12 NATURE 
[January 6, 1923 

shorter contribution by Mr. Gilbert McIntosh. There 
is also a note on the Garamond Type, with several 
examples of it. The illustrations representing process 
work are, as usual, numerous and very diverse. They 
include a reproduction from an impression of a wood 
engraving by the swelled gelatine method and a 
half-tone direct from Nature. Altogether it is a very 
interesting volume, 
The Psychology of Thought and Feeling : A Conservative 
Interpretation of Results in Modern Psychology. By 
Dr. C. Platt. Pp. x+290. (London: Kegan Paul, 
Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd., 1921.) 7s. 6d. net. 
Tue author’s claim in the sub-title is, on the whole, 
justified. The social and educational bearings of the 
subject are kept in the foreground ; technicalities and 
controversial or metaphysical problems are, for the most 
part,avoided. On these terms, as stated in the preface, 
one is not led to expect more than one finds—a presenta- 
tion that includes much of the newer teaching but does 
not break touch with older methods of treatment. The 
trouble, perhaps, is that if ‘* metaphysical ” problems 
be avoided the result is likely to be an emulsion in which 
the drops do not combine though they may be swallowed 
together. If we elect to follow M. Bergson and call the 
great life-urge the élan vital, the concept of nerve-force 
or neurokyme and that of unconscious cerebration can 
scarcely coalesce therewith ; and if the nerve-force be 
said to leap a microscopic gap at the synapse, and if it 
be also said that at each of these gaps, a choice presents 
itself, the two statements do not seem to be “ meta- 
physically ” in pari materia. ‘The author is doubtless 
not less aware than any of his readers of the difficulties 
that must arise if the more fundamental issues be 
passed over. For the most part he gives a reading of 
the facts which will be found sufficiently free from 
extravagance as to be spoken of as conservative. 
Researches on Cellulose. By C. F. Cross and C. Dorée. 
IV. (1910-1921). (Vol. 4 of the Series “‘ Cross and 
Bevan.”) Pp.x+253. (London: Longmans, Green 
and Co., 1922.) 15s. net. 
“Cross AND BrVAN” are two names inseparably 
connected with our knowledge of cellulose. The 
present volume is a continuation of a series of mono- 
graphs on the subject. Although the properties of 
cellulose are of such immense importance in nearly all 
branches of industry, the complexity of the subject is 
so great that, in spite of a considerable volume of 
valuable research, there are still many obscure regions. 
The authors have brought together the results of 
research carried out by various workers, with helpful 
and constructive criticism. The result is a very useful 
monograph, which will be of great value to workers in 
this field. 
The Psychology of Day-Dreams. By Dr. J. Varendonck. 
With an Introduction by Prof. S, Freud. Pp. 367. 
(London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd.; New 
York : The Macmillan Company, 1921 ‘) 185, net. - 
THERE is much in Dr. Varendonck’s book which will be 
of interest and of value to psychologists not only of the 
newer schools but also to those who are nowadays 
spoken of as “academic.” The central aim is to 
disentangle under distinguishing analysis the part 
NO. 2775, VOL. 111] 
(1) played by “ affective thinking” (or what Prof. F reud 
in the introduction prefers to call “* freely wandering or 
phantastic thinking”) in normal life, from (2) that 
which is played by psychical processes in which a higher 
order of reflective thinking takes some share. To this 
end, day-dreams are discussed with much patience and 
insight. The conclusion reached is that affective think- 
ing may take place in the three levels of consciousness, 
but that unconscious and fore-conscious thinking are ~ 
always affective. Where so much turns on the réle of 
the affect, chapters on its relation to memory, apper- 
ception, ideation, and visualisation, ‘and one on the 
issues of affective thinking, are helpful to an adequate 
grasp of the author’s position, 
The Common Molluscs of South India. By J. Hornell, 
Director of Fisheries, Madras. Report No. 6 of 1921, 
Madras Fisheries Bulletin, vol. xiv., 1922, pp. 97-215. 
(Madras : Government Press.) I rupee. 
Mr. Horne zt has arranged for the preparation of wall- 
cases containing collections of the common species of 
molluscs and crustacea for the use of secondary schools 
in India, and this useful handbook was written primarily 
as a descriptive guide to accompany the case of molluscs, 
but the needs of collectors who take an interest in the 
things they find on the shore have also been kept in 
mind. Mr. Hornell records the external features, the 
bionomics, the changes in form of the shell as growth 
proceeds, the character of the spawn, the use of molluscs 
as food, and the shells, opercula, pearls, etc., as articles 
of commerce. 
The Evolution of Atoms and Isotopes. By W. D. 
Verschoyle. Pp. 40. (London: J. J. Keliher and 
Co,, Ltd., Craven House, Kingsway, 1922.) 1s. 9d. 
THE author of this pamphlet proposes, with the help 
of a bi-polar electron, to explain the evolution of atoms 
and to abolish positive electricity. He has been 
stimulated by the discovery of isotopes to develop 
further a series of numerical relations between atomic 
weights, some of which have already been described 
in the Chemical News. 
An Introduction to Forecasting Weather. By P. R. 
Zealley. Pp. 32. (W. Heffer & Sons, Ltd., Cam- 
bridge ; London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., Ltd., 
1922.) Is. net. , 
THE pamphlet treats the subject of forecasting in an 
elementary manner, and may interest amateur meteor- 
ologists who have receiving sets for radio-telegraphy. 
The author is a technical assistant in the Meteorological 
Office stationed at Shoeburyness, and would be con- 
versant with the official weather publications. 
Ministry of Munitions and Department of Scientific and 
Industrial Research. Technical Records of Ex- 
plosives Supply, 1975-1918. No. 9: Heat Trans- 
mission. Pp. iv+48. (London: H.M. Stationery 
Office, 1922.) 55. net. 
Tuts report embodies in charts and formule the ex- 
periences of the Department of Explosives Supply on 
the transmission of heat to or from fluids flowing along 
pipes under various conditions, and will be found 
useful by engineers. 
