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NATURE 
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[Ocroser 5, 1916 
Mind and Health Series. The Influence of Joy. | 
By George Van Ness Dearborn. Pp. xviii+ 
223. (London: William Heinemann, 1916.) 
Price 5s. net. 
Pror. Paviov of Petrograd has shown in famous 
experiments that digestion is affected favourably 
or unfavourably by emotional conditions, and his 
work has been followed by Cannon, Carlson, 
Crile, and others. The author of this volume has 
studied the influence of joy on blood pressure, and 
has devoted some attention to the psycho-biology 
of the emotions. His thesis is that joy is an 
important factor in the health of the body, and 
his illustrations refer to the influence of joy (1) in 
stimulating secretion, the movements of the food | 
canal, and the process of absorption; (2) on the 
circulation; and (3) on the general integrative 
function of the nervous system. 
The evidence given as to the influence of joy 
on secretion and blood pressure is more con- 
vincing than that under the third head. Much 
attention is given to the influence of emotion on 
the secretion of adrenalin and all that follows 
even a slight increase in the amount of that 
powerful substance. ; 
The author writes with enthusiasm and 
occasionally with exuberance, but it is with good 
science that he confirms the good sense of the 
cheerful-minded in all ages, who have realised 
that “‘a merry heart is the life of the flesh.” 
There is much salutary counsel in what Prof. 
Dearborn has to say regarding the cultivation of 
the will to be glad, and he has made a very 
useful contribution to psycho-biology. 
Manua! of Russian Commercial Correspondence. 
By Mark Sieff. Pp. xx+232. (London: Kegan 
Paul,, Trench and Co:, Ltd:, 1916.) Price 
3s. 6d. net. 
Tus is a welcome addition to the student’s 
library. Admirably qualified for the task, the 
author has compiled a veritable multum in parvo, 
and the student who masters its contents will have 
little to apprehend when called upon to deal with 
Russian correspondence. A valuable feature is 
the section, modelled on the plan adopted by 
N. A. Blatov in his “Manual of Russian Com- 
mercial Correspondence,” setting forth with ad- 
mirable clearness the general plan on which letters 
on various subjects should be constructed. It 
constitutes a lesson in orderly arrangement and 
concise statement which might be profitably 
studied by correspondents in any language. 
Where so much is excellent it seems almost hyper- 
critical to point out that the English phraseology 
is in places somewhat cumbersome and might 
with advantage be simplified, and also that here 
and there the English idiom is not quite correct. 
But these are minor blemishes which in no way 
detract from the utility of the work. As it is one 
thing to read print and a very different matter to 
decipher handwriting, we would suggest that it 
might be of assistance to students if a future 
edition contained a few facsimile specimens of 
actual Russian letters. 
NO. 2449, VOL. 98] 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 
[The Editor does nut hold himself responsible for 
Opinions expressed 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.] 
Optical Deterioration of the Atmosphere in July and 
. August, 1916. 
Dr. Maurer, director of the Swiss Federal Meteoro- 
logical Institute, has forwarded to me a note on the 
optical deterioration of the atmosphere noticed in the 
Alps in the summer which has just passed. At his 
request I enclose a translation of his note, as the sub- 
ject is likely to interest your readers. - 
Napier SHAW. 
Meteorological Office, South Kensington, 
London, S.W., September 21. 
- Remarkable optical deterioration of the atmosphere 
became apparent 1n the Swiss Alps during tne last ten 
days of Jury by the persistentiy abnormal magnitude and 
unusual intensity of the bright patch round the sun, 
to which the name aureole is sometimes assigned. 
Observations in previous years have established a well- — 
defined minimum during the summer months, both in 
the diameter and the intensity of the solar aureole, 
but during the present year, trom July 23 until the 
middle of August, the diameter generally attained 120° 
to 130°, and on August 25 even 140°, with relatively 
great intensity. Abnormal extension of the aureole 
was also observed after July 21 at high levels on the 
Alps, above 3000 metres, and a true brown Bishop’s- 
ring was seen on August 3-4 on the high peaks of the 
Upper Engadine. 
On August 6 twilight phenomena were very ab- 
normal. ‘The ‘purple light’’ was entirely absent; the 
westerly earth-shadow was very indefinite, and the 
eastern. twilight-arch of the zodiacal light was 
similarly affected. The western sky, at first of a 
homogeneous pale yellow colour, showed a peculiar 
cirrus-like structure for some time after sunset. At 
first the stratification was strictly horizontal, but later. 
on it appeared undulating, or in flaky form. It did 
not disappear until darkness set in. Similar pheno- 
mena were observed in 1883-4, 19c2-3, and 1912, in 
connection with the much-discussed optical deteriora- 
tion of the atmosphere in these years. After the end 
of July this remarkable cirrus-like layer could be seen 
best in the higher Alpine regions, but a bright “purple — 
light’? was not seen there either in July or August. The 
cause of the deterioration is for the time being still in 
doubt. Up to the present no reports of volcanic erup- 
tions have come to hand from any part of the globe. 
Zurich, September. 
Science in Education. : 
In reply to “ F.R.S.; F.B.A.” (Nature, September 
28, p. 69), may I express the hope that, whatever may 
be the custom in France, those who discuss the place 
of science in education, when they say science will 
mean science, and not ‘‘ Egyptology, classical archao- 
logy, history, art, linguistics, Indics, Sinics, Hellenics, 
philology (Latin and Celtic), French language and 
literature, Italian, Spanish, English, German, law, and 
economics’? No one wants to deny that the study of 
man holds as large a place as the study of Nature. 
Man has never yet tired of studying himself, and needs 
little encouragement to continue doing so. But the 
progress of the modern world is due to the fact that 
an increasing number of minds have escaped the 
vicious circle of these introspective examinations and 
begun. to study the realities of external Nature. \ 
