158 



NATURE 



[April 17, 1913 



brought to completion. The chief aim of this 

 publication, as pointed out in Nature for February 

 17, 1910 (p. 455), is to establish on a sound basis, 

 by photographs of type-specimens and by critical 

 and descriptive notes, the species imperfectly made 

 known in the writing's of Young and Bird, John 

 Phillips and Martin Simpson. The method fol- 

 lowed is akin to that adopted in the well-known 

 " Palasontologia Universalis " ; and in under- 

 taking his arduous task Mr. Buckman has been 

 fortunate in securing the collaboration of Mr. J. 

 W. Tutcher, who possesses much experience and 

 skill in carrying out photographic work of this 

 kind. 



The present volume happens to deal only with 

 Liassic species, sixty-seven of which are depicted 

 in eighty plates. The fact that no more than a 

 single species appears on any one plate, and that 

 the descriptive letterpress and illustrations re- 

 lating to each species are issued in the form of a 

 separate unit, will facilitate a rearrangement of 

 the plates in any desired zoological or strati- 

 graphical order. With the final part of the 

 volume, which includes an index, is issued a use- 

 ful measurement table designed by Mr. Tutcher. 

 This gives a ready means for ascertaining the pro- 

 portional measurements of a specimen and the 

 amount of its enlargement or reduction in a figure. 



There are several features which add greatly 

 to the value of this work. The notes and com- 

 ments which elucidate the application of certain 

 generic names will be welcomed by many workers 

 in this field of study. A separately paged intro- 

 duction contains useful and suggestive matter 

 under the headings "Terminology " and "Ammon- 

 ite Development," where some important theoreti- 

 cal points are concisely handled. Generalisations 

 regarding the cyclical development of shell-form 

 and ornament in the evolution of the ammonite test 

 are illustrated by a series of tables accompanied 

 by explanatory text. 



No one engaged in ammonite studies can afford 

 to dispense with this work, which deserves gener- 

 ous support. It is to be hoped that the issue 

 of the succeeding volume may not be long 

 deferred. 



TOPOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 



(1) From Pole to Pole. A Book for Young 

 People. By Sven Hedin. Pp. xiv-r407 + 

 xxxix plates. (London: Maemillan and Co., 

 Ltd., 1912.) Price 75. 6d. net. 



(2) Highways and Byways in Somerset. By 

 E. Hutton. With Illustrations by Nellv 

 Erichsen. Pp. xviii + 4io,+ map. (London: 

 Maemillan and Co. , Ltd., 1912.) Price 5s. net. 



NO. 2268, VOL. 91] 



(3) A History of Geographical Discovery in 

 the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. 

 By E. Heawood. Pp. xii + 475. (Cam- 

 bridge University Press, 1912.) Price 12s. 6d. 

 net. 



(4) New Trails in Mexico. An Account of One 

 Year's Exploration in North-western Sonora, 

 Mexico, and South-western Arizona, 1909-10. 

 By Carl Lumholtz. Pp. xxv + 41 1 + plates. 

 (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1912.) Price 155. 

 net. 



IX. 



young readers primarily, is conceived on 

 no very formal lines. It is evidently intended to 

 convey, by means of a light descriptive style, a 

 series of impressions or mental pictures of different 

 regions of the world, rather than to instruct in 

 details. Naturally enough, his text is based in 

 great measure on his own travels, and in the first 

 and larger of the two parts into which the book 

 is divided we find a good deal of personal narra- 

 tive which cannot fail to attract youthful readers ; 

 withal it will serve an educational purpose of no 

 little value as giving an idea of the objects and 

 methods of scientific exploration. In this first 

 part we are conducted across Europe from Stock- 

 holm to Constantinople, thence into Persia, India, 

 central Asia, China, Japan, and homeward. In 

 the second part, Africa, the Americas, the South 

 Seas, and the polar regions are given more brief, 

 and in truth less satisfactory, treatment, mainly 

 by means of a choice of individual salient 

 features for description, or isolated facts of 

 history. There are some sketch-maps and good 

 photographs. 



(2) Readers who know the peculiar charm of 

 Mr. Hutton 's writing on English topography will 

 expect much of a volume of the " Highways and 

 Byways " series bearing his name. They will not 

 be disappointed, for his volume on Somerset must 

 be one of the most pleasant in the series to read. 

 Moreover, along with evidence of deep historical 

 research they will find here and there signs that 

 the author possesses the scientific eye for topo- 

 graphy, as when he describes the isle and vale of 

 Avalon in their physical relationship, and discusses 

 the former as it may have appeared when an 

 island in fact. Miss Nelly Erichsen 's work as an 

 illustrator is no less welcome than familiar, and 

 the choice of subjects seems excellent, each picture 

 justifying its inclusion by its relationship to the 

 text. 



(3) The textual standard of the Cambridge 

 Geographical series — which is higher than the 

 mechanical standard of printing and binding — is 

 well maintained in Mr. Heawood 's volume. The 



