July 13, 1911" 



NATURE 



41 



•does very well in avoiding local and specialised rock- 

 names, though we suppose "kentallenite " (p. 89), 

 the incorrect but accepted use of " granophyre " (p. 92), 

 and " keratophyre " could scarcely be kept out. A 

 large part of the book is naturally devoted to sedi- 

 mentary rocks, and no reader will fail to appreciate 

 their structure, and the interesting way in which 

 structure records their modes of origin. The treat- 

 ment of slate is an excellent example ; we note that 

 chemical composition is here so dominated by the 

 compactness and by the fissile structure of the rock 

 as to have no effect on relative durability (p. 287). 

 Limestones are also adequately dealt with, the im- 

 portant oolitic stones of England being described in 

 :onsiderable detail. Among sandstones, we may 

 direct attention to the interesting account of the Surrey 

 "firestone" on p. 166. There is much in this book 

 which will enable the professional geologist to give a 

 "practical" touch to his teaching, and thus in turn 

 to attract the technical student towards the broader 

 aspects of geology. One of the chief rewards of the 

 instructor in a modern college is to note the pleasure 

 aroused when some familiar feature is explained. The 

 "practical man" may know a good deal already 

 about a stone, but he now sees it taking its place in 

 the history of a world of stones. 



Mr. Howe's chapter on the decay of building stone 

 is especially to the point. He uses chemical symbols 

 at times in his text in place of words, which is 

 scarcelv literary ; but he shows well how sodium 

 chloride and other salts increase the attack of rain- 

 water on a stone, and how the acids liberated in 

 towns also play their destructive part. A special sec- 

 tion is devoted to the decay of limestones. The dele- 

 terious formation of gypsum in parts of buildings 

 sheltered from the rain, or even b'.neath rain-washed 

 surfaces, is impressively pointed out. Crystalline 

 dolomites (p. 353) decay in the country through the 

 more rapid solution of any calcite granules that are 

 present, while in towns a worse evil befalls them, from 

 the fact that magnesium sulphate is even more soluble 

 than gypsum. The sulphuric acid in towns, of course, 

 arises from the iron pyrites contained in coal. Mr. 

 Howe's remarks as to our love for limestone (p. 9) 

 should be taken to heart by architects. 



There is a useful chapter on the testing of stones ; 

 but we question if the appendices which follow, con- 

 taining lists of quarries, were worth compiling in 

 view of the far more complete lists issued by the 

 Home Office, and referred to on p. 435. A liberal 

 description, however, not merely an enumeration, is 

 given of the sandstones of Ireland (the heading acci- 

 dentally calls them limestones). The reason for this 

 treatment is not apparent, since a reference to the 

 source of information, Kinahan's "Economic Geology 

 of Ireland," would show that a similarly detailed 

 essay might be written on any class of Irish stone. 



It is one of the curses of curators that manuscript 

 labels lead to cumulative errors in the names of places. 

 Mr. Howe has succeeded far better than any copyist 

 would have done. We do not know if his variations 

 from Kinahan are accidents or corrections, for Kina- 

 han was indifferent to proof-reading; but such words 

 as Dundale, Geradmer, Blekinje, Thuringewald, 

 NO. 2176, VOL. Sj~\ 



Bohm-Brod, and Maenturog require emenaation. 

 Why write "the Tyrol," and also " Steiermark " and 

 "Mahren"? But at such a book — the metaphor is 

 obvious — we would not willingly cast a stone. \\ e 

 are additionally grateful for an index of twenty pages. 

 (2) Mr. John Watson's work represents an immense 

 amount of patient application, behind which lies real 

 enthusiasm. He has brought together a collection of 

 building stones for the Sedgwick Museum in Cam- 

 bridge, in which he aims at representing the whole 

 world. He has presented a large number of the 

 specimens, and furnishes a catalogue of rocks used in 

 construction, leaving those used for decoration, road- 

 making, and roofing for future work. On p. 8 he 

 approves "a suggestion" that the University of Cam- 

 bridge might be a fit place for "a national bureau, 

 where building stone could be examined, tested, and 

 reported on." The existence of the Geological Survey 

 of Great Britain, as a public body of the first standing, 

 would no doubt occur to our legislators, and the differ- 

 ence of outlook adopted in an economic and in a 

 university museum is at once seen by Mr. Watson's 

 choice of a classification. His stratified building 

 stones are arranged according to their geological age, 

 and are then grouped under their countries of origin. 

 It is a question if this appeals even to the university 

 student of petrology, and it certainly conveys no use- 

 ful information to the seeker after building stones. 

 The admirable index of fifty pages, surpassing that 

 of the diligent Mr. Howe, does not set matters 

 straight. There are thus twenty-six references to 

 oolites, even though the Caen stone of p. 184 is 

 omitted; but the seeker after sandstone will have to 

 turn the pages of the volume. Granites, however, 

 are copiously indexed as a group. The universities, 

 having adopted law and medicine, have proceeded to 

 engineering, mining, and distilling. It may now be 

 too late to leave building construction and building 

 stones to great technical colleges, of the type of the 

 Royal School of Mines. Mr. Watson's book, issued 

 at so very moderate a price, is a treasury of informa- 

 tion for the inquirer. It is not the author's fault if 

 it seems to emphasise that overlapping of functions 

 which threatens to impoverish British centres of 

 education. G. A. J. C. 



SUPERNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY. 



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IT was in the early 'seventies of last century that 

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