246 



NA TURE 



[August 19, 1922 



In the chapters dealing with meteorology, biology, 

 oceanography, and economics the relations of these 

 subjects to geography and the material which geo- 

 graphy can and must derive from them for its own 

 study is fully discussed. On the subject of maps and 

 map-reading the book contains excellent advice. 

 " The practical study of maps must entail the art of 

 map-reading." " The map must be interpreted." 



Many will disagree with the authors' application of 

 the term historical geography. Some historical events 

 depend for their complete interpretation on a know- 

 ledge of geography, but this is not historical geography ; 

 it is merely history fully understood. It is possible, 

 however, in theory at least, to reconstruct for each 

 region the geography of past epochs and to see for 

 that area not merely the evolution of its history, but 

 what is much more comprehensive, the evolution of its 

 geography. This is historical geographv. 



The book should do much to remove the many 

 anomalies which exist in the school study of the subject. 



Within the Atom : A Popular View of Electrons and 

 Quanta. By John Mills. Pp. xiii + 215. (London: 

 G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd., n.d.) 6s. net. 

 What can a scientific reviewer say about books like 

 this on " popular science " ? Mr. Mills, who has quite 

 a competent knowledge of his subject, sets out to 

 initiate those who have no knowledge of physics and 

 chemistry (and apparently no intention of acquiring it) 

 into the mysteries of modern atomic theory. Of course 

 the task is utterly impossible. Scientific theories serve 

 mainly to explain facts, and those who have no know- 

 ledge of those facts can grasp little of their real mean- 

 ing. Such satisfaction as they can obtain must be 

 wholly different from that of the earnest student, who, 

 even if he admits the morality of an attempt to delude 

 the laity into the belief that they can appreciate 

 scientific work without serious study, can never be in 

 a position to judge whether an author has been success- 

 ful in tickling the palates of his readers in the manner 

 they desire. 



However, from the sale of similar works we imagine 

 that there are some who will appreciate the mixed fare 

 set before them. Very mixed it is, ranging from a 

 conversation (in the spirit, but not the style, of the 

 celestial dialogues of Faust) between the author, an 

 electron, energy and the reader to a more or less sober 

 discussion of the difficulties of interpreting X-ray 

 spectra. Indeed we find a certain inconsistency in our 

 author's attitude ; if he is prepared to make such a 

 concession to sensationalism as to assert that the 

 nucleus is smaller than the electrons which it contains, 

 he need not have boggled over many quite minor 

 difficulties which seem to us to occupy a dispropor- 

 tionate space. But then, as we said, we are clearly 

 not in a position to judge. 



Siid-Bayem. Von R. H. France. (Junk's Natur- 

 Fiihrer.) Pp. v + 423. (Berlin: W. Junk, 1922.) 

 M. 32 and 150 per cent " Valutazuschlag." 

 It is pleasant to think that the State of Bavaria was not 

 dismembered by the great European peace, and we 

 regret that Dr. France's scientific guide-book could not 

 extend a little northward, so as to include the pateon- 

 tological treasures of Eichstatt and the cauldron- 



NO. 2755, VOL - l IO ] 



subsidence of the Ries. But the finest landscapes of 

 the country await the traveller across the southern 

 glacial plain. There is much, indeed, to detain him on 

 the " Niederterrassenschotter " itself. Dr. France calls 

 attention, for example, to the forest of Ebersberg, 

 within easy reach for any botanist who visits Munich. 

 Here the climatic change in modern Germany may be 

 traced in the decay of the giant oaks in the eighteenth 

 century, in the subsequent dwindling of the beeches, 

 and in the present predominance of conifers, under 

 which wild tulips grow. The site of Munich raises 

 the puzzle of its apparent extinction in Roman times, 

 though Roman roads run through it, based on pre- 

 decessors built by Celtic engineers. The rapid rivers 

 are themselves worth watching, as they stream from 

 the Alps across the glacial deltas of the plainland. 

 With this book as a companion, the naturalist will 

 finally cross the old lake-floor to Partenkirchen, and 

 will stand under the crags of the Wetterstein well 

 content. G. A. J. C. 



In the Heart of Bantidand. By Dugald Campbell. 

 Pp. 313. (London : Seeley, Service and Co., Ltd., 

 1922.) 21s. net. 



Mr. Campbell provides his readers with an abundance 

 of good stories of big-game hunting, slave traders, and 

 natives and Europeans whom he has met in his twenty- 

 nine years of experience as a missionary. His travels 

 range from the Katanga and Angola to the shores of 

 Lake Nyassa. His use of the word " Bantuland," not 

 merely in his title but in the text, may be misleading 

 to the uninitiated, as he does not deal with all Bantu 

 peoples, but only with those within the limits men- 

 tioned. Even thus he is not always sufficiently explicit 

 in mentioning the tribe to which a particular custom 

 or belief appertains. Many of the peoples with whom 

 he deals are but little known, and his careful description 

 of their culture is a useful addition to our knowledge. 

 His account of secret societies of various types is 

 worthy of note. Mr. Campbell gives to native character 

 a tribute of admiration which is well deserved, as is 

 shown by instances of self-sacrifice and bravery, while 

 he has much to say of the political sagacity and instinct 

 for government displayed by some of the tribes and 

 their chiefs. 



The Technique of Psycho- Analysis. By Dr. David 

 Forsyth. Pp. viii+133. (London: Kegan Paul, 

 Trench, Triibner and Co., Ltd., 1922.) 5s. net. 



In his book on the technique of psycho-analysis Dr. 

 Forsyth deals, from the practical viewpoint, with a 

 subject which is full of difficulties for the beginner in 

 analytical work. The first chapter is devoted to a 

 consideration of the analyst himself ; the second deals 

 with the conditions under which the treatment should 

 proceed ; the remaining four chapters discuss the 

 actual analysis. Dream analysis is excluded as being 

 too big a subject for discussion in such a book, and the 

 reader is referred to Freud's " Interpretation of 

 Dreams " for the study of this side of analytical 

 treatment. 



Dr. Forsyth gives much practical advice which is 

 frequently omitted from literature on the theory and 

 practice of psycho-anal) r sis. 



