1922] 



NA TURE 



75 



local experience, such as Sir George Scott, Mr. La 

 Touche, and Dr. Coggin Brown ; and the result is a 

 reference work of exceptional value to prospectors 

 and commercial men. In addition to precise sum- 

 maries of the recorded information regarding each 

 mineral occurrence, the book contains a very useful 

 sketch of the physical geography, geology, history, 

 administrative systems and communications of Burma, 

 a full index to the local vernacular names in common 

 use, and a very full, o inveniently classified bibliography. 



The States?nan's Year-Book : Statistical and Historical 

 Annua! of the States of the World for the Year 1922. 

 Edited by Sir John Scott Keltie and Dr. M. Epstein. 

 59th Annual Publication. Revised after Official 

 Returns. Pp. xlvii + 1568. (London: Macmillan 

 and Co., Ltd., 1922.) 20s. net. 



The new edition of the " Statesman's Year-Book," which 

 appears earlier than usual this year, maintains all the 

 features that have gained for it a unique place among 

 volumes of reference. The number of independent 

 states has now been increased by the addition of 

 Egypt and Lithuania. Various secession states, the 

 status of which is not yet fully recognised, are still 

 grouped with their parent countries. The organisation 

 of the Irish Free State, together with the full Treaty 

 between Great Britain and Ireland, are given in the 

 introductory pages, which also furnish information 

 on the organisation of the League of Nations and the 

 Imperial and Washington Conferences. While the 

 whole volume has, as usual, been carefully revised, 

 special attention has been devoted to Russia and China. 

 We note some discrepancies in the figures for area 

 and population of the countries detached from Russia, 

 as given under the heading of Russia, and of those 

 countries respectively; but the last census returns in 

 this part of Europe were by no means complete. Two 

 coloured maps show the division of Upper Silesia by 

 the League of Nations and the Burgenland settlement 

 between Austria and Hungary. 



The Annual Register: A Review of Public Events at 

 [Ionic and Abroad lor the Year 1921. Pp. xii + 332 

 + 180. (London : Longmans, Green and Co,. 1922.) 

 305. net. 

 The scope of the " Annual Register " is well indicated 

 by its sub-title, and a truly remarkable amount of 

 information is gathered together within the covers of 

 the volume. Part 1 consists of some three hundred 

 pages, of which about half are devoted to events of 

 impi irtance occurring in England during the past year : a 

 large portion of this section deals with events in Ireland. 

 culminating with the Peace Conference in London and 

 the signature of the treaty of peace. The remainder 

 of Part 1 is devoted to brief summaries of outstanding 

 events in other countries of the world. Part 2 is of 

 a more general nature and contains, among other 

 items, a retrospect of science during the past year. 

 The section is divided into two parts dealing with the 

 biological and physical sciences respectively, and all 

 outstanding events in the world of science appear to 

 be mentioned. 



To cover the ground, the articles are of necessity 

 brief, but the whole is welded together so skilfully 

 that the volume, besides serving as a comprehensive 



NO. 2750, VOL. I 10] 



reference book for world affairs, provides an in- 

 teresting and readable account of man's activities 

 during the year 1921. 



Cotton Spinning. By W. Scott Taggart. Vol.11. Sixth 

 edition with Appendix. Pp. xv + 291. (London: 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1921.) &s. 6d. net. 

 It is not surprising that Mr. Scott Taggart's work on 

 " Cotton Spinning " should already be in its sixth 

 edition. Books of this type arrange themselves under 

 one of two heads — either they are " descriptive " 

 or they are " demonstrative " : rarely are they both. 

 This work, although by no means void of the " why " 

 and " wherefore " and the " for " and " against," is 

 mainly descriptive. Thus in dealing with the dis- 

 tribution of drafts on pages 259 to 266, " fibre move- 

 ment " does not seem to have been considered, with 

 the result that even here Mr. Taggart is in difficulties 

 in making theory fit with practice. But the treat- 

 ment of each section of the subject throughout is so 

 clear and concise that even the very limitations of the 

 treatment stand out clearly and thus are not dangerous. 

 This book should certainly lie in the hands, not only 

 of every cotton spinner, but of every spinner of materials 

 of a like nature. A. F. B. 



A History of the Association Psychology. By Prof. 



H. C. Warren. Pp. X + 328 + 1 chart. (London: 



Constable and Co., Ltd., 1921.) 165-. 

 Tin: volume under notice, by the well-known professor 

 of Princeton University, contains a great deal of 

 matter which cannot fail to be useful to the student, 

 and it is presented in a serviceable form. It is not, 

 however, as the title would lead us to expect, a history 

 of the movement in mental science which followed the 

 adoption of the empirical principles of Hume and 

 explained knowledge by the laws of association. — a 

 theory often described by its critics as psychological 

 atomism. It is rather an attempt to show that an 

 idea which has no history is to be discovered in all 

 the historical systems of philosophy. It begins with 

 the ancient philosophy of Greece and ends with an 

 account of some of the psychological experiments now 

 being conducted in college laboratories and reported 

 in current journals. 



Lubricating and Allied Oils. By E. A. Evans. Foreword 

 by Sir Charles Cheers Wakefield. (The Directly- 

 Useful Technical Series.) Pp. xv + 128. (London: 

 Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1921.) Price gs. 6d. net. 

 The greater part of this book is taken up with descrip- 

 tions of the physical and chemical tests usually carried 

 out on oils with the view of determining their com- 

 mercial value. Sufficient is given to enable the chemist 

 to carry out these tests in the orthodox manner and 

 to reduce the results. The book should also be of 

 value to the engineer, who must understand the 

 meaning of the experimental results : his requirements 

 are considered in later chapters on the selection of 

 lubricants and oils employed in practice. Most of tin- 

 existing works on lubrication and lubricants are too 

 comprehensive and technical to be of much service to 

 the user of oils, and the author of the present work is 

 to be commended for the brief and clear account of 

 the principal properties he has presented. 



