88 



NA TURE 



[May 23, 1907 



Bodleian and two in Prof. Thompson's own possession. 

 Some of the scientific aspects of Peregrinus's work re- 

 ceived a somewhat fuller treatment recently at the hands 

 of Dr. L. A. Bauer (U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey's 

 " Magnetic Declination Tables and Isogonic Charts," 

 1902, pp. 16-20), but the present discussion is much more 

 complete on the literary side. 



The magazine of photographic art known as the 

 Practical and Pictorial Photographer, so ably edited by 

 the Rev. F. C. Lambert, was until quite recently pub- 

 lished by Messrs. Hoddcr and Stoughton. This monthly 

 has now been acquired by Messrs. Robert Atkinson 

 (London), Ltd., and will in future be published at their 

 offices in 10 Essex Street, Strand. From the editorial 

 notes it is gathered that some changes have been con- 

 templated in the new issues, and the March and April 

 numbers point out the direction in which such alterations 

 have been made. The modifications include an attempt 

 to issue the publication on the first of each month ; one 

 long or a collection of small articles dealing with one 

 subject in a comprehensive manner in each issue ; a 

 change in the inks and paper employed for the illustra- 

 tions to secure more transparent and luminous shadows in 

 the reproductions ; a detachable card which deals with all 

 the constant needs of the dark-room, such as standard 

 developing formulae for negatives as given in the March 

 number. Another important innovation is the insertion 

 of the text and a page of illustrations in connection with 

 the great National Photographic Record Survey that is 

 being so well taken in hand now all over the country. 

 The reader will therefore gather that the future issues of 

 this excellently illustrated magazine will have an added 

 interest, and the March and .'\pril numbers should be 

 seen to fully appreciate the changes made. 



The twelfth of a series of Bulletins published by the 

 Engineering Experiment Station of the University of 

 Illinois embodies a detailed report, by Prof. A. N. Talbot, 

 on tests of reinforced concrete T-beams. The tests were 

 made with the object of determining whether the width 

 of the slab is a controlling element in the strength of the 

 beam, and to ascertain the efficacy of vertical reinforcing 

 stirrups in resisting web stresses. 



In the Journal of the Franklin Institute (vol. clxiii.. 

 No. 4) Mr. Persifor Frazer discusses the application of 

 scientific methods to the study of handwriting, and shows 

 that when the province of this study is recognised as 

 within that of experimental psychology, entirely capable 

 of being conducted like other investigations of the human 

 faculties by exact measurement and numerical statement, 

 the shallow pretenders who have from time immemorial 

 infested it will disappear. 



.An interesting account of the work of the United States 

 Reclamation Service is given by Mr. C. J. Blanchard in 

 the National Geographic Magazine, Washington (vol. 

 xviii.. No. 4). The vast expenditure on national irrigation 

 is the outcome of an Act passed in 1902 which provided 

 that the money received from the sales of public lands in 

 fourteen arid States and two Territories should be used 

 as a reclamation fund for the construction of the works 

 necessary to irrigate arid lands in those regions. In the 

 same issue Miss E. R. Scidmore reproduces twenty-five 

 admirable typical illustrations, of great anthropological 

 interest, of women and children of the Far East. 



Messrs. A. Gallexkamp .ind Co., Ltd., have added to 

 their " technical " scries of physical apparatus ten useful 



NO. iq6o, vol. 76] 



pieces of apparatus which will greatly assist the practical 



study of heat. The catalogue describing the instruments 



shows how satisfactory results may be obtained and used 

 to illustrate principles. 



Mr. Edward Stanford announces for early publication 

 a new edition of his " Geological Atlas," which will deal 

 with Great Britain and Ireland in place of Great Britain 

 alone as formerly. The maps and text have been revised, 

 and among the new features is a full list of the figured 

 fossils, with indications of their zoological position and 

 range in time. 



Part v. of Mr. Charles Stoneham's elaborate work on 

 " The Birds of the British Islands " has been published 

 by Mr. E. Grant Richards. The work will be completed 

 in twenty parts, and its general character was described in 

 a review of the first part in Nature of October 18, 1906 

 (vol. Ixxiv., p. 607). We shall notice the publication again 

 when the whole of the parts have reached us. 



Messrs. W. and A. K. Johnston, Ltd., have placed 

 upon the market a form of their " world-wide sectional 

 pad " which is likely to be of service to surveyors, military 

 men, and others. The side of a small square represents 

 a hundred yards, and intervals of a thousand yards are 

 indicated by slightly darker ruling. The scale of the paper 

 is such that a mile is represented by i inch. This form 

 of sectional paper will prove useful to teachers of geo- 

 graphy who exercise their pupils in the construction of 

 simple plans. The price of the pad is is. 6d. net. 



The new catalogue of microscopical lenses and apparatus 

 issued by Messrs. Voigtlander and Son, whose manufactory 

 is in Brunswick, Germany, is conveniently arranged and 

 beautifully illustrated. Mr. F. G. Phillips, 12 Charter- 

 house Street, Holborn Circus, E.C., is the sole agent for 

 Great Britain and the colonies. The tabular arrangement 

 adopted in the catalogue makes it easy at once to discover 

 prices, sizes, and other particulars. 



Attention is frequently directed in these columns to the 

 valuable preparatory work in observational science which 

 is being accomplished by natural history and similar 

 societies in the secondary schools of the country. An 

 excellent instance of this useful work is provided by the 

 seventy-third annual report of Bootham School (York) 

 Natural History, Literary, and Polytechnic Society. In 

 addition to the encouragement given to field work in 

 natural science, the boys are afforded every facility to study 

 the science of photography, are offered inducements to 

 practise literary expression, and are provided with lectures 

 on scientific subjects. The authorities are to be congratu- 

 lated on the good year's work described in the report. 



A " Guide to the Great Game .\nimals (Ungulata) in 

 the Department of Zoology, British Museum (Natural 

 History)," has been printed and published by order of the 

 trustees of the museum. The guide has been compiled by 

 Mr. R. Lydekker, F.R.S., and he has devoted the de- 

 scriptive portion chiefly to the characteristics of the 

 different genera and fdniilies. The scientific names 

 employed in the guide are those adopted in the museum, 

 and are. Prof. E. Ray Lankester points out in a preface, 

 "to some extent a compromise between extreme views." 

 The text is illustrated by fifty-three figures, most of which 

 are printed from half-tone blocks. The guide, the price 

 of which is one shilling, will provide the visitor with just 

 the information necessary to enable him to take an intelli- 

 gent interest in the exhibits. 



