December 30, 1922] 



NA TURE 



871 



across a plane, in which lie scattered in all positions 

 a great number of magnetic masses possessed of 

 considerable force. If the ball is not projected with 

 a certain very great velocity ... its motion will 

 be checked by their attractions. But if the velocity 

 is great enough, so that the actions of the magnetic 

 forces only last for a sufficiently short interval of time, 

 then it will certainly get through and beyond them, 

 without suffering any sensible loss of velocity." Further 

 evidence of his clarity of thought need scarcely be 

 given. 



In conclusion let us admit the great debt of gratitude 

 which we owe for the production of this book to the 

 translator. Mr. J. M. Child, and to the Government 

 of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes who 

 generously financed its publication. 



Our Bookshelf. 



Chelsea Porcelain. By William King. Pp. xv+135 

 + 70 plates. (London: Benn Bros., Ltd., 1922.) 

 73s. 6(/. net. 



It seems appropriate that this elaborate and sumptu- 

 ously illustrated volume should proceed from an official 

 of the ceramic department of the Victoria and Albert 

 Museum, where an extensive and thoroughly repre- 

 sentative collection of Chelsea porcelain is permanently 

 displayed for the delectation of the public. Such a 

 handbook of one section of the treasures Housed in the 

 museum, setting forth the story of their manufacture 

 and the reasons or sentiments which inspired the 

 decorations they bear, should bring many fresh visitors 

 to the collections. It should stimulate the interest 

 which each succeeding generation manifests in the 

 doings of the potters and porcelain-makers of a past age, 

 for they have proved themselves the unconscious his- 

 torians of its social customs. It is impossible for any 

 one, however limited his purview, to linger among these 

 brilliant and fascinating objects without feeling a desire 

 to know more of their history and how they came to be 

 decorated as they are. Even to those who know little 

 of historic styles in decorative art it must be obvious 

 that whatever is native and English in these porcelains 

 is interwoven with motives caught from the work of 

 other countries than ours, Oriental as well as European, 

 so that they provide even a casual observer with endless 

 food for thought and research. 



To-day, after a century and a half of change, it 

 stirs our blood to examine such masterpieces of patient 

 skill and elaboration, wrought in a beautiful but diffi- 

 cult material with an insufficient regard to time and 

 cost, when an English factory tried conclusions with 

 the state-aided establishments of Europe and won a 

 well-deserved reputation for its courage and skill. 



The gradual development of the Chelsea enterprise 

 from its modest beginnings to the heyday of its success 

 is traced with a wealth of detail drawn from the patient 

 labours of many previous investigators, but its story is 

 enriched by the knowledge which is only to be acquired 

 from the constant handling and critical examination of 



fine and authentic examples ; so that, for many a li mg 

 day, this volume is likely to remain a standard authority 

 on its subject. 



The numerous illustrations are remarkable for their 

 variety and excellence. They cover the whole field of 

 the porcelains made at the Chelsea factory, and. whether 

 in colour or in half-tone, convey an excellent idea of the 

 range and quality of the productions of that famous 

 factory. William Burton. 



Blood Transfusion. By Dr. Geoffrey Keynes. (Oxford 

 Medical Publications.) Pp. vii+166. (London: 

 Henry Frowde and Hodder and Stoughton, 1922.) 

 8s. 6d. net. 



The transference of blood from healthy persons to make 

 up for deficiencies of quantity or quality in the sick has 

 been proposed and occasionally practised for 300 Mars 

 or more, but it is only within the last decade, and 

 especially since the experience of the war, that this 

 valuable therapeutic procedure has been put on a firm 

 foundation and has come into common use. Dr. 

 Keynes gives here an admirable account of our present 

 knowledge of the theory and practice of transfusion. 

 There is a most interesting historical account of the 

 work of the pioneers, and it is curious to note that 

 Higginson. in the middle of the nineteenth century, 

 invented and used his syringe for this rather than its 

 present purpose. The selection of blood donors is fully 

 considered and a good description given of the different 

 " blood groups " found in human beings — a topic of 

 much wider importance than its immediate application 

 to human therapy. In technique, the author's experi- 

 ence has led him to prefer the method of withdrawing 

 the blood into a solution of sodium citrate to prevent 

 clotting and then injecting a known amount at leisure 

 into the recipient : anastomosis of the blood vessels of 

 the two parties is difficult and uncertain. 



In practice, the main usefulness of transfusion has 

 been found in cases of haemorrhage and shock, in which, 

 as might be expected, blood has proved of more value 

 than salt solution or Bayliss's gum. It has given good, 

 if generally transitory, results in pernicious anaemia and 

 a few cases of severe bacterial infections, but there is no 

 very clear evidence of its utility unless the patient has 

 the definite indication of too small a blood volume or 

 too little hemoglobin. 



There is a bibliography of more than 300 items and 

 a good index. Complete as is the account from the 

 point of view of the practical surgeon, some further 

 consideration of the experimental work of Worm Miiller 

 and his successors would have been welcome. There is, 

 too, no adequate discussion of what happens to the 

 red cells in their new home, how long they last, and how 

 they are destroyed. A. E. B. 



The Voice Beautiful in Speech and Song : A Considera- 

 tion of the Capabilities of the Vocal Cords and their 

 Work in the Art of Tune Production. By Ernest G. 

 White. Third edition. Pp. viii+166. (London: 

 J. M. Dent and Sons. Ltd., 1922.) 75. 6d. net. 

 The author's devastating thesis, that the human voice 

 is produced by the frontal sinuses and other cavities 

 in the bones of the head, while " the vocal cords," 

 which he regards as strings, " are not the seat of sound," 

 is not supported by a particle of evidence. That so 



NO. 2774, VOL. Iio] 



