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NATURE 
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and Northumberland Coalfield contain some revisions 
SS tag and several new forms are mentioned. 
of 
we suggest that the printing of the titles of such 
_ papers on the cover of the “Summary of Progress” 
_ would do much to bring the publication into line with 
_ the convenient bulletins of the United States Geological 
Survey ? Gi A, Jos. 
oa) ant. 27 : 
Comparative Ethnographical Studies, 5: Deductions 
suggested by the Geographical Distribution of some 
Post-Columbian Words used by the Indians of S. 
America. By Erland Nordenskiold. Pp. xiv +176. 
(London: Oxford University Press, 1922.) 18s. 6d. 
net. 
_ Tue fifth volume of Baron Nordenskiold’s valuable 
_ series of Comparative Ethnographical Studies deals 
with the distribution of words used by the Indians for 
certain post-Columbian elements in their culture— 
_ the domestic fowl, horses and cattle, the banana, iron, 
firearms, scissors—and certain partly post-Columbian 
elements—European knives, needles, and fish-hooks. 
Of these words some are of Spanish or Portuguese 
derivation, others are of native invention and are 
onomatopceic, as sometimes for the fowl, or purely 
descriptive. 
The author’s main interest lies in the historical 
_ deductions to be drawn from the distribution of these 
words. It affords clear evidence, not only of the course 
of the diffusion of culture, but also of trade routes and 
of tribal migrations. In many instances, confirmation 
is afforded by comparison with the accounts of the 
early chroniclers. It is interesting to note that 
European culture elements had reached the Aymara 
and Quichua from the East before Pizarro came into 
contact with them from the West. This valuable 
contribution to the history of the Indians of South 
America in post-Columbian times will cause students 
of South American civilisation to look forward with 
eager anticipation to the author’s promised study of 
pre-Columbian culture on similar lines. 
The Industrial Applications of X-rays. By P. H. S. 
Kempton. (Pitman’s Technical Primers.) Pp. xiii 
+112. (London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., 
1922.) 2s. 6d. net. 
Mr. Kempron’s little book gives a good introduction 
to “ radiomateriology,” that is, to the examination of 
materials by means of X-rays. The art has made 
great strides since the War, and, by means of the power- 
ful high voltage apparatus now employed, steel forgings 
and castings several inches thick can be satisfactorily 
tested. Examination by X-rays is of particular value 
for detecting flaws in metallic products and for 
examining welds and joints made by brazing or solder- 
ing. It is also specially useful for examining timber, 
reinforced concrete, electrical insulating materials, and 
precious stones. The author describes the apparatus 
used in industrial radiology and gives interesting 
radiographs. Complete installations for the X-ray 
examination of materials are described, and due stress 
is laid on the importance of protective screens and 
safety devices. In the table of spark-gap voltages 
given, it is interesting to note that for a given spark- 
gap the disruptive voltage increases with the size of 
NO. 2794, VOL. 111 | 

the spherical electrodes up to a certain value and then 
diminishes for larger electrodes. This is in accordance 
with theory. 
Inca Land: Explorations in the Highlands of Peru. 
By Hiram Bingham. Pp. xvi+365+45 plates. 
(London : Constable and Co., Ltd., 1922.) 245. net. 
In this volume Prof. Bingham describes a part of the 
work accomplished by the four expeditions of Yale 
University and the National Geographical Society to 
Peru between the years 1909 and 1915. Where so 
much is new and of absorbing interest it is difficult 
to select any one discovery as outstanding ; although 
in archeology most will, no doubt, agree that the 
exploration of the ruins of Machu Picchu has been the 
most important in its results. This site, with its 
magnificent and, in some respects, unique architectural 
remains, is held by the author to be probably the Tampu 
Tocco to which the pre-Inca people, the Amautas, 
retired when the country was invaded from the south 
about A.D, 800, and from which the first Inca, Manco 
Ccapac, began to extend his Empire about A.D. 1300. 
Fascinating, too, is the story of the search for Uiticos, 
the lost stronghold of Tupac Amaru, the last of the 
Incas, defeated and killed by the Spaniards in 1572, 
and for the “ white rock over a spring of water,” the 
site-of the Temple of the Sun burnt by two zealous 
Spanish friars in 1568. The results obtained by these 
expeditions were little short of remarkable, and have 
added enormously to our knowledge of the geography, 
archeology, and natural history of the country. 
Laboratory Manual of Physical Chemistry. By Prof. 
Albert W. Davison and Prof. Henry S. van Klooster. 
Pp. vill+182+ 32 pages of sectional paper. (New 
York : J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London: Chapman 
and Hall, Ltd., 1923.) tos. net. 
Tuts “Laboratory Manual of Physical Chemistry ” 
covers only twenty-four experiments, but these are set 
out in detail with full references to the literature. An 
‘ample supply of blank pages is provided, together with 
ruled spaces for filling in experimental data; tables 
of atomic weights, densities, vapour-pressures, and 
refractive indices are also given, with logarithm-tables 
and a sufficient supply of squared and triangulated 
paper to provide for the whole of the experiments 
suggested. The manual, therefore, becomes the 
student’s note-book as well as his text-book, and will 
enable him to place his own results on his bookshelf 
in a more orderly manner than is usual. 
Causes and Consequences. 
Pp. x +291. 
By Sir Bampfylde Fuller. 
(London: J. Murray, 1923.) 12s. net. 
THe author of this book discourses on many things, 
indeed, on all things which concern science and philo- 
sophy, with an easy-flowing style and irresponsible 
dogmatism. His description of insects as “ brainless 
animals ” has already evoked a lengthy correspondence 
in the Press, and he might easily be called to account 
for a hundred other equally confident and artlessly 
simple-minded statements. Thus, for example, he tells 
us ‘‘ it seems clear that some of the theories connected 
with the name of Professor Einstein are based upon 
a confusion of time and space with rhythm.” 
