceable way. Her sketch of 
the child’s mental development is based largely 
upon the psychological work of McDougall and 
Shand, whose ideas she has used skilfully in inter- 
preting the outstanding phenomena of the nursery, 
the playground, and the class-room, with all of 
which she shows a sound first-hand familiarity. 
In a well-written chapter on ‘Experiment in 
Education”’ she brings out, by apt illustrations, 
the complexity of the problems which the labora- 
tory method has to face, showing why its results 
must always. be used with Caution and at the same 
time that they are indispensable to progress. The 
final chapter on adolescence contains wisdom for 
parents as well as for teachers.. The omission, in 
so slight a treatise, of a short list of books for 
further reading is a defect which should be 
remedied in a second edition. 
