644 



NATURE 



[February 13, igi- 



the exact meaning of the importance to be attached 

 to the climatic factor. 



A tendency observed in other American text- 

 books is also to be noticed in this — that of intro- 

 ducing details which can scarcely be considered to 

 have any relation with geography, even following 

 the widest connotation of that term. The very 

 close details of output in the economic chapters 

 provide an illustration in point, valuable as they 

 are, no doubt, in themselves. This book is very 

 fully illustrated ; many both of the diagrams and 

 of the views are on too small a scale to fulfil 

 their purposes properly. 



(2) The "Geography of the British Empire," by 

 Prof. Herbertson and Mr. Thompson, is arranged 

 on a simple descriptive plan, and illustrated with a 

 very large number of sketch-maps mostly showing 

 very clearly the special points which they are in- 

 tended to show, though not all are free from the 

 charge of over-reduction. The book is of an 

 elementary character, and little or no endeavour Is 

 made to deal with the inter-relation of the various 

 parts of the Empire, though these are treated in- 

 dividually with a due sense of proportion. This 

 proportionate treatment, within the compass of 

 one volume, is In itself a valuable educational 

 achievement, Indicaling what should be the first 

 object of geographical teaching in British schools. 

 It may be regretted, perhaps, that the coloured 

 physical maps are confined to the representation 

 of the British Isles. 



(3) The Cambridge County Geographies have 

 unquestionably improved since the Inception 

 of the series, and Mr. \'alentine's volume on 

 Forfarshire maintains the standard. In general 

 reputation for scenic and kindred interests the 

 eastern counties of Scotland have suffered in con- 

 trast with the western, yet Forfarshire Is an area 

 possessing many natural beauties, both on the 

 coast and Inland : Its archceologlcal Interests are 

 considerable, and its economic importance is high. 

 All these aspects are clearly illustrated, both 

 textually and by means of photographs, though 

 the statistics freely quoted in the economic connec- 

 tion will not long maintain their value. The de- 

 scriptions of ancient remains and buildings (for 

 which Forfar is scarcely surpassed by any other 

 Scottish county) are specially good. 



(4) Mr. Sheppard provides a complete physical 

 and historical setting for his study of the villages 

 of Holderness which have been destroyed by the 

 encroachment of the sea on the land. He cites 

 authorities very fully, and has Investigated old 

 maps with great care; there is a chapter on these, 

 with a number of reproductions, some of which 

 have been reduced so far that not only the 



NO. 2259, VOL. 90] 



minutiae, but also the more salient features, are 

 lost ; In such cases the reproduction of the per- 

 tinent section of the map on a larger scale would 

 have been preferable. There are many appropriate 

 photographs and reproductions of old prints. In 

 one respect the title of the book does less than 

 justice to Its scope, for the last six chapters are 

 descriptive of the East Riding generally, and will 

 serve as a useful guide to that district. 



The books by Mr. Valentine and Mr. Sheppard 

 both contain, as it happens, an explanation of the 

 word "shire " ; the two writers curiously disagree 

 on the point. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



Photograplty of To-day. By H. Chapman Jones. 



Pp. 342 + plates. (London: Seeley, Service, 



and Co., Ltd., 1913.) Price 5s. net. 

 There are a variety of text-books of photography 

 In the market, one of which is by Mr. Chapman 

 Jones. On turning to the work under review, 

 to our great relief it Is found to be of a totally 

 different character from the ordinary variety. It 

 contains no formula for developers or for anything 

 else, but Is what It professes to be — "a popular 

 account of the origin, progress and latest dis- 

 coveries In the photographer's art, told in non- 

 technical language " — and is illustrated with 

 excellent illustrations of pictorial art, and with 

 some passable diagrams. The author commences 

 with light and its effects, then continues with 

 lenses, and follows on with a short history of 

 photography told in a bright and readable manner. 



The history of photography before the use of 

 gelatine is cut rather short, but perhaps it Is well, 

 as those who read the work will, as a rule, be 

 those who use a Kodak — the "press the button 

 and we do the rest " kind of people. To such photo- 

 graphers the chapters on the gelatine process will 

 be read with pleasure, and will at all events enable 

 them to talk rationally about their hobby, which 

 is seldom the case at present, with few exceptions, 

 and it may i)e that by rending it they may wish 

 to "press the button " and do the rest themselves. 

 The printing processes are fully described, as are 

 instantaneous photography and telephotography. 

 Truth and error in photography have a chapter 

 devoted to them. There is a saying as to "lying 

 like a photograph." Mr. Chapman Jones lets 

 photography down easily in this respect. 



The author has produced a book which It is a 

 pleasure to read, and with some small omissions 

 has carried out its intention admirably. Allusion 

 has already been made to the illustrations, which 

 are all distinctly good. It would have been inter- 

 esting If he had told us the method adopted of 

 reproducing the picture of the frontispiece, "A 

 Rainbow from an .'Vutochrome," in more detail 

 than he does. We can recommend the book to 

 all, more especially to those who are not expert 

 photographers. 



