October 21, 1922] 



a great advantage in dealing with the history of 

 exploration in the South Polar regions. With the 

 space at his disposal no one could have done better 

 than M. Rouch in setting forth with equal detail all the 

 outstanding Antarctic voyages from that of Cook in 

 the Resolution to that of Shackleton in the Endurance. 

 Except for a very few slips in the spelling of names 

 (Tlimi instead of Chun on the Valdivia is the only 

 serious one) the accuracy of the work is quite remark- 

 able, and the facts regarding the various expeditions 

 have obviously been selected from the original 

 narratives. 



The style is lively and sympathetic but concise and 

 sailorly. M. Rouch holds all explorers as his brothers 

 and there is a delightful air of cameraderie in his treat- 

 ment of the aspirations and achievements of British, 

 French. Russian, American, Swedish, Norwegian, and 

 German explorers. It is refreshing to find this fine 

 French sailor giving credit impartially to his German 

 rivals and his French colleagues, and with an almost 

 British self-criticism touching more frankly on the 

 little shortcomings of his fellow-countrymen than on 

 those of foreigners. 



Perhaps the author's imagination has assisted a little 

 in describing the details of Scott's last expedition ; 

 but if he here allows dramatic truth to prevail over 

 verbal accuracy it is in excess of sympathy. 



The numerous illustrations are excellent as showing 

 Antarctic conditions, but they obviously refer only to 

 the author's own section of the region. H. R. M. 



Mineral Land Surveying. By Dr. J. Underbill. Third 



edition, revised. Pp. viii + 237+3 plates. (New 



York : J. Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; London : Chap- 

 man and Hall, Ltd., 1922.) 175. 6d. net. 



Dr. Underhill's book describes the methods in use 

 for the survey of the mineral lands in the western 

 portion of the United States. It should certainly be 

 in the possession of all surveyors who intend to proceed 

 there ; but only the first three chapters are likely to 

 be of much service to mine surveyors in England. 

 In chapter 1, on direct solar observation, the method 

 of obtaining the true meridian by single observations 

 on the sun is clearly and fully explained, with the aid 

 of several worked examples, after the derivation of the 

 formula employed has been given. The method of 

 obtaining latitude by solar observation is also briefly 

 described. Chapter 2 describes the Shattuck Solar 

 Attachment, the Burt Solar Attachment, and the Berger 

 and Saegmuller Solars and their use for finding true 

 meridian and latitude. Of these, the Shattuck Solar 

 Attachment appears to find most favour with the 

 author, who states that he has obtained perfect checks 

 on this instrument by direct observation of the sun. 

 Chapter 3 is a useful account of traversing and measure- 

 ments, including stadia measurements. Other chapters 

 deal with location surveys, including calculation of 

 areas by the double meridian distance method, patent 

 surveys, patent field notes, Land Office and Records, 

 and the examination for commissions as United States 

 Mineral Surveyor with typical questions and solutions. 

 The appendix includes extracts from the Manual of 

 Instructions for the Survey of the Mineral Lands of 

 the United States. 



NO. 2764, VOL. I io] 



NATURE 541 



L'Oceanographie: Par Prof. J. Thoulet. {Science et 

 Civilisation : Collection d'exposis synthetiques du 

 savoir humain.) Pp. ix + 287. (Paris: Gauthier- 

 Villars et Cie, 1922.) 9 francs. 



This book is one of a series which offers a general 

 account of modern scientific research in its relations 

 to civilisation : it is written in a pleasant, continuous 

 manner and, on the whole, is a very good exposition 

 of the main results of physical oceanography. It 

 follows the line of treatment which appears now to 

 have become classical since the publication of 

 KrummelPs big book in 1907-11 : an account of 

 the bottom of the ocean and its deposits ; the physics 

 and chemistry of sea water ; waves and tides ; and the 

 formation of ice. The ocean in its relation to life and 

 the development of the foreshore and coast-line are 

 scarcely touched. The theory of the tides is dealt with 

 very slightly, and the statement is made that all tidal 

 problems have been elucidated by Airy's " theorie des 

 ondulations " : quite lately, of course, the dynamical 

 theory of the tides has been almost transformed. 

 There is no account of the methods of prediction. 



In such a work as this figures and charts are in- 

 dispensable, yet the book under review only contains 

 eight text-figures and these are rather difficult diagrams. 

 It can be read with advantage and by the non- 

 professional reader only with constant reference to a 

 good atlas of physical geography, and there is no such 

 work in existence which includes all the recent in- 

 vestigations of marine currents and drifts. J. J. 



The Misuse of Mind : A Study of Bergson's Attack on 

 Intellectualism. By Karin Stephen. (International 

 Library of Psychology, Philosophy, and Scientific 

 Method.) Pp. 107. (London : Kegan Paul and 

 Co., Ltd. ; New York : Harcourt, Brace and Co., 

 Inc., 1922.) 6s. 6d. net. 



This important study of Bergson's philosophy is not 

 an attempt to epitomise or expound the principle, 

 the method, or the particular content. It concentrates 

 on an attempt to understand what is generally rejected 

 as unintelligible — the attack on intellectualism. In 

 Bergson's view the tradition of philosophy is all wrong 

 and must be broken with ; philosophical knowledge 

 can be obtained only by " a reversal of the usual 

 work of the intellect." The author gives us in three 

 chapters first a criticism of " explanation," then a 

 criticism of " fact," both with reference to Bergson's 

 theory of change, and in a final chapter shows how 

 light is thrown on the problem by his theory of the 

 relation of matter to memory. 



Les Sciences et le Pluralisme. Par J.-H. Rosny. aine. 

 (Nouvelle Collection Scientifique.) Pp. iv + 219. 

 (Paris : Felix Alcan, 1922.) 8 francs net. 



II. Rosny's thesis is that " pour retrouver l'uniforme 

 nous sommes contraints de nous rabattre sur des 

 substances ou des energies hypothetiques. En fin de 

 compte, l'homogene que nous trouvons est subi ou 

 cree par le moi, mais non strictement donne par 

 les choses." The volume contains a lucid discussion 

 of the most recent theories in mathematics and 

 physics. 



