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on growth is very clear and well balanced ; it is prob- 
ably too early to hope for a critical treatment of the 
metabolic machinery of growth—at present there is 
very little metabolism in this chapter. 
Among the Head-hunters of Formosa. By Janet B. 
Montgomery McGovern. Pp.220+plates. (London: 
T. Fisher Unwin, 1922.) 15s. net. 
AttuoucH Mrs. McGovern’s interesting account of 
the aborigines of Formosa is written for the general 
public rather than the scientific reader, it is welcome 
as a first instalment of the information she acquired 
during her two years’ stay on the island. Our know- 
ledge of these peoples is very defective, and the more 
detailed study which she promises will be awaited 
eagerly. In this book the author draws an attractive 
picture of a people of many virtues, notwithstanding 
their head-hunting proclivities. Their culture and 
social organisation are of considerable interest, not 
the least noteworthy feature being the existence of 
a matriarchate vested in priestesses. Their religion 
consists mainly in reverence for their ancestors, but 
among the Taiyals, whose mountainous country is 
subject to violent rain-storms, the rain-devil is natur- 
ally of much importance. They do not, however, 
propitiate him, but avert his unwelcome attentions 
by a ceremony in which the priestesses, armed with 
knives, engage in what is clearly a combat with the 
spirit. 
The aboriginal tribes show no traces of totemism 
or exogamy, although the marriage of first cousins | 
is strictly prohibited. Their language belongs to the 
Malayan family, and the author considers that the 
affinity to the Indonesian peoples, which has been 
suggested by other writers, is supported by the occur- 
rence of the nose-flute and pile-dwellings among them. 
In this connexion it may be noted that the prominence 
of priestesses in religious ceremonies, the sacred 
character of certain jars, and the significance of birds 
as omens, find a close parallel in the customs of certain 
tribes of Borneo. 
Bureau of Education, India. Occasional Report No. 9. 
The Planning and Fitting up of School Laboratories. 
By M. C. S. Anantapadmanabha Rau. Pp. vii+4o 
+8+18 plates. (Calcutta: Government Printing 
Office, 1921.) 1.4 rupees. 
Works upon the material requirements of laboratories 
are very few, and as this subject is growing in import- 
ance published information is always to be welcomed. 
The first sixteen pages of the report deal with the general 
planning and relation of rooms and the arrangement 
and characters of the fittings they contain. In the 
remarks on construction it is surprising to see ‘‘ brick 
nogged ” partitions recommended as light suspended 
walls ; in this country it has become rare even to 
find such construction in re-modelling buildings. The 
author proceeds to describe the fittings in detail, and 
while he gives a valuable summary every one will not 
agree with all his recommendations ; thus he suggests 
lead for the bottoms of fume cupboards, and that the 
gas jet operating the draught should be placed at the 
top of the ventilating shaft near the exit, which would 
usually be a very inconvenient location. The plates 
which occupy the greater part of the volume give a 
series of good diagrammatic figures of fitting and plans 
NO. 2783, VOL. III] 
NATURE 
[MaRcH 3, 1923 
of rooms, showing how these are laid out. These 
drawings are fully dimensioned and should prove of 
service in designing, though, here again some difference 
of opinion may arise on the use of details ; for example, 
metal handles, indicated for bench drawers, seem open 
to question. These are small criticisms and the volume 
will undoubtedly prove of considerable service. 
A Summer in Greenland. By Prof. A. C. Seward. 
Pp. xiit+t10o+29 plates. (Cambridge: At the 
University Press, 1922.) 7s. net. 
Two months in west Greenland, where he went to 
collect fossil and recent plants in the summer of 1921, 
taught Prof. Seward the fascination of polar regions. 
Every chapter of this charming little book shows 
that the country has cast its spell over him. He does 
not attempt to justify his publication, but no justifica- 
tion is necessary. The book is a welcome addition 
to the literature of polar regions, for very little on 
Greenland has appeared in English in recent years. 
The author deals mainly with the botany and geology 
of the country, but there are some notes on its people 
and history, and a number of excellent illustrations 
and two maps. In the comparison of Arctic and 
Antarctic floras a correction may be made. Prof. 
Seward is mistaken in saying that not a single flowering 
plant has been discovered within the Antarctic Circle. 
The grass Deschampsia antarctica, which he cites from 
lat. 62° S., where, by the way, a true Antarctic climate 
occurs, was found, along with Colobanthus crassifolius, 
in lat. 68° S. in the west coast of Graham Land by the 
French Antarctic expedition in 1909. Another small 
point may be noted. Thule, in lat. 76° 35’ N., on the 
west coast of Greenland, is not the most northerly 
settlement in existence. Even if the Eskimo camp 
of Etah in lat. 78° 20’ N. be passed over, there is the 
large Norwegian coal-mining settlement of Nyaalesund 
in King Bay, Spitsbergen, in lat. 78° 55’ N. 
Stories from the Early World. By R.M. Fleming. Pp. 
156+12 plates. (London: Benn Bros. Ltd., 1922.) 
15s. net. 
THE success which has attended Miss Fleming’s book, 
“ Ancient Tales from Many Lands,” has encouraged her 
to publish a second collection of tales dealing with the 
early world. In an interesting summary of the con- 
clusion Prof. H. J. Fleure tells us that folk tales “ have 
as their basis the interest of men in one another’s ways 
when even neighbour people had very distinct civilisa- 
tions.” These tales cover a wide area and represent 
various phases of ancient life. One from America 
illustrates life before the domestication of animals, but 
recent investigation shows that cultivation is in many 
regions as old as herding. Many stories indicate the 
beginnings of trade and the social value of craftsman- 
ship in the earlier development of settled life. That of 
Creesus suggests the conflict between farmer-fishery in 
the Aigean and the warrior tribes of Media. That of 
Bilkis, Queen of Sheba, shows the Hebrews from the 
point of view of Islam, but Miss Fleming might have 
given the incident when Solomon hears that the Queen’s 
legs were hairy, and forces her to raise her skirts in 
passing over the glass floor of his palace, believed to be 
a river, one incident which has parallels from India, 
strangely omitted in this world-wide survey. But folk 
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