482 



NATURE 



[October 12, 191 1 



possessed by the belter class oi gamekeepers. Among 

 such information, it may be mentioned, is a heavy and 

 apparently conclusive indictment against the hedge- 

 hog as a game-poacher of the blackest dye. 



Partridge-preserving the author considers to be 

 decidedly beneficial to the farmer, as it not only 

 brings money into country districts, which otherwise 

 would be spent elsewhere, but it provides him with 

 "a small machine [in the shape of the partridge] 

 which turns noxious weeds and useless insects into a 

 valuable food." After discussing the economical 

 question in chapter i., the author takes the natural 

 history of the partridge as the subject of chapter ii. 

 Here we are told at the outset that "no fewer than 

 152 species of partridges and their affinities " are 

 recognised by ornithologists — a statement difficult to 

 understand owing to the ambiguity of the term 

 "affinities." A few other minor criticisms might be 

 made on this chapter, but in the succeeding chapters, 

 dealing with rearing, driving, and shooting partridges, 

 the author appears to be thoroughly in his element 

 and a master of his subject. Every sportsman should 

 buv a copv of the book. R. L. 



Practical Drawing. A Preliminary Course of Work 

 for Technical Students. By T. S. Usherwood. 

 Pp. viii+163. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 

 1910.) Price 2s. 



This useful little manual provides an excellent course 

 of instruction in instrumental drawing, very suitable 

 for the junior classes of technical institutes. The be- 

 ginner is first shown the use of the rule and callipers 

 in the making of dimensioned hand sketches of simple 

 objects. Then full explanations are given of the 

 manipulation and handling of drawing instruments, 

 including tee and set squares, in the production of 

 accurate work to scale. Facility in the use of in- 

 struments is acquired along with a working know- 

 ledge of geometrical principles, by the plotting of 

 lines, angles, figures, vectors, and the drawing of 

 simple mechanical and architectural details. 



The subsequent work in plane geometry includes 

 the construction of scales, circles, triangles, polygons, 

 geometrical patterns, and similar figures; also graph- 

 ing on squared paper, the calculation of areas, and 

 the plotting of the paths of points moving under 

 geometrical or mechanical constraint. The author 

 wisely devotes a chapter to the method of representing 

 solid objects by plans and elevations, and by metric 

 projections to scale. The book is provided with an 

 index, and the student with answers to the numerical 

 exercises. The author is evidentlv an experienced 

 teacher. He supplies good examples in great variety. 

 The scheme of instruction is a sound and desirable 

 one, and affords a thorough groundwork for subse- 

 quent study. 



Die -praktische Bodenuntersuchung. By Prof. E. 

 Heine. Pp. xii+ 162 + plate. (Berlin: Gebriider 

 Borntraeger, 1911.) Price 3.50 marks. 



Whilst there are many works in German dealing 

 with the properties of soil from the purelj 

 scientific point of view, there is none, accord- 

 ing to the author, that gives the practical 

 farmer the kind of knowledge he wants in 

 order to understand the nature of the soil and the 

 processes going on therein. While it is not denied 

 that a farmer can get on sufficiently well without this 

 knowledge, nevertheless he will find not only a source 

 of interest, but also of profit, in learning something 

 about the fundamental properties and laws on which 

 the cultural operations and the fertility relationships 



NO. 2189, VOL. 87] 



of the soil are based. The author therefore deals in 

 successive chapters with the soil as a medium for 

 plant growth, the physical properties, chemical com- 

 position, and biological relationships of soils, methods 

 of classification and improvement. In the second part 

 of the book the soils of North Germany are described, 

 and instructions are given for the use of soil maps. 



The information is clearly set out, and in its general 

 style will appeal to the farm student and to the 

 young farmer who has sufficient energy and interest 

 to read after his day's work is done. Indeed, the in- 

 formation is better than the method : a book written 

 for the same class of readers in England would be 

 expected to give many more actual illustrations of the 

 application of general principles than are here at- 

 tempted. The reviewer's experience is that general 

 principles as such have little meaning to the farm 

 student, and copious illustrations are necessary to give 

 point to them. The present book is deficient in this 

 respect. 



More stress might well have been laid on the part 

 played by calcium carbonate in soil fertility. No soil 

 deficient in calcium carbonate can be regarded as verv 

 satisfactory ; vegetation relationships are markedly 

 different according as calcium carbonate is present or 

 not. Thus in the description of humus the differences 

 between the various types is attributed to differences 

 in air supply, the part played by calcium carbonate 

 not being considered important. It is evident, also, 

 that the German method of mechanical analysis is less 

 satisfactory than our own, which would have formed 

 the basis of several of the chapters in such a book. 



But apart from these points the little book is very- 

 good, and conveys in simple language an accurate 

 presentation of our present ideas on the soil. 



E. J. R. 



Conic Template. J. T. Duf ton's design. For Junior 

 Students of Conies. (London : Macmillan and Co., 

 Ltd.) Price, nickel-plated metal, qd. net ; trans- 

 parent celluloid, Sd. net. 

 Students of geometrical conies should not fail to 

 provide themselves with this accurately made and 

 handy little " Conic Template." By merely passing a 

 pencil round its curved edges, a true ellipse, parabola, 

 and hvperbola can be drawn, the three curves having 

 closely related elements, which are specified in the 

 instructions accompanying each instrument. The 

 regular employment of accurate figures, instead of 

 rough diagrams sketched freehand, will add interest 

 to the work, and will materially assist in fixing on the 

 mind of the student the forms and properties of these 

 important curves. 



How to become a Pharmacist in Great Britain. 

 With Appendixes on Pharmaceutical Qualification 

 in Ireland, Pharmaceutical Registration in the 

 British Empire, Degrees in Pharmacy, and the 

 Schedule of Poisons. Edited by John Humphrey. 

 Pp. 52. (London : The Pharmaceutical Press, 

 1911.) Price ii. net. 

 Clear and precise information is given here about 

 each stage in the preparation for the work of a 

 pharmaceutical chemist, from apprenticeship to the 

 passing of the major examination of the Pharma- 

 ceutical Society. The appendixes give details as to 

 the particular conditions under which qualification to- 

 practise pharmacy may be secured in Ireland and in 

 other parts of the' British Empire. The advice offered 

 is sound and helpful ; and the view throughout is to 

 rd the work of the pharmacist as a branch of 

 applied science needing the practice of scientific 

 methods for its successful performance. 



