172 



NA TURE 



[December 26, 1907 



would render it impossible to furnish such data, and 

 it is better to have the description of the plants, even 

 if their hnbiiats cannot be ascertained from the 

 collectors. 



The nulhor, who spent many months going over 

 the ground himself, gives a very good account of the 

 physical and chief geological features of the country, 

 and then discusses the general character of the flora, 

 its chief geographical subdivisions, the latter of course 

 depending on the amount and on the periodic distri- 

 bution of the annual rainfall, and he then touches on 

 the ecological side of the vegetation, and finally gives 

 his views as to the relationship of the south-west 

 Australian flora to that of the rest of the continent and 

 thence to those of other lands. 



He divides the flora into eastern, Eremasan (includ- 

 ing the central regions), and western provinces. Of 

 these, the eastern shows strongest afifinities with the 

 plants of other lands, e.g. with Indomalayan on the 

 north and Antarctic in the south ; whilst the EremEean, 

 though largely peculiar, yet betrays north-eastern 

 relationship. The south-western region is far the 

 smallest region, and also is the most peculiar. Dr. 

 Diels considers, in opposition to the views advanced 

 by some other writers, e.g. A. R. Wallace, that the 

 flora of this region is a derived and specialised one 

 rather than the starting point whence the typically 

 Australian plants have arisen and spread over the rest 

 of the continent. 



It is impossible in a notice of reasonable length to 

 deal at all fullv with the contents of the book. It is 

 one that should interest not only botanists, but all 

 who can appreciate the bearing of plant distribution 

 on geographical problems. The illustrations are 

 good and the sketch-maps useful, though, perhaps, 

 the inclusion of a general map in the volume might 

 have rendered them more convenient for purposes of 

 reference. 



T>as inneralpine Becken der Umgebung von Wien 

 By Dr. Franz X. Schaffer. Pp. viii+128. (Berlin: 

 Gebriider Borntraeger, 1907.) Price 2.40 marks. 

 This little work, truly a book for the pocket, is one 

 of the latest additions to Borntraeger's " Sammlung 

 geologischer Fiihrer." It guides the pedestrian to 

 the excavations in the flat land close to Vienna, and 

 shows how the sections in sands and marls illustrate 

 the later phases of the struggle of central Europe 

 against the old Mediterranean Sea. The history of 

 successive marine invasions, penetrating the hollows 

 of the rising mountain-chains, is well and succinctlv 

 expressed in three pages (pp. 7-9) quoted from the 

 author's "Geologic von Wien." The Vienna basin 

 results from the falling in of the area after the 

 Middle Miocene uplifts and foldings. The south- 

 eastern European sea then invaded it for the 

 last time (p. 117), depositing in a gulf the marine 

 Leithakalk, with a fauna partly tropical, and ultim- 

 ately the .Sarmatian and Pontic strata, which show 

 increasingly brackish-water conditions. The boundary 

 of the sunken area is still marked bv hot springs and 

 outflows of mineral waters, those of Baden occurring 

 where the western margin of the basin is crossed by 

 dislocations that follow the strike of the limestone 

 Alps (p. 121). 



The Vienna basin has a charm of its own. and a 

 scientific visitor may well spend a few days in it with 

 this little volume as his companion. He should, of 

 course, also read the story of the larger area around 

 the city in the monumental " Bild und Bau Osler- 

 reichs " (see N,\ture, vol. Ixx., p. 40), which is not 

 a book that anyone could possibly carry in the field. 

 We can soon escape from the noise of the very ill- 

 payed suburbs, and at Schwechat are out along the 

 quiet reaches of the Danube, making perhaps for the 

 NO. I 99 I, VOL 77] 



purple " horst " of Hainburg, where the towers still 

 climb up the rock, as a memory of invasion from 

 the east. Or we go south along the main " Bruch- 

 linie," under sombre wooded hills, until we penetrate 

 the Alpine zone at Gloggnitz ; or south-east across 

 the Goldene Lacke, where the great Hungarian cattle 

 plough the plain, which spreads here, as the result of 

 subsidence, close against the mountain-spurs. The 

 Leithagebirge that rises gently in the south actually 

 lies in Hungary; and the line of Miocene fracture 

 may still be perceived, when we attempt to carry the 

 German language into the Slav and Magyar villages 

 beyond it. 

 The British journal Photographic Almanac and 



Photographer's Daily Companion for 190S. 



Edited by George E. Brown. Fortj'-seventh year. 



(London : Henry Greenwood and Co., n.d.) Price 



I.S. net. 

 This is the forty-seventh issue of an indispensable 

 publication. Year by year the volume makes its 

 appearance, and on each occasion it is found to con- 

 tain just that collection of photographic matter which 

 is so useful and valuable to the everyday photographer. 



The arrangement of the material is on similar lines 

 to that of its immediate predecessors, but we are 

 glad to see that all indices to advertisers, text, &c., 

 are placed together at the end of the volume, un- 

 doubtedly the proper place for easy reference. 



Naturally, the new Lumiere colour process of photo- 

 graphv, the chief topic of the year and a wonderful 

 advance in colour photography, is referred to at some 

 length, and this by the editor, who includes it under 

 the heading " Screen-plate Processes of Colour Photo- 

 graphy." 



The section entitled " Epitome of Progress " will 

 be found as useful as ever, summarising as it does 

 in abstracts, papers, communications, articles, &c., 

 which have appeared in either home or foreign 

 journals, adding— and this is a valuable feature — the 

 full reference. 



In " Recent Novelties in .Apparatus " we have a 

 verv useful section. The editor only describes those 

 articles which have come under his own personal 

 examination, and only those introduced since the 

 last issue of the almanac. 



The approved formute, tables of chemical and op- 

 tical data, lists of photographic societies, &c., have 

 all been brought carefully up to date, and the mass 

 of advertisements is, as usual, an important feature 

 of the publication. 



In addition to numerous illustrations, the frontis- 

 piece is an example of the autotype carbon tissues, 

 25,000 copies of which were printed by the Autotype 

 Co., and mounted by the .Adhesive Dry Mounting Co.. 

 Ltd., on paper provided by Messrs. R. T. Tanner and 

 Co. An excellent coloured plate is reproduced by the 

 Sanger Shepherd Colour-printing Syndicate, while 

 another coloured plate is shown, the three-colour blocks 

 and printing of which are the work of Messrs. Hood 

 and Co., Ltd. 



It may be stated in conclusion that the volume 

 is a marvellously cheap shillingsworth, and will no 

 doubt find its usual place on the shelf of every 

 photographer's work-room. 



Science of Nature-History. By Nasarvanji Jivanji 

 Readymoney. Pp. 103. (London : Times of India 

 Oftice, 1907.) Price 4^. 

 The author provides what he describes as " .\ guide 

 showing how or where to think on events or collect 

 facts in nature-history order so as to describe and 

 define events from nature-history point of view." 

 It will serve to define the author's object if some 

 of his technicalities are explained. Nature-history 

 is a short, less luminous name for the practical study 



