January 21, 1909] 



NATURE 



to the living matter in tlie psychical areas of the 

 brain, these react on the cerebral centre or centres 

 for speech, and, in turn, these " play upon the nuclei 

 of the nerves supplying the muscles of the vocal 

 iipparatus." 



in supporting this thesis Major Macnamara shows a 

 wide acquaintance with contemporary biology — indeed, 

 \ to such an extent is this the case that the book can 

 well be recommended as an introduction to this de- 

 partment of science. The only criticism that may be 

 offered is that there is rather a redundancy of state- 

 ment, and not infrequently an exposition of matters 

 that are not quite pertinent to the subject in hand. As 

 examples we may take the references to current specu- 

 lations in physics, to Ehrlich's chain-theory, to the 

 description of karyokinetic phenomena and the 

 chang;es in the early ovum, and to the exposition of 

 new and abstruse notions about reflex activity. No 

 doubt the author has desired to take a wide and 

 l>hilosophic view of the whole subject, even at the risk 

 of introducing matter somewhat irrelevant. Still, con- 

 ciseness is a virtue worthy of cultivation. This is an 

 excellent additional volume to the " International 

 Scientific Series." The illustrations have been care- 

 fullv chosen, and there is a good index. 



J. G. M. 

 Exercising in Bed. By Sanford Bennett. Pp. 265. 



(San Francisco: The Edward Hilton Co., 1907.) 



Price 1.25 dollars. 

 In the introduction to this book, the author explains 

 that he had been a delicate child and had led a 

 sedentary office life, so that at the age of fifty he was 

 dyspc]Mic, his muscular system was flabby, he was 

 prematurely old! By adopting the system of exer- 

 cises detailed in the book, he claims that at sixty- 

 seven he is a strong, healthy man, and has regained 

 youthful vigour, and certainly the photographs repro- 

 duced illustrating his condition before and after treat- 

 ment show a very marked contrast. 



The author is an enthusiast, but the book is written 

 in a moderate spirit which disposes to the accepta- 

 tion of his views. He rightly claims that the functions 

 of the body can only be carried on if they be used and 

 exercised. Thus a gland or muscle condemned to 

 inactivity atrophies; it is a physiological law that a 

 certain degree of activity is necessary for the physio- 

 logical integrity of an organ or tissue. In conse- 

 quence various methods of physical culture are much 

 in vogue, and are of considerable service in the de- 

 velopinent of the body and preservation of health, but 

 tend to be unpopular owing to the time necessary to 

 devote to them, and the individual who loves his bed 

 cannot, or will not, rise early enough to carry them 

 out. Mr. Bennett, however, declares that all the 

 necessary exercises can be carried out while in bed, 

 and we think he is right, and a quarter or half-hour 

 may be well spent in healthy exercise without disturb- 

 ing the ordinary routine. In some ways, in fact, the 

 method has an advantage, as many muscles can be 

 better exercised when lying than when standing, 

 and in those who are getting on in years, perhaps 

 with weak heart and diseased arteries, there is far less 

 likelihood of over-strain. Combined with various 

 movements, massage or rubbing of the muscles is 

 advocated, and is very desirable. 



.\ series of exercises is detailed in the book, illus- 

 trated in every case with photographs, by which the 

 muscular system of all parts of the body may be 

 exercised and developed, and most of them can be 

 carried out without any extraneous apparatus. We 

 have no doubt that the exercises suggested, if carried 

 out, would be of considerable benefit, even if they did 

 not actually rejuvenate or restore good looks, as the 

 author claims. R. T. H. 



SO. 2047, VOL. 7ij] 



Cement Laboratory Manual. By Prof. L. A. Water- 

 bury. Pp. vii-l-i22. (New York: J. Wiley and 

 Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1908.) 

 Price 45. 6d. net. 

 This is a book for the use of students who are learning 

 the various physical methods of testing cement. In 

 the main it consists of instructions for working out a 

 series of " problems " by the learner during a course 

 of laboratory tuition, as practised in the LIniversity of 

 Illinois. The work is arranged much on the lines 

 familiar to students of electricity at Finsbury under 

 the late Prof. Ayrton, the operators working in classes 

 with given apparatus and materials, and being fur- 

 nished with directions how to carry out the experi- 

 ments, how to record the results, and how to interpret 

 them. 



For comparison of the results with what would be 

 required in actual practice two useful appendices are 

 given. One contains the report of a committee of the 

 American Society of Civil Engineers on the question of 

 uniform tests for cement; the other is a report upon 

 standard specifications for cement, by a committee of 

 the American Society for Testing Materials. 



Determinations of the degree of fineness, specific 

 gravity, plasticity, soundness, time of setting, and ten- 

 sile strength of cements are the chief experiments set 

 out. These are regarded as suitable for class teaching, 

 and a student who works carefullv through the exer- 

 cises should gain considerable insight into what is re- 

 quired in judging the values of cements bv laboratory 

 tests. The author, however, rightly points out that a 

 considerable amount of practice, much more than is 

 afforded by the laboratory course, is necessary to ob- 

 tain uniformly satisfactory results. 



Theoretical matters are not dealt with in the book. 

 There are illustrations of the chief pieces of apparatus, 

 and also some trivial pictures — a mason's trowel, a set 

 of scales and weights, and similar things — which are a 

 mere waste of space. C. S. 



" Saint " Gilbert: the Story of Gilbert W'liile and Scl- 

 borne. By J. C. Wright. Pp. go. (London : 

 Elliot Stock, n.d.) Price 2s. 6d. 

 This little book bears a most unfortunate title, foi 

 whatever may have been the virtues of Gilbert White, 

 he was in no proper sense of the word a saint. He 

 was an honest, excellent Englishman, with a 

 " curious " intellect and a generous disposition, but 

 assuredly not more saintly than a thousand others. 

 Mr. Wright says in his preface that " it is permissible 

 to regard him as the patron saint of the little village 

 where he spent the greater part of his life." That is 

 well enough, for it suggests no saintliness; but " Saint 

 Gilbert " is most unhappy. The book consists of 85 

 small pages, largely made up of quotations from White 

 himself and those who have recently written about 

 him. It will do no harm, and may perhaps do some 

 good ; and that is perhaps all that need be said about 

 it. The eight photographs which illustrate it are 

 unusually good, and so are the tail-pieces at the end 

 of the chapters. 



Les Zoocicidies des Plantes d'Eiirope et du Bassin 



dc la Mediterrani^e. Tome i. By C. Houard. 



Pp. 569 ; 1365 figures, 2 plates, and 4 portraits. 



(Paris : Hermann, 1908.) Price for both volumes, 



40 francs. 



Dr. Houard deserves congratulation on the successful 



accomplishment of his task of giving a systematic 



account of the European galls. Of recent years there 



has been great activity in the study of galls, which 



are of equal theoretical and practical interest, and this 



scholarly and well-arranged catalogue, brought up to 



date, will be widely welcomed. It is an admirable 



piece of work. The author gives terse descriptions of 



