768 



NA TURE 



[December 9, 1922 



real dynamical basis, as Sommerfeld himself has 

 admitted in his latest edition, excites both surprise and 

 regret. Except from one point of view, the work is 

 misleading and inaccurate in detail. What it does 

 give 1 a condensed summary of foreign work, which is 

 excellent if read at the same time as a compendium of 

 the actual experimental facts of spectra. 



Air Ministry: Meteorological Office. The Weather Map. 

 An Introduction to Modern Meteorology. By Sir 

 Napier Shaw. Fifth issue (reprint of fourth). (M.O. 

 225/.) Pp. 109 + 8 plates + 8 charts. (London : 

 II. M. Stationery Office, 1921.) is. 3d. net. 



It is not possible to overestimate the high value of 

 this work. At the present time the demand for 

 weather knowledge is very keen, the enthusiasm being 

 stimulated by the wireless broadcasting of weather 

 information. To appreciate fully the information 

 received by wireless it is essential to be able to grip 

 intelligently the scientific details involved. The 

 work under review contains much general information 

 on meteorology. The former edition was issued four 

 yeai ago, and the earlier copies gave much assistance 

 in the training of meteorological units in the army, 

 so essential for many interests during the war. 



The publication contains specimen weather maps, 

 and the letterpress thoroughly explains their construc- 

 tion and the results which the maps provide. Weather 

 .systems and their movements are dealt with and 

 explanations are given of the sequence of weather, 

 the travel of the centres of disturbances, and the veering 

 and backing of the wind. Recent research relative to 

 the upper air is incorporated, and a thorough under- 

 standing can be secured of the distribution over the 

 British Isles of cloud and rain consequent on the 

 passage of a storm area across the country. Informa- 

 tion is given as to averages and normals, and the 

 numerous tables, diagrams, and maps in the latter 

 half of the book are useful for reference. The cost of 

 the earlier editions of the work was <\d., but the charge. 

 15. 3d., for the present issue is exceedingly small, and 

 the work should be obtained by all who would be 

 meteorologists. C. H. 



Rocks and their Origins. By Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole. 

 (Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature.) 

 Second edition. Pp. viii + 175. (Cambridge: At 

 the University Press, 1922.) 45. net. 



It speaks well for the discrimination of the readers of 

 popular science that a new issue of this thoughtful 

 introduction to the study of rocks should be called for. 

 Prof. Cole is equally at home in tracing the history of 

 the development of scientific theories and in describing 

 the relation of scenery to the geological structures of 

 the rocks that underlie it. He discusses without 

 too much technical detail the origin of the different 

 types of rocks of which the earth's crust is composed, 

 and gives a very fair resume of the controversies which 

 have been waged on the subject, many of which are 

 still as active as ever. There are a number of happily 

 chosen illustrations of rock scenery, mostly repro- 

 duced from the author's own photographs. This little 

 volume is honourably distinguished from others of a 

 similar character by the clearness of its style and the 



NO. 2771, VOL. I io] 



abundant references which will prove useful in direct- 

 ing the student's attention to scientific contributions 

 that he might otherwise overlook. There are few of 

 our geologists who have read so widely and to such 

 good effect as Prof. Cole. J. W. E. 



Farm Book-Keeping : The Principles and Practice of 

 Book-Keeping applied to Agriculture : for Agricultural 

 Colleges, Extension Classes, Evening Classes, and 

 Practical Farmers. By John Kirkwood. Pp. 224. 

 (Edinburgh : W. Green and Son, Ltd., 1922.) 

 6s. net. 



One of the most noteworthy developments in the 

 study of agriculture is the attention which is now paid 

 to the economic aspects of farm working. Mr. Kirk- 

 wood's book (one of the Scottish Series of Junior 

 Agricultural Text-books) is to be welcomed as a work 

 which contributes to this development. 



Part I. consists of nineteen concise chapters dealing 

 with double-entry book-keeping in its application to 

 farm management. Part II. sets forth a simple cash- 

 book system for the benefit of those who may regard 

 double-entry as a complicated system, and the author 

 assures us that his simplified method of keeping 

 accounts has stood the test of actual use. 



With practical handbooks of this kind on the market 

 there can be no excuse for the repetition of those 

 blunders in farm management which are the accompani- 

 ment of a disregard for scientific stud}' and a blind 

 adherence to tradition. 



Coal-tar Colours in the Decorative Industries. By A. 

 Clarke. Pp. xiii + 166. (London : Constable and 

 Co., Ltd., 1922.) 6s. 



The uses of coal-tar dyestuffs in lake-making, and in 

 leather, fur, wood, paper, etc., colouring — i.e. those 

 applications which are not covered in the ordinary 

 treatises on fabric dyeing — are considered in Mr. Clarke's 

 work. The treatment is, naturally, wholly technical, 

 and very brief. A bibliography is given. To the 

 expert the treatment will doubtless appeal, but to the 

 ordinary scientific reader such sentences as the following 

 indicate a language even more formidable than his 

 own : " The level-dyeing acid dyestuffs do not exhaust 

 well, but if they are topped with basic colours the 

 backwaters are colourless." A glossary might have 

 been added for the uninitiated. 



The Peoples of Europe. By Prof. H. J. Fleure. 

 Pp. no. (London: Oxford University Press, 

 1922.) 2s. 6d. net. 



It was no mean task to attempt an adequate sketch of 

 European peoples in about a hundred pages, but 

 Prof. Fleure has been fairly successful. His volume 

 is opportune at a time when a sound scientific basis for 

 the discussion of the complex problems of Europe is 

 essential, and it is a happy illustration of the value of 

 a geographical foundation in the study of political 

 problems. The book contains not only a great amount 

 of information but also a wealth of ideas, and is a 

 genuine contribution to the vexed questions of the time. 

 There are three sketch maps and a short but useful 

 bibliography. The lack of an index is unfortunate. 



R. N. R>B. 



