42 



NATURE 



[July 



191 i 



volumes represent further attempts, along two different 

 lines, to win recognition for apparently supernormal 

 facts, and to frame theories capable of bringing them 

 into line with general knowledge. 



Mr. Hill's book (1) is an eminently temperati and 

 dispassionate statement and analysis ol selected 1 

 of clairvoyance and automatism, the former including 

 the sayings of a professional clairvoyant, and the latter 

 dealing with the " cross-correspondences," now fairly 

 well known, between the automatic writings of 

 Mesdames Thompson, Forbes, Holland, Verrall, and 

 Piper. It is not difficult to perceive that the author 

 inclines to the agency of disembodied human intelli- 

 gences as the simplest explanation of many of the 

 phenomena dealt with. When, in circumstances which 

 exclude collusion as a reasonable hypothesis, phrases 

 and allusions are simultaneously written out auto- 

 matically by two or more persons in different con- 

 tinents, different phrases which only become intelli- 

 gible on being pieced together, the case for assuming 

 the operation of some intelligence different from that 

 ol the writers becomes strong. When, in addition, 

 these phrases are characteristic of a Gurnev, Myers, 

 Sidgwick, or Hodgson, the temptation to attribute 

 them to those deceased personalities is obvious. On 

 the other hand, if telepathy and clairvoyance are real 

 faculties, the proof of identity is faced with apparently 

 insurmountable difficulties. Nevertheless, Mr. Hill's 

 book is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of 

 this difficult subject, and it is rendered particularly 

 acceptable by the author's "careful and responsible 

 truthfulness" and "unemotional habit of mind," to 

 which Sir Oliver Lodge testifies in his introduction. 



(2) Mr. Constable's book is an ambitious attempt 

 to colligate the same range of facts by a new theory 

 of personality. Experimental telepathy is assumed to 

 be fully established, and is accounted for bv the exist- 

 ence of an "intuitive self," which is in "timeless and 

 spaceless" communion with all other intuitive selves. 

 A large part of the book is taken up with a criticism 

 of Kant and his transcendental dialectic, and the new- 

 departure claimed is the proof of the existence of the 

 intuitive self from facts of ordinary human experience, 

 chiefly relating to telepathy, or the reception of impres- 

 sions otherwise than through the normal organs of 

 sense. 



The book as it stands can scarci ly be said to suc- 

 ceed even in its main object, for even if telepathy 

 were fully established, the possibility of some form of 

 physical vehicle is becoming, if anything, increasingly 

 obvious in these days of wireless transmission ; and 

 the whole conception of the "intuitive self" tends to 

 remove these matters from all scientific procedure. 

 An author who confesses his inability "to distinguish 

 between time and space" (p. 34) is scarcely likely to 

 1 -men physiologists or even psychologists to his view s 

 on crystal-gazing, or "psychometry," or communion 

 with the disembodied. Any theon of survival likely 

 to appeal to the scientific mind must be based upon 

 physiological rather than metaphysical reasoning, and 

 must, above all, remain in touch with the facts of 

 racial and individual development. A physical scheme 

 of immortality cannot be ruled out as an a priori 

 impossibility while so many unknown forms ,,1 matte, 



\- 1. J 1 ;(>. Vi »i.. 87 I 



and energy remain to be discovered. Meanwhile, a 

 transcendental self, independent of space and, time, 

 makes too great a demand on our powers of concep- 

 tion to be of any living scientific interest. 



E. E. F. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 A Star Atlas and Telescopic Handbook (Epoch 1920). 



For Students and Amateurs. By Arthur P. Norton. 



Pp. 19+16 star and 2 index maps. (London and 



Edinburgh: Gall and Inglis, 1910.) Price 55. net. 

 For the general use of amateur astronomers litis is 

 the best atlas and handbook we have yet seen. The 

 sixteen maps are printed exceptionally clearly, and, 

 while- not overcrowded, show more than 7,000 obji^ts. 

 Each map is about 10 in. by 8 in., and is part o! a 

 lune, covering, exclusive of overlap, four hours of 

 R.A., and 6o° N. or S. of declination. The atlas 

 opens out flat, and shows two maps joined together 

 at the equator, so that about one-fifth of the whole 

 sky is seen at once. Meridians and parallels mark 

 every hour of R.A., and every tenth degree of declina- 

 tion, while marginal divisions enable a position to 

 be fixed to the nearest 5m. or i°. The polar regions 

 are shown on two pairs of maps. 



In addition to these excellent maps there are a 

 large number of tables and a quantity of letterpress 

 giving practically all the information the amateur 

 is likely to require for ordinary work. The list of 

 star catalogues, astronomical abbreviations and 

 symbols, and the notes on astronomical terms are to 

 be confidently recommended for their luciditv and 

 trustworthiness. Then there is a number of notes 

 on the planets, comets, meteors, eclipses, &c, which 

 are very interesting, concise, and informative. The 

 sun and moon are awarded rather fuller treatment, 

 and a useful sketch-map of the latter forms the 

 frontispiece. 



All this is good, but what will probablv appeal more 

 strongly to the average amateur possessing a telescope 

 is the section devoted to hints. These are eminently- 

 practical, and the observer is told how to take care 

 of and to use his instrument, how to get to know- 

 its constants and capabilities. Should he wish to 

 determine the focal length of his objective or mirror, 

 or of his eyepiece, or the diameter of the field, or 

 should he wish to clean the different delicate parts or 

 undertake special work, he is advised tersely how to 

 do it. 



Then preceding each pair of regions there are a few- 

 notes directing attention to any special telescopic objects 

 found therein ; double stars, variables, nebula?, and 

 star clusters are located, and their special charac- 

 teristics briefly described. 



The whole work suggests that the author undertook 

 a congenial task ; the result shows he did it well. 

 W. E. Roiston. 



Triumphs and Wanders of Modern Chemistry. A 

 Popular Treatise on Modem Chemistry and its 

 Marvels. Written in Non-Technical Language fot 



General Readers and Students. By Dr. (i. Martin. 

 Pp. xx + 358. (London: Sampson Low, Marston, 

 and Co., Ltd., [911.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 

 The author of this book has sought to make chem- 

 istry attractive to readers untrained in the methods of 

 science, by offering them an account of some of the 

 most surprising achievements of modern practical 

 chemistry, and of the mosl startling deductions from 

 recent chemical and physical speculations. These two 

 subjects alternate throughout the book, but their treat- 

 ment is ol unequal value. Such practical matters as 

 the liquefaction of air, the preparation of oxygen, arte) 



