May 17, 1906] 



NA TURE 



53 



gr;iph without previously enlisting: the services of 

 a trained morpholoj,Mst, with special knowledge of the 

 group, to correct and revise the introduction and the 

 morphological details in the description of the genera. 

 A monograph written by Mr. Cash, wilh the co- 

 operation of a good morphologist, might have been 

 one of really first-rate importance. As it now appears, 

 however, useful as it may be in some respects and 

 valuable in others, it is not complete, and docs not 

 constitute a serious advance of knowledge. 



OVR BOOK SHELI-. 



I'hysikalisch-chemisches Ccntralblatt. Band i. .ind 



ii. (in parts). (Berlin : Borntraeger, 1903-1905.) 

 W'f have received the first two volumes of the above 

 MTial, the first number of which was issued on 

 December 15, 1903, twenty-four parts and authors' 

 .ind subject indexes appearing annually. Besides 

 Ihe (ierman title, the cover bears the titles " Physico- 

 Chemical Review" and "Revue physico-chimique," 

 and the abstracts of French and English papers are 

 given in the respective languages, all others being in 

 (ierman. 



The periodical is edited by Dr. Max Rudolphi, of 

 Darmstadt, with the coUahioration of chemists and 

 phvsicists in various parts of the world, London being 

 represented by Sir W. Ramsay. Most, if not all, of 

 the papers abstracted would doubtless be found to be 

 noticed in other publications, and although the multi- 

 plication of such serials is not to be commended, this 

 one may appeal to physical chemists who prefer 

 to find abstracts on their own subjects separated from 

 those of general physics and of inorganic and organic 

 chemistry. In order that the serial should be useful 

 to workers, it is necessary that the abstracts should 

 be given as soon as possible after the publication of 

 Ihe original papers from which they are taken. It 

 would not be just to criticise a serial in its infancy, 

 but some of the abstracts mght have appeared earlier ; 

 possibly their publication has been unavoidably de- 

 layed, and as time progresses the cause of this 

 reproach will be removed. The periodical is well 

 printed and contains many tabulated results. 



The Philosophy of Martineau in Relation to the 

 Idealism of the Present Day. By Prof. Henry 

 Jones. Pp. 37. (London : Macmillan and Co., 

 Ltd., 1905.) Price is. net. 

 This thoughtful and eloquent address, originally de- 

 livered at the celebration of the Martineau centenary, 

 contains much more about absolute idealism than 

 about the philosophic system of the great Unitarian 

 preacher. Prof. Jones, after pointing out the close 

 agreement between Martineau and the Idealists in 

 several respects, finds his text in the division made 

 at the beginning of " Types of Ethical Theory " 

 between systems that start with nature or God, and 

 those that start with the spirit of man. .Absolute 

 idealism, of course, ranks under the former head, and 

 the idiopsychological ethics of Martineau under the 

 latter. So in the remainder of the paper the doctrines 

 of absolute idealism are re-stated in a form such as 

 might rob Martineau's chief objections of their force — 

 the objections, in particular, that ethical interests are 

 not conserved, and that a refusal to sever man from 

 nature and God means that man is merged into them 

 and lost within them. Whether the reader will think 

 this re-statement absolutely convincing or not will 

 probably depend on his previous sympathies. Prof. 

 Jones takes occasion, in passing, to notice the 



NO. 1907, VOL. 74] 



similarity of Dr. James Ward's " activity " and 

 Martineau's " free will " as philosophic explanations, 

 and takes occasion, too, as in many other recent 

 utterances, to have one or two clever flings at the 

 Pragmatists. 



The Romance of the South Seas. By Clement L. 

 Wragge. Pp. xv + 312, with 84 illustrations. 

 (London : Chatto and Windus, 1906.) Price ys. 6d. 

 net. 



In connection with Mr. Wragge's work as Govern- 

 ment Meteorologist of Oueensland, he paid a visit to 

 New Caledonia, wilh the view of establishing a 

 weather-observing station there. In this book he gives 

 ;m account of his visit to the island, and also to Raro- 

 tonga and Tahiti. We wish there were more inform- 

 ;ition in the book about the meteorological results of 

 liis journey. The volume contains instead simply a 

 chatty account of the islands; and the most interest- 

 ing matter is the author's visit to the convict prisons 

 in New Caledonia. .At Tahiti he paid a pilgrimage 

 to Point Venus, where Cook on June 3, 1769, observed 

 the transit of Venus. The author is enthusiastic over 

 the scenery in both islands, and the only thing that 

 justifies the mention of " romance " in the title is the 

 spell of their scenery. The author's style is very di.s- 

 cursivc, and the book is full of smoke-room gossip 

 and snatches of sailors' songs. It is illustrated by 

 some good photographs, and in an appendix is a list 

 of .some shells and corals which the author collected 

 in the Society Islands. 



77a' Wild Fauna and Flora of the Rovnl Botanic 

 Gardens, /vcil'. Kezv Bulieiin of Miscellaneous 

 Information, additional series v. Pp. vii-t-223. 

 Edited by Sir William Thiselton-Dyer. (London : 

 H.M. Stationery Oflice, 1906.) Price 2s. 



This volume is the combined work of a number of 

 well-known zoologists and botanists, each of whom has 

 made a special section the subject of his own investi- 

 gation ; it ought, therefore, to be exhaustive and trust- 

 worthy, as indeed it appears to be. The chief interest 

 attaching to a catalogue of this nature is in relation 

 to the important evidence it will afford in the future 

 as to how a country fauna and flora become 

 gradually modified as their surroundings become 

 altered with the incoming of suburban conditions. 

 Many such changes have already taken place in the 

 animal and vegetable products of Kew ; and many 

 more are likely to take place in the near future. One 

 of the most remarkable instances of adaptation to new 

 conditions in the London parks and gardens generally 

 is afforded by the wood-pigeon, which in the country 

 is one of the wildest and shiest of all birds. .A con- 

 servative spirit — possibly in the case of the mammals 

 a little too conservative — we arc glad to see, obtains 

 in the matter of nomenclature. R. L. 



Physical Chemistry, and its .Ipplicalions in Medical 

 and Biological Science. By Dr. .Alex. Findlay. 

 Pp. 68. (London : Longmans, Green and Co., 

 1905.) 2S. net. 

 This little book makes its appearance at an opportune 

 moment, for no one engaged in biological work can 

 now neglect the teachings of physical chemistry, and 

 the great influence which this branch is exercising on 

 the development of the biological sciences. It is just 

 the sort of work the physiologist, pathologist, bac- 

 teriologist, and scientific medical practitioner need — 

 brief and at the same time dealing in a simple manner 

 with fundamental facts. The author thus reviews 

 diffusion, osmosis, cryoscopic methods, and the study 



