294 



NA TURE 



[July 26, 1906 



that the poetry of one age necessarily reproduces the 

 thoughts and modes of expression of previous ages. 



It thus appears that the method of treatment which 

 undoubtedly was admirably adapted to the study of 

 the Greek and Roman period becomes less and less 

 satisfactory as the present day is approached. The 

 early chapters are, therefore, by far the most interest- 

 ing. They deal with the effects of Christianity in 

 turning man's thoughts from the things of this world 

 to spiritual matters, and with the revival of the feeling 

 for nature among the German races, who, living in 

 a northern climate, were naturally led to appreciate 

 and value the beauties associated with the coming of 

 summer. But it may be reasonably urged that 

 evidence of later-day developments of the feeling for 

 nature should be sought in science rather than in 

 art, in the interest taken in the study of natural 

 phenomena rather than in the recantation of praises 

 of sunshine, sea, and the nightingale's song. 



It is fairly certain that if some readers do not find 

 this book as interesting as they expect, there will be 

 others who will enjoy its perusal more than this review 

 suggests, and we may safely apply to Prof. Biese the 

 Yorkshire quotation, " He did his best and he couldn't 

 ■do owt else." 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 A Handbook of York and District. Prepared for the 



Seventy-fifth Meeting of the British .Association for 



the .\dvanccment of Science, 1906. Edited by Dr. 



G. .\. Auden. Pp. xvi-t-36s. (York: J. Sampson, 



1906.) 

 The handbook which has been prepared for the benefit 

 of those attending the forthcoming meeting of the 

 British -Association at York will be found to be exceed- 

 ingly useful. The volume is neatly bound and printed 

 on s'uitable paper, is of the size now usually adopted 

 by the local committees, and has a most appropriate 

 design on the cover. Undoubtedly most of the 

 members attending the York meeting will take an 

 interest in the relics of the past with which this 

 ancient city abounds. It is natural, therefore, that 

 by far the greater portion of the book should be de- 

 voted to a description of the various antiquities from 

 prehistoric to mediseva! times. The editor. Dr. 

 .\uden, describes the prehistoric remains, Mr. H. M. 

 Platnauer refers to the relics of the Roman and 

 Danish occupations, and other writers continue the 

 story. 



rile second part of the volume, which is restricted 

 10 100 pages, contains an account of the geology, 

 I'otany, /oology, and meteorology of York and dis- 

 trict, and, as might be expected from the space 

 -■illotted, this part of the work is much more con- 

 densed, and is not so readable as the earlier portion. 

 The Rev. W. Johnson describes the geology of the 

 district in a chapter exceedingly brief, possibly due 

 to the fact that " the geology of York is, in one 

 sense, of the simplest kind." Dr. W. G. Smith, of 

 the Leeds University, gives an interesting general 

 survey of the botanical features of the district. This 

 chapter is particularly appropriate in view of tlie lead- 

 ing part being played by Dr. Smith and his colleagues 

 in Yorkshire in reference to botanical survey. Lists 

 of (lowering plants, alga?, fungi, Hepaticae, Sphag- 

 naceae, Musci Veri ; mammals, birds, reptiles, 

 amphibians, fishes, beetles, butterflies, moths, and 

 land and fresh-water shells are given by various York 



NO. 191 7, VOL. 74] 



workers. In most cases, unfortunately, the exigences 

 of space prevent much more than lists of species, but 

 it can be safely said that this portion of the handbook 

 forms an epitome of the natural history of the dis- 

 trict. Mr. J. E. Clark brings the volume to a close 

 by some meteorological notes. 



There are three maps sent with the volume, all of 

 which are excellent. It was a happy thought to re- 

 produce Skaife's archaeological map of York, and 

 with the help of the Ordnance Survey department a 

 really charming map of the greater part of Yorkshire 

 is produced. The third is obviously principally for 

 the use of the geological section, and is coloured so 

 as to show the glacial lakes, moraines, &c. 



T. S. 



Bacteria in Relation to Plant Diseases. By Erwin 

 F. Smith. Vol. i. (Washington, D.C. : Carnegie 

 Institute, 1905.) Pp. xii + 285. 

 .-\n authoritative account of bacterial pl.int diseases 

 has long been a desideratum, and no investigator 

 more competent than Mr. Erwin Smith, of the LT.S. 

 Department of .Agriculture, who has himself made 

 important original contributions to the subject, could 

 be found to undertake such a task. The bacterial 

 diseases of plants are, however, only incidentally 

 mentioned in this, the first volume of the work, which 

 is mainly devoted to methods of investigation and to 

 a bibliography of the general literature of bacterio- 

 logy, exclusive of plant diseases. As a guide to 

 general bacteriological methods we know no better, 

 though, as it is a preliminary to plant bacteriology, 

 methods specially applicable to pathogenic organisms 

 attacking men and animals are necessarily not to 

 be found. Sterilisation, the preparation of culture 

 media, methods of infection, the investigation of 

 chemical products, keeping of records, and equipment 

 of the laboratory are all dealt with very fully, explan- 

 atory figures being used liberally. A considerable 

 section is also devoted to an account of photomicro- 

 graphy. The difTicult question of the nomenclature 

 and classification of bacteria is critically discussed at 

 considerable length, and forms an excellent summary 

 of the whole subject. -At the end of the volume a 

 number of useful formute for stains, etc., is collected, 

 and the bibliography, which extends over sixty-four 

 pages, and index complete the work. The volume is 

 excellently illustrated with thirty-one plates and 146 

 figures in the text. We congratulate Mr. Smith on 

 this, the first, though perhaps the easier, portion of 

 his task, and shall await the appearance of the next 

 volume with considerable interest. 



R. T. Hewlett. 



Outlines of Zoology. By Prof. J. -A. Thomson. 



Fourth edition, revised and enlarged. Pp. xix-l-856. 



(Edinburgh and London : A'oung J. Pentland, 1906.) 



Price i^s. 

 This book has very great positive merits and very 

 slight defects. Though it is packed with facts, and 

 can be recommended to students preparing for ex- 

 aminations, vet it is never dull. Prof. Thomson de- 

 scribes animals, not as corpses, but as living creatures 

 with interesting habits that depend largely on their 

 structure. The method leads to expansion, and yet 

 this excellent zoological text-book is a single royal 

 octavo of hardly more than eight hundred pages. 

 Though our author, to use an -American term, 

 " enthuses " his readers, he does not waste words 

 over it. 



In his general survey in the first chapter he begins 

 with monkeys, as being the animals most like man, 

 and works down to the Protozoa. In the body of the 

 book, reversing the order, he proceeds from the lowest 



