374 



NATURE 



[June 12, 191 3 



quite attractive as a gift-book, though twenty 

 lines in cockney from Kipling's "Mandalay" 

 will convey more of Asia than all the mediocre 

 verse that is so freely quoted in its pages. 



(3) The essential difference between the compact 

 and detailed geography written by Messrs. Salis- 

 bury, Barrows, and Tower and the numerous 

 recent American works on physical geography and 

 physiography lies in the fact that this new book is 

 mainly concerned with human relations to the 

 earth's surface. But the groundwork of physical 

 conditions is well laid. No attempt is made to 

 describe the continents or the oceans, and this 

 duty is probably left to the well-trained teacher 

 and his wall-maps. Features met with on the 

 earth are referred to their causes, and their effect 

 on human enterprise is always kept in view. The 

 United States are naturally selected as a ground- 

 work for the illustration of general principles; but 

 the book will serve admirably elsewhere in show- 

 ing how teaching may be developed on these lines. 

 "The need of salt," we are told (p. 1S3), "helped 

 to hold most of the American colonists near the 

 Atlantic coast for a long - time." A quantity of salt 

 that would now sell for some 30 cents cost 6(. iox. 

 west of the Appalachian Mountains in 1778. The 

 general benefits resulting from the continental ice- 

 invasion are described on p. 265. Soils are 

 adequately dealt with, and the last 150 pages are 

 concerned with such subjects as " the uses and 

 problems of inland waters," irrigation, life in 

 deserts and great forests, and the causes of the 

 distribution of population. The book shows 

 throughout how the problems of man's existence 

 on the earth are fundamentally due to climate 

 and topographic features. It provides, in fact, 

 the kind of geography which every citizen should 

 understand, whether he is developing a local 

 industry or extending the borders of an empire. 



(4) The three years spent by Mr. Falls with 

 his cousin, Monsignor Kaufmann, in the Libyan 

 desert were devoted to the discovery and excava- 

 tion of the early Christian sanctuary of St. Menas. 

 Incidentally, features of the desert and of the soda- 

 lakes are described ; but the interest is naturally 

 archaeological. The photograph (p. 120) of a 

 Beduin with his gun, seated in the waste of cut 

 stone that represents a lost city of the empire, 

 is one of those impressive scenes that the camera 

 most convincingly records. But behind the camera 

 is needed the artist with the right imaginative 

 perception. The author mentions incidentally that 

 photographs can be taken from a camel-saddle. 

 As a matter of fact, this high seat is ideal for a 

 preliminary survey, and would probably be of ser- 

 vice in the African bush, in place of viewing the 

 landscape from occasional ant-hills. 



Miss Lee's translation is usually clear and 

 simple ; but we have doubts about the " fields " of 

 mica on p. 57, while the account of snake-charm- 

 ing on pp. 303 and 304 is very puzzling. What 

 are we to make of a " happy presentation " of 

 snakes, or nf " the Moses rod was only useful on 

 the ground " ? 



G. A. J. C. 



NO. 2276, VOL. 91] 



THE BIRMINGHAM MEETING OE THE 

 BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 

 Arrangements for the Meeting. 

 THE Birmingham meeting of the British 

 Association next September promises to be 

 a notable one. Already more members have agreed 

 to attend than has been the case at the corre- 

 sponding period for the last few years, and the 

 secretaries expect that the number both of local 

 and of visiting members and associates together 

 will reach 3000. But size, though an element in 

 rendering the meeting notable, is not of the first 

 importance, and it is the importance of the pro- 

 nouncements made during the sessions which more 

 than anything else stamps a meeting as of signal 

 value. This may well be the case in Birming- 

 ham. The most important statement of the meet- 

 ing is usually the presidential address, and since 

 as president we are to have the principal of the 

 Birmingham University, we may expect that Sir 

 Oliver Lodge will deliver a notable pronouncement. 



As a place of meeting Birmingham enjoys 

 almost, perhaps quite, unrivalled facilities. Not 

 merely is it centrally and accessibly situated, but 

 its main buildings are placed unusually con- 

 veniently to one another, to the stations, and to 

 the residential districts. A corridor or a street 

 only intervene, as a rule, between two sections, 

 so that the time often lost in passing from one 

 section-room to another is here gained. 



The centre of this system of sections is the 

 reception room. This room serves almost every 

 purpose except the one which its name implies. 

 It is the bureau of information and headquarters 

 of the association for the time being. It serves 

 as the general meeting-ground, post-office, and 

 place of supply of publications. On these ac- 

 counts the town hall has been chosen, as being 

 close to the railway and tram system. 



Radiating from the town hall as a nucleus are 

 the buildings in which the business of the associa- 

 tion is transacted. The city council chamber will 

 serve for the meetings of council, of the general 

 committee, and of the committee of recommenda- 

 tions, the last being the financial body that allo- 

 cates the grants of the association. The 

 University building, Mason College, will contain 

 eight out of the thirteen sections, and in addition 

 there will be here a ladies' room, the Press bureau, 

 the president's room, and the quarters of the 

 permanent officers. Queen's College (no longer 

 appertaining to the University) will lodge the 

 economic section in its examination hall. The 

 small lecture theatre of the Midland Institute 

 will serve for the geographical section, whilst the 

 closing meeting and probably the meetings of 

 delegates will take place in the large theatre. In 

 the Technical School, Suffolk Street, the sections 

 devoted to engineering and chemistry will find 

 their headquarters. Lastly, anthropology has its 

 meeting room in the Temperance Hall, Temple 

 Street, and is therefore the only outlving section. 



Among men of science from abroad who have 

 accepted invitations to the meeting are : — Prof. 



