October 21, 192: 



NA TURE 



539 



the nation in a really profound manner. The author 

 spent four and a half years travelling through the 

 country, studying the habits and thoughts of the men 

 and women of the countryside, who were trained under 

 rural schoolmasters and village elders and are living 

 their life under the potent sway of long-established tradi- 

 tion. The modern industrial developments of factory 

 life are also depicted with a sure hand, and where there 

 is much to praise there is also much to condemn. For 

 example, the conditions under which silk-factory girls 

 work are little short of slavery, and would be impossible 

 in English-speaking countries. On these and other 

 deeper aspects of Japanese life the author evidently 

 speaks with knowledge. With real sympathy and 

 honesty he describes the present-day sociological con- 

 ditions which rule among the great majority of Japanese. 

 As he himself says, he went to Japan to see the country- 

 men. 



" The Japanese whom most of the world knows are 

 townified, sometimes Americanised or Europeanised, 

 and, as often as not, elaborately educated. They are 

 frequently remarkable men. They stand for a great 

 deal in modern Japan. But their untownified country- 

 men . . . What is their health of mind and body ? By 

 what social and moral principles are they swayed ? 

 To what extent are they adequate to the demand that 

 is made and is likely to be made upon them ? " 



Such are some of the questions which Mr. Scott sets 

 himself to answer. This he does by describing his 

 wanderings in various provinces, touching upon all 

 kinds of Japanese customs as the) - come before him. 

 The result is in many cases a curious mosaic of random 

 thoughts, greatly satisfying to one who has lived in 

 Japan, but probably not a little confusing to one who 

 has never been there and is reading for enlighten- 

 ment. In other chapters, however, there is a sustained 

 and serious discussion of some broad aspect of Japanese 

 life. In all cases the author writes with a freshness 

 and accuracy which bespeak a full knowledge and a 

 discriminating judgment. 



Dealing as it does with the facts at the basis of 

 human life, the book is aptly called the " Foundations 

 of Japan." From this point of view the book is a real 

 addition to ethnological literature, and is worthy 

 of commendation in the pages of Nature. For the 

 more serious student of industrial economy there are 

 some interesting appendices with instructive statistics ; 

 and well - chosen drawings and photographs elucidate 

 many of the questions discussed. Among the subjects 

 treated at considerable length are the cultivation of 

 rice, the whole process of sericulture, the problem of 

 labour, and the education of boys and girls. In con- 

 clusion it may be said that Mr. Scott has the gift of a 

 true teller of stories, many of which show forth in 

 NO. 2764, VOL. I 10] 



a graphic way some characteristic traits of our Eastern 

 Allies. 



Hull and the East Riding. 



Handbook to Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire : 

 Prepared for the Members of the British Association 

 for the Advancement of Science on the Occasion of 

 their Visit to Hull, in September 1922. Edited by 

 T. Sheppard. Pp. viii + 532. (London and Hull: 

 A. Brown and Sons, Ltd., 1922.) 55. 



THE ideal handbook in connexion with the annual 

 visits of the British Association has yet to be 

 written, but it would be unfair if we withheld the full 

 meed to the editor and sub-committee who have 

 produced this interesting publication. It approaches 

 nearer to our ideal than that issued at any previous 

 meeting ; so far as possible technicalities have been 

 avoided, for the work is not intended for the expert, 

 who already knows the special works and articles 

 relating to the different subjects treated of. It is 

 essentially a guide for the average member who 

 wishes to learn something of the history, archaeology, 

 antiquities, folk-lore, geology, natural history, and 

 economics of the town and district in which the 

 parliament of science has recently been held. 



After a brief account of the evolution and growth 

 of Hull, we pass on to short accounts of its past history 

 and antiquity, its rise and progress, places of interest, 

 Hull coins and tokens, its charters, etc. The various 

 prehistoric remains of East Yorkshire are briefly 

 described and illustrated, and interesting chapters are 

 devoted to the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Danes in 

 this division of the county. The Rev. Canon A. N. 

 Cooper contributes a well-illustrated chapter on East 

 Riding churches, and Mr. John Nicholson one on 

 East Riding place-names. There are further sections 

 treating of the charities, engineering and shipbuilding, 

 education, agriculture in the East Riding, while the 

 geology and lost towns of the Humber receive very- 

 full treatment at the hands of the editor. 



Nearly three hundred pages are devoted to the 

 description of the fauna and flora, and in spite of the 

 fact that some of the writers have not been able to 

 depart from the useless local list method of treatment, 

 the various contributors have handled their" sections 

 most ably. An outstanding feature is Mr. John W. 

 Taylor's excellent account of the land and freshwater 

 mollusca. The weakest section is undoubtedly that 

 on the Crustacea, which is unfortunate, as much good 

 work has been done on the non-marine forms. 



Apart from its value and usefulness to the visitor 

 to Hull, this work will fulfil a double service if it serves 



