268 



NA TURE 



[January 23, 1908 



selves. A notable feature is the list of detailed refer- 

 ences inserted at the end of each section. 



Altogether, the book will be found admirably suited 

 for its purpose, viz. to serve as a general text-book 

 for pass examinations in the subject at a university, 

 and will probably earn a well-deserved popularity. 

 One is tempted, however, to look for something more 

 in a text-book on such a science as psychology. The 

 science is a comparatively' new one, with an ever- 

 broadening outlook, and a text-book such as we have 

 before us might well be expected to extend or at least 

 define this outlook by discussion of the most recent 

 experimental results attained by psychologists, where 

 they appear to involve important modification of 

 theory. Yet we look in vain for any reference to the 

 important experiments of Drs. Head and Rivers on 

 cutaneous sensibility, or, again, to those of Prof. 

 Sherringtoa on the relation between the two eyes in 

 their response to intermittent light stimulations. A 

 treatment of the latter would probably have reminded 

 the authors likewise to discuss the general problem of 

 psychical fusion, over which they preserve a dis- 

 appointing silence. These are two instances out of 

 several thit might be quoted. 



Objection might also be made to the method of 

 treatment of the general psychophysical relation in 

 the chapter headed " Mind and Brain." A more con- 

 crete and detailed discussion would have given greater 

 relevance to the suspense of judgment therein advo- 

 cated, or might even have opened up the prospect of 

 a reconciliation of interactionism and parallelism on 

 metaphysical lines. Not even a beginner is likely to 

 be satisfied with a crude " either — or " in this case. 



The book should be valuable alike to teachers and 

 students, as being a compact, sound, and thorough 

 statement of current views in psychology. W. B. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Die Physik Roger Bacos. By Sebastian Vogl. Pp. 



106. (Erlangen : Junge und Sohn, 1906.) 

 In this dissertation, Dr. Vogl has collected a large 

 number of interesting facts relating (i) to Roger Baco's, 

 or, as we commonly say, Bacon's, biography, his educa- 

 tion and his friends and colleagues ; (ii) the literature 

 of the Greeks, Romans, and Arabs, from which he 

 derived his physical ideas ; and (iii) his physical works. 

 As the result of this study. Dr. Vogl has given us a 

 typical insight into the state of science in the thir- 

 teenth century. Baco was born about the time that 

 the Dominican and Franciscan orders were founded, 

 and in these circumstances the position of a man 

 who was far in advance of his times is not difficult 

 to understand, especially in such an atmosphere as 

 that of Oxford, where he remained until 1240. 



.^s usually happens, Baco's claims to fame can hardly 

 be said to be well understood even at the present time. 

 Dr. Vogl considers that no great importance can be 

 attached to his predictions of steam engines, flying 

 machines, and other modern inventions, all of which 

 only reproduce ideas current in Arabic and other writ- 

 ings. On the other hand. Dr. Vogl considers Baco 

 has claims to be regarded as the founder of mathe- 

 matical physics, and the large portion of the opus 

 t)iajus devoted to the uses of mathematics in science 

 doubtless constitutes one of the most important ad- 

 vances with which Baco was associated. His physical 

 writings dealt mainly with optical problems, and this 

 NO. 1 095, vol. 77] 



is scarcely to be wondered at, for geometrical optics h 

 the simplest and at the same time the most perfect 

 branch of applied mathematics. When we remember 

 the great hostility and apathy which exist at the 

 present time against mathematicians in England (as 

 exemplified by a remark on p. 49 of Nature, Novem- 

 ber 21, 1907, if this is to be taken seriously), we 

 cannot wonder that in an age of religious super- 

 stition and ignorance Baco fared badly. Although 

 seven hundred years have elapsed, the world has not 

 yet realised the great extent to which ignorance of 

 mathematics is responsible for human crime, poverty, 

 and misery. 



Tlie Preservation oj lujant Life. A Guide for Health 



Visitors. By Emilia Kanthack. Pp. ivH-ga. 



(London : H. K. Lewis, 136 Gower Street, W.C.) 



Price I.S. net. 

 This small book consists of si.x lectures which were 

 delivered by Miss Kanthack to voluntary health 

 visitors in St. Pancras. In the words of Dr. J. F. J. 

 Sykes, the medical officer of health of that borough, 

 who has written a short preface, it " may be strongly 

 recommended to those who intend to undertake health 

 visiting amongst the poor." 



It would be difficult to conceive of the subject of 

 the preservation of infant life being better presented 

 to the class of audience to which Miss Kanthack had 

 to address herself, and the lectures furnish evidence of 

 a considerable study of her subject, together with a 

 sound practical acquaintance with it. They will 

 well serve as models for those who may have to address 

 similarly constituted audiences, and they may be read 

 with pleasure and profit alike, not only by every woman 

 health visitor, but by every educated woman. The 

 information is so happily expressed and tellingly pre- 

 sented that one lays down the book with the sincere 

 wish that Miss Kanthack may give us more. 



In her opinion, personal influence is the keynote of 

 success in dealing with infantile mortality. She 

 emphasises the fact that the baby is an entity long 

 before it is born ; therefore, to give it a good start 

 the mother must be looked after during pregnancy. 

 .Speaking of the dangers of the artificial feeding of 

 infants, she makes the following stricture : — " If one 

 of the brute creation refused to suckle its young it 

 would be thought a monstrous violation of nature, and 

 vet a woman may evade this natural function and it 

 arouses no comments." 



Sanitation in Daily Life. By Ellen H. Richards. 



Pp. ix4-82. (Boston : Whitcomb and Barrows, 



1907.) Price 60 cents net. 

 It is now generally agreed that in every efficient 

 school the pupils should receive instruction in the 

 simple laws of personal hygiene and of public health. 

 The short, bright chapters which this book contains 

 on subjects like " the clean city," " the clean house," 

 and " habits of cleanliness " should be of value to 

 teachers, especially those in elementary schools, as 

 indicating the possibility of explaining vitally impor- 

 tant truths in a manner which can be understood by 

 children. The illustrative experiments at the end of 

 each section should be studied by teachers who give 

 lessons on health. 



Der neue Leitfaden. By L. M. de la Motte Tisch- 

 brock Pp. X+126. (London: John Murray, 1907.) 

 Price 2.S. 6d. 

 .\ s.VTlSF.-vcTORV course for students — juvenile or adult — 

 commencing the study of the German language is 

 provided in this book. In addition to being gram- 

 matically and educationally sound, and of good literary 

 quality, the volume contains many extracts on scientific 

 subjects as exercises for reading and translation. 



