October 5, 191 1] 



NATURE 



449 



series of exercises in moulding is explained in great 

 detail, but wherever the author ventures into the field 

 of the science underlying any portion of foundry prac- 

 tice, his theory is wild and not helpful. He quotes 

 McWilliam and Longmuir with approval (McWilliams 

 and Longair he calls them), but is not in agree- 

 ment with them when he recommends that the vent 

 wire should be pushed down to the pattern. It is a 

 pity that the author did not leave the science of the 

 subject alone, for it is disheartening to find the student 

 being told that fireclay is almost pure oxide of alu- 

 mina, that copper and manganese form manganese 

 bronze, copper and phosphorus phosphorus bronze, and 

 like statements. 



The main body of the book is, however, devoted to 

 a simply worded and painstaking explanation of a 

 series of exercises in moulding, so selected and 

 arranged as to illustrate as many as practicable of the 

 principles used in the more elementary parts of the 

 moulder's art. 



Moxly's Theory of the Tides. With a Chapter of Ex- 

 tracts from Moxly's Original Work. By J. F. 



Ruthven. Revised and enlarged edition. Pp. 103. 



(London : J. D. Potter, 191 1.) 

 This monograph is an attempt to uphold the claims 

 of the equilibrium theory of the tides as opposed 

 to those of the dynamical theory now generally main- 

 tained. It is seldom possible to return to older scien- 

 tific hypotheses which are of so general a nature and 

 have been superseded, and it is impossible here. 



The gist of the matter is contained in a statement 

 by Sir George Airy, which the author quotes on 

 page 72 — "Suppose now that the water assumed the 

 form which we have found, and that the earth revolves 

 within its coating of water. This supposition, absurd 

 as it is, is the only one upon which it is possible to 

 apply the equilibrium theory." The author, following 

 MokIv, denies the truth of this statement, and states 

 that the equilibrium theory assumes that it is onlv the 

 form and not the mass of the water which is fixed 

 relatively to the moon. But if the form only be fixed 

 (as must be assumed), then the particles of water are 

 in relative oscillatory motion, and the tidal wave is 

 a species of oscillation (an idea to which Moxly greatly 

 objected, page 83) — a forced oscillation, the charac- 

 teristics of which therefore depend partly on the nature 

 of the free oscillations, and the problem is essentially 

 dynamical. 



The author seems to labour under some misconcep- 

 tions of the dynamical theory in thinking, for instance, 

 that it implies impossible ocean currents, and that the 

 tidal crest must be 90 behind the moon (pages 8 

 and 9). 



However, the book is a very clear exposition of the 

 principles of the equilibrium theory, and claims to 

 explain in general terms a number of anomalous tides ; 

 but sometimes one fails to see why the same explana- 

 tion cannot hold good on the dynamical theory. The 

 note on the tides in the Bay of Fundy (pages 88 and 89) 

 Is interesting. W. J. Harrison. 



An Introduction to Vegetable Physiology. Bv Prof. 



.1. Reynolds Green, F.R.S. Third edition. Pp. xxii 



+ 470. (London : J. and A. Churchill, 1911.) Price 



10s. 6d. net. 

 In the preface to the present edition Prof. Reynolds 

 Green states that he has carried out a careful revision 

 in order to introduce alterations suggested by practical 

 use, and to incorporate such new ideas as have met 

 with approval. Additional paragraphs have been in- 

 serted in the second chapter to emphasise the general 

 relations of the individual with its environment, and 

 further explanations are given with regard to percep- 

 tion of stimuli; the recasting of the sections dealing 

 NO. 2l88, VOL. 87] 



with energy and respiration was prepared for the 

 second edition. 



The book has been found particularly useful for the 

 instruction of students up to an intermediate stage. 

 Generally speaking, the author treats his subject so far 

 as facts are established or theories have received accept- 

 ance. Therefore the student proceeds along a course 

 that is, for the most part, non-contentious, and his 

 progress is made easy by the careful arrangement and 

 clear presentation of the subject-matter. The value of 

 the book to the advanced student would be increased 

 if references to literature dealing with debatable or 

 more recent arguments were provided ; for instance, 

 it would be useful to find a reference to the description 

 of the original experiments concerned with the detec- 

 tion of formaldehyde in leaves. 

 A History of England for Schools, with Documents, 



Problems, and Exercises. By M. W. Keatinge and 



X. L. Frazer. Part i., pp. x + 388. Part ii., pp. 



x + 324. (London : A. and C. Black, 191 1.) Price 



2s. 6d. each part. 

 In addition to its immediate good effect on the pupils 

 themselves, the introduction of laboratory methods of 

 teaching science has had an indirect, beneficial influ- 

 ence on the other work of schools. Practical exercises 

 are becoming a necessary part of courses of study in 

 geometry, geography, and other subjects in which 

 originally boys and girls had little else to do than 

 listen to the exposition of their teachers. The most 

 recent experiment in this direction is the introduction 

 of the "research" method in the study of history, 

 which is, in some schools, done in specially equipped 

 rooms. 



This work is a welcome indication of the improve- 

 ment in teaching history which has taken place in 

 recent years, and it may be recommended to the care- 

 ful consideration of teachers who believe in securing 

 the active cooperation of their pupils by setting them 

 problems to study by themselves with the view of 

 arriving at conclusions. An excellent collection of 

 documents is provided, and they are intended to supply 

 the apparatus for work which to some extent at least 

 is analogous to that provided in the laboratory in the 

 teaching of science. 

 Calendar of Papers in Washington Archives relating 



to the Territories of the United States (to 1873). 



By David W. Parker. Pp. 476. (Washington, 



D.C. : The Carnegie Institution of Washington, 



1911.) 

 This volume is the first calendar of archive materials 

 in Washington issued by the Department of Historical 

 Research in the Carnegie Institution. It follows upon 

 Messrs. Van Tyne and Leland's "Guide to the 

 Archives of the Government of the United States in 

 Washington." Mr. J. Franklin Jameson, the editor 

 of the series to which this book belongs, says that the 

 interest of historical writers at the present time is 

 greatest in respect of papers which have to do with 

 territories as a whole, especially with their Govern- 

 ment and their constitutional and political history. 

 Accordingly attention has, in the present volume, been 

 concentrated upon papers of this class. 

 Lehrbuch der Zoologie fiir Studierende. By Prof. 



J. E. V. Boas. Sechste vermehrte und verbesserte 



Auflage. Pp. x + 690. (Jena : Gustav Fischer, 191 1.) 



Price 12.50 marks. 

 Prof. Boas's text-book is so well known — both the 

 original text and the translation — that no description 

 is necessary of the sixth revised edition now before us. 

 The fifth edition was reviewed in Nature of April 22, 

 1909 (vol. lxxx., p. 214), and the present issue differs 

 from it only by the addition of a few pages and fifteen 

 new illustrations. 



