4io 



NA TURE 



[September 23, 1922 



to the various activities open to its members, and 

 emphasises the use of history in everyday work. 



The first paper given is entitled, " Introduction to the 

 Literature of Historical Engineering to the year 1640," 

 and to this is appended a valuable bibliography of 

 books relating to early inventions. Then follow 

 interesting papers on " The Rise and Fall of the 

 Sussex Iron Industry," " The Mystery of Trevithick's 

 London Locomotive," and " The Invention of Roller 

 Drawing in Cotton-spinning," all of which are illus- 

 trated by plates. The Transactions, which are well 

 printed, will appeal, we think, to the general reader as 

 well as the expert. 



Espace, Temps et Gravitation : la thhrie de la rela- 



tivite generalisee dans ses grandes lignes. Par Prof. 



A. S. Eddington. Ouvrage traduit de l'anglais. 



Par J. Rossignol. Pp. xii + 262 + iv + 149. (Paris: 



J. Hermann, 1921.) 28 francs net. 

 In the introduction which has been written for this 

 translation by Prof. P. Langevin we read : " Des que 

 m'est parvenu ce Livre ou M. Eddington reussit a 

 exposer de maniere a la fois si simple, si vivante et si 

 personnelle la marveilleuse transformation que le genie 

 d'Einstein a introduite dans les conceptions les plus 

 fondamentales de la Physique, j'ai pense qu'une 

 traduction en devait etre faite pour permettre au 

 public francais de partager la joie que sa lecture 

 m'avait fait eprouver. 



" Une demarche immediate m'apprit que l'initiative 

 avait ete prise quelques jours plus tot par M. Jean 

 Becquerel et que le travail etait commence dans les 

 conditions les plus favorables, puisque je n'aurais pu 

 proposer un meilleur choix que celui de M. Rossignol 

 pour le traducteur, et que M. Eddington voulait bien 

 s'assurer lui-meme que les nuances, souvent dedicates, 

 de sa pensee seraient fidelement rendues." 



The French edition of Prof. Eddington's well-known 

 book has thus appeared under ideal conditions, and it 

 would appear presumptuous were one to express an 

 opinion as to the merits of the translation. This 

 edition is of greater length than the original English 

 edition (see Nature, vol. 106, p. 822, 1921), as it has 

 been supplemented by a theoretical part in five sections 

 as follows : I. — Elementary Principles ; II. — The 

 Theory of Tensors ; III. — The Law of Gravitation ; 

 IV. — The Mechanics of Relativity ; V. — Electricity. 

 These sections are valuable additions to the original, 

 and awaken regret that they were not included in the 

 English edition. The translation will doubtless receive 

 a warm welcome from our French colleagues. 



Monograph of the Lacertidce. By Dr. G. A. Boulenger. 



Volumeii. Pp. viii + 451. (London: British Museum 



(Natural History), 1921.) 3/. 

 The " Monograph of the Lacertidas," by Dr. G. A. 

 Boulenger, the first volume of which was published 

 in 1920, is now completed by the issue of the second 

 and concluding volume. In collecting the materials 

 for this work Dr. Boulenger has not been content to 

 rely entirely on the resources of the British Museum, 

 but has travelled widely and far over all Europe and 

 examined the collections of all the principal Natural 

 History Museums. He has made a special point of 

 searching for and examining for himself the type 



NO. 2760, VOL. I IO] 



specimens of as many species as possible. The result 

 is a monograph based on the examination of an immense 

 material including the greater part of the actual type 

 specimens. 



Two features of this catalogue deserve special 

 mention. The present whereabouts of the type 

 specimens, where known, are given, information of 

 the greatest value to future workers, and a full list 

 of the specimens in the collections of the British Museum 

 gives at a glance the resources of that Institution 

 and should be particularly useful to specialists abroad. 



The monograph is at once the most complete and 

 the most authoritative on the Lacertidae that has yet 

 appeared, and will for a long time remain the standard 

 work on the subject. It is, we believe, the last piece 

 of work done by Dr. Boulenger in his official capacity 

 at the British Museum. It is a fitting climax to the 

 long series of catalogues and monographs on fishes, 

 amphibia, and reptiles which have marked his great 

 services to science at the British Museum. 



British Museum (Natural History) Economic Series, 

 No. 13. Mites Injurious to Domestic Animals (with 

 an Appendix on the Acarine Disease of Hive Bees). 

 By Stanley Hirst. Pp. 107. (London : British 

 Museum (Natural History), 1922.) 3s. 

 This profusely illustrated little book on the mites 

 infesting domestic animals is the thirteenth of the 

 series of pamphlets on economic entomology issued 

 by the British Museum (Natural History). Like its 

 predecessors, it is designed on strictly practical lines, 

 and the subject-matter cannot fail to appeal to a wide 

 circle of interested readers, from the systematic ento- 

 mologist and experimental pathologist to the breeder 

 and fancier, be it of horses, cattle, pigs, dogs, rabbits, 

 fowls, or bees. A little more than half of the book 

 is devoted to the important family Sarcoptidae and 

 the various species of mange for which members of 

 this family are responsible. Useful hints on the treat- 

 ment and management of infected stock are supplied, 

 and wherever these parasites have been known to 

 transfer their attentions to human beings, the fact 

 is mentioned. Parasites of this order may prove to 

 play an important part in the transmission of infectious 

 disease, not only from animal to animal but from animal 

 to man ; and to the medical or veterinary entomologist 

 searching for a possible transmitting agent of some 

 obscure animal plague, the accurate descriptions and 

 illustrations supplied in this book will be very helpful. 

 An interesting feature is the appendix devoted to the 

 description of " Isle of Wight " disease (Acarine 

 disease.of bees) and its causation by the mite Acarapis 

 woodi which inhabits the tracheal tubes of infected bees. 



The Changing Year. By Anthony Collett. Pp. viii 

 + 310. (London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd., 

 n.d.) 15.T. net. 

 Mr. Collett has done well to collect his delightful 

 Nature essays, originally contributed to the Times, 

 and to publish them in this more permanent form. 

 Thev are worthy of preservation, for Mr. Collett is 

 a field naturalist of first rank. He has a keen and 

 accurate eye for observation and an ear tuned to record 

 the music of Nature which he hears around him, and 

 he combines with these a gift of expressing what his 



