5io 



NA TURE 



[October 14, 1922 



movement of the eyeball from side to side. The treat- 

 ment is in general more wordy than is desirable, but 

 the work brings together in an accessible form a large 

 amount of information hitherto buried in memoirs, 

 published in most cases abroad. 



Our Homeland Prehistoric Antiquities, and How to 



Study Them. By W. (',. Clarke. (The Homeland 

 Pocket Books, No. 13.) Pp. 139 + plates. (London : 

 The Homeland Association, Ltd.. 37-3S Maiden Lane, 

 1922.) 4s. (>d. net. 



.Mr. Clarke's little handbook on the prehistoric 

 antiquities of Britain covers the whole subject from 

 Eoliths to the Iron Age. One of its main objects, how- 

 ever, is to help the novice to discriminate between stones 

 shaped by natural forces and those chipped by man. 

 In so far as this is possible by means of the printed 

 word, Mr. Clarke is a good guide, while his practical 

 hints on where and how to look for implements will be 

 of great assistance to those taking up field work for 

 the first time. As it covers so wide a field the treat- 

 ment is necessarily summary, while in dealing with 

 controversial points conclusions are stated dogmatic- 

 ally, which, in a more ambitious work, would require 

 extended discussion. For this reason, Mr. Clarke 

 must be forgiven some over-hasty statements. The 

 amount of information which he has succeeded in con- 

 densing into so small a compass is remarkable. There 

 are few subjects connected with prehistoric peoples of 

 these islands, whether it be their implements, their 

 dwellings, or their modes of life, about which the 

 beginner will not find sufficient information here to 

 open a path to further study, and this, in a book of 

 this type, is in itself a great achievement. 



Homo (Os Modernos Estudos sobre a Origem do Homem.) 

 By Prof. A. A. Mendes Correa. Pp. 318. (Lisboa ; 

 Porto ; Coimbra : Lumen Empresa Internacional 

 Editora, 1921.) n.p. 



In this country the work of Portuguese anthropologists 

 is not too widely known ; vet it is deserving of more 

 attention than it receives. In prehistoric archaeology 

 and somatology, investigations are being carried on 

 which, if not considerable in bulk, are of some 

 importance for students of European ethnology. We 

 therefore welcome the opportunity of directing 

 attention to this book by Prof. Mendes Correa, in 

 which the most recent discoveries and hypotheses 

 relating to the origin and descent of man are critically 

 discussed. Each chapter deals with some one aspect 

 of the problem, beginning with "the animal origin of 

 man," and passing on to " evolution, " the evidence 

 of palaeontology, Pithecanthropus ereetus, the skeletal 

 remains of prehistoric man, anthropogenesis, and a 

 detailed exposition of the neo-monogenistic point of 

 view. It is interesting to note that the author, in the 

 case of the Trinil and Piltdown remains, adheres to 

 the view in the former that the fragment of skull 

 is simian and the femur human, and in the latter that 

 the cranium is human and the jaw simian. A final 

 chapter summarises the author's views, published else : 

 in the influence of environment in the formation 

 1 and reviews the problems which await elucida- 

 tion by further discoveries. 



NO. 2763, VOL. I 10] 



Sound : An Elementary Text-book for Schools and 

 Colleges. By Dr. J. W. Capstick. (Cambridge 

 Physical Series.) Second edition. Pp. viii + 303. 

 (Cambridge : At the University Press, 1922.) -js. 6d. 

 In the second edition of Dr. Capstick's text-book of 

 sound, a chapter has been added giving an outline of 

 some of the more important applications of acoustics 

 to military operations during the war of 1914-18. 

 The author is not very successful in eonveving in the 

 fewest possible words a clear idea of the apparatus 

 "employed, and his descriptions would have been im- 

 proved by the use of diagrams. It must, however, 

 be pointed out that some of the diagrams in the earlier 

 chapters are by no means perfect. In Fig. 95 the 

 pendulum would quickly damage the mercurv cup, 

 and it is doubtful whether the Bell telephone in Fig. 

 99 would have been recognised by its inventor. The 

 granular transmitter, inadequately illustrated on page 

 222, does not serve in this primitive form as a suitable 

 microphone for use in a hydrophone. The author has 

 obviously made a slip when he says that in signalling 

 under water the sound is received by a submerged 

 microphone similar to a receiving telephone. In spite 

 of some defects the volume will sen e a useful purpose 

 as a class-book for schools. 



Sewerage and Sewage Disposal: A Textbook. By L. 

 Metcalf and H. P. Eddy. Pp. xiv + 59S. (New 

 York and London: McGraw-Hill Bonk Co., Inc., 

 1922.) 25s. net. 



The volume before us is the work of the authors of a 

 three-volume treatise on " American Sewerage Prac- 

 tice," and is the result of a demand for a shorter book 

 suitable for students who have not a great deal of time 

 to devote to this subject. The early sections of the 

 book deal with the main outlines of the problem of 

 sewerage — the quantity of sewage to be expected, 

 storm water, hydraulics, etc. Methods of surveying 

 and excavating are then treated, together with the 

 details of carrying out the work. The later sections 

 deal with the chemical and biological characteristics of 

 sewage and with disposal methods. There is a chapter 

 on cost-estimating at the end of the volume. The 

 authors are engineers whose practice brings them into 

 intimate contact with the matters treated ; this is 

 reflected in their book, which cannot fail to be of 

 service to students, British as well as American. The 

 volume is profusely illustrated and is thoroughly up- 

 to-date. There are some useful graphs, among which 

 we note one giving the discharge of egg-shaped sewers 

 running full depth, which is based on Kutter's formula. 



Manuel de toiimage du bois. Par Ilippolyte Gaschet. 

 (Bibliotheque Professionnelle.) Pp. 248. (Paris : 

 J.-B. Bailliere et Fils, 1922.) 10 francs net, 



A very good account of the tools used and the methods 

 employed in wood-turning is given in this little 

 volume, which will be found to be supplementary, in 

 some respects, to English works on the same subject. 

 The language difficulty will probably prevent the book 

 from reaching the hands of many young workers in 

 this country, but manual instructors should find it 

 useful, especially in view of the graduated series of 

 exercises which is included at the end of the volume. 



