492 
NATURE 
[APRIL 14, 1923 

the lamas, and by the severity with which he punished 
any ill-conduct by his own soldiers. During his rule 
the Chinese position in Tibet was secure. When the 
Manchu Dynasty was tottering he was recalled east- 
ward and made Viceroy of Szechuan. He was executed 
in Cheng-fu, the capital of that province, by the 
revolutionists in 1911, after a heroic effort to maintain 
the old government. The author fully recognises the 
genius of Chao-erh-feng, whom he describes as “ one 
of China’s greatest Empire builders,” and says that 
“with him passed away Chinese ascendancy over 
Tibet.” He adds that Chao-erh-feng’s justice and fair 
dealing are still remembered. This tribute to the 
great Chinese administrator is the more weighty as 
the author’s sympathies are rather pro-Tibetan. 
After Chao-erh-feng’s death Chinese rule in Tibet 
promptly collapsed. The Tibetans in 1912-13 re- 
covered most of the lost country, and after a five 
years’ truce resumed their eastward advance in 1918. 
There was then no Chinese force available for the 
defence of Western China, but there can be little doubt 
that if the Tibetans had seized some of the territory 
they coveted, the Chinese would reconquer it as soon 
as the internal difficulties in China are smoothed down. 
To avoid a prolonged war between Tibet and China, 
the British Government used its influence to secure a 
peaceful settlement. Mr. Eric Teichmann, then the 
British Consul at Ta-tsien-lu, acted as the local mediator, 
and in this volume he tells the story of the Tibeto- 
Chinese war and negotiations, and describes the 
journeys he made during his efforts to arrange peace. 
By great tact and patience he persuaded both sides 
to accept a temporary arrangement which may be 
ultimately adopted without loss of prestige to either 
side. He induced them to revert to the frontier which 
had been recognised from 1727-1905. During these 
negotiations Mr. Teichmann had exceptional oppor- 
tunities for travel in unknown parts of Eastern Tibet. 
He is an enthusiastic and capable geographer, and 
made the best of his chances. The volume in which 
he records his experiences and observations will remain 
one of the standard works on the geography of East 
Central Asia. 
The district including most of his routes lies north 
of the Ta-shueh-shan or Great Snow Mountains, which 
rise on the northern side of the famous road from 
China to Lhasa. From the foot of these mountains 
extends a vast tract of down country about 13,000 ft. 
above sea level ; it is dissected by valleys from 2000 to 
3000 ft. deep, and rises into high snow-covered ranges 
of which the heights and relations are unknown. 
Mr. Coales, the author’s predecessor at Ta-tsien-lu, has 
shown that the country is largely composed of red 
sandstone and limestone. This view is confirmed by 
NO. 2789, VOL. 111] 

Mr. Teichmann ; but there is no evidence as to which 
of four possible series this limestone belongs, and 
without further information as to the geological 
structure and trend of the snow-capped mountains, 
the fundamental structure of, the country remains 
uncertain. Mr. Teichmann’s careful observations are 
the more useful owing to the excellent index. There 
are numerous photographs, a series of seven sketch 
maps, and a large map of Eastern Tibet reprinted from 
the Geographical Journal. 
jeeWeee 

Hereditary Diseases of the Eye. 
University of London: Francis Galton Laboratory 
for National Eugenics. Eugenics Laboratory 
Memoirs, 21. The Treasury of Human Inheritance. 
Vol. II.: Anomalies and Diseases of the Eye. 
Nettleship Memorial Volume. Part I.: Retinitis 
pigmentosa and allied diseases ; Congenital station- 
ary night-blindness ; Glioma retine. By Julia Bell. 
With a Memoir of Edward Nettleship by Dr. 
J. B. Lawford. Pp. xv+123+26 plates. (Cam- 
bridge: At the University Press, 1922.) 45s. net. 
LL students of genetics will welcome the resump- 
tion of publication of “‘ The Treasury of Human 
Inheritance,”’ interrupted, like so many other scientific 
researches, by the War. Prof. Karl Pearson has now 
been able to issue Part I. of the Nettleship Memorial 
Volume, devoted to retinitis pigmentosa and allied 
diseases, congenital stationary night-blindness, and 
glioma retine. The report on and pedigrees of these 
diseases is preceded by a memoir of Edward Nettleship, 
written by his old colleague, Dr. J. B. Lawford. Nettle- 
ship was a fine example of the combination of clinician 
and researcher, which, to the honour of British medicine, 
has been frequent in this country and perhaps especi- 
ally frequent in the department of ophthalmology. 
Dr. Lawford has well brought out Edward Nettleship’s 
sterling qualities, which added lustre to a family dis- 
tinguished in the fields of pure scholarship and philo- 
sophy. Nettleship possessed, to a very eminent degree, 
the patience, powers of observation, and natural 
sagacity which are essential to success in the investiga- 
tion of problems of inheritance. His career adds one 
more to the numerous proofs that arduous medical 
practice is no barrier to distinguished success in pure 
science. 
The composition of the work was entrusted to Dr. 
Julia Bell, who has acquitted herself admirably. The 
discussion of the genealogical material is preceded in 
each case by an historical and anatomical account 
of the anomaly in question which, while scientifically 
adequate and strictly impartial, is intelligible to the 
