June 13, 1907] 



NA TURE 



149 



a " fawn " is, or what colour it is, and is thinking 

 of a Greek faun. True, if we are to believe the 

 sculptors, the fauns and hamadryads did live naked 

 in the open air most of the time, so were probably 

 slightly tanned. And what does Mr. Pier mean by 

 "hackling" (p. lo)? Was a "hackling imple- 

 ment " the sort of flint you threw at a prehistoric 

 election candidate: to "heckle" him? Or does Mr. 

 Pier mean simply " hacking "? One talks of a dog 

 " putting up his hackles." We pass on, uncon- 

 vinced. On p. II we read a description of a vase 

 as "handled for suspension or portage." Bv port- 

 age Mr. Pier probably means " carrying " : his word 

 is an odd one, and sounds as if it were of Canadian 

 origin ; we have not met with it in this particular 

 sense before, and we do not like it at all. 



Real misprints are rare. We notice " Chelleen " 

 for " Chelleen " (p. 6), and one or two others of no 

 importance. 



The disadvantages of the book are such as the 

 author can easily remedy in the succeeding parts, 

 and we hope that he will continue his plan to its 

 end. Such catalogues of private collections are ex- 

 tremely valuable to the student, and those collectors 

 who publish them are to be congratulated on the 

 scientific spirit that impels them to make their 

 antiquities known. H. H. 



OVR BOOK SHELF. 



Heat Sliado^vs. By Walter Jamieson. Pp. viii + jo. 



(London : Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1907.) Price 6d. 



net. 

 This pamphlet describes some new experiments in 

 conduction and radiation of heat. The author has 

 prepared a series of grades of paper sensitised to heat 

 by impregnating them with a " sympathetic ink " 

 which turns green on heating (i.e. on drying). The 

 tint attained in any experiment mav be considered as 

 depending roughly upon the amount of heat absorbed ; 

 thus the paper acts as a calorimeter rather than as a 

 thermometer. This law would be true if the absorbed 

 heat were all transformed into the latent heat of 

 steam ; since, however, the paper sensibly warms 

 (and, therefore, radiates), the law is not so exact; 

 though even so there is a time-temperature compen- 

 sation. The double iodides sometimes emploved for 

 the purpose are thermoscopes rather than calori- 

 meters, for their transition points are somewhat too 

 high, and when reached the transformation is rapid 

 and automatic; that is, it is independent of the heat 

 supply. 



.Snecimens of the sensitive paper were received alonaf 

 with the pamphlet, and we have been able to test it. 

 We think that it will prove very useful for demonstrat- 

 ing the phenomena of conductivity and radiation in 

 schools where thermopiles are out of the question. 

 Too much stress must not be laid, of course, upon 

 quantitative experiments. The first experiment is to 

 fasten a strip of the paper, sensitive side un, upon a 

 board with a thick copper wire between. If the wire 

 is heated at one end the green tint spreads out more 

 widelv near the heated end. We do not think that 

 the teacher is justified in measuring the width of the 

 coloured band and in thus trying to find the law of 

 the decrease of temperature; he should be content 

 with the inference of "more or less." Most of the 

 experiments are excellent. We think those on 

 radiation are the best. 



NO. 1963, VOL. 76] 



-\s a bright surface Mr. Jamieson employs a test 

 tube coated with a metallic paint. Tliis forms a very 

 good coating, but the inquiring child (and teacher) 

 may wonder whether the varnish with which it is 

 applied has anything to say to the result. 



This metallic coating is also employed by the author 

 for coating electrical condensers, proof planes, &c. , 

 and is very readily applied both to the inside and out- 

 side of any jar 



Handbook of American Indians Xortli of Mexico. 



Edited by Frederick \\"ebb Hodge. Pp. ix-l-972. 



In two parts. Part i. (Washington : Government 



Printing Office, 1907.) 

 Tins volume is Bulletin jo of the Bureau of .American 

 Ethnologv in connection with the Smithsonian 

 Institution. The handbook contains a descriptive 

 list of the stocks, confederacies, tribes, tribal divi- 

 sions, and settlements north of Mexico, accompanied 

 with the various names by which these have been 

 known, together with brief biographies of Indians 

 of note, sketches of their history, archaeology, man- 

 ners, arts, customs, and institutions, and the 

 aboriginal words incorporated into the English lan- 

 guage. -All the tribes north of Mexico are dealt with, 

 including the Eskimo and those tribes south of the 

 boundarv more or less affiliated with those in the 

 United States. Under the tribal descriptions a short 

 account of the ethnic relations of the tribe, its location 

 at various periods, and statistics of population are in- 

 cluded. There are many illustrations. Though con- 

 fessedlv incomplete, the handbook represents a vast 

 amount of research by an army of observers, and 

 students of ethnography will look forward to the 

 publication of the second part with keen anticipation. 



.4 German Science Reader, with Notes and Vocabu- 

 lary. Bv Dr. W. H. Wait. Pp. vii -1-321. (New 

 York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan 

 and Co., Ltd., 1907.) Price 4s. 6d. 

 The greater part (180 pages) of this book con- 

 sists of selections from standard German works on 

 the chief departments of science. The extracts de- 

 scribe some fundamental facts and principles of 

 chemistry, physics, geology, mineralogy, astronomy, 

 and anatomy; and they have been selected from the 

 point of view of interest as well as that of instruction. 

 Helpful notes are given on each division of the book, 

 and also lists of words commonly mispronounced and 

 of words and phrases with special or idiomatic mean- 

 ings. .\ vocabulary at the end of the book gives the 

 English rendering of words used in the German text. 

 .Any student of science having a slight acquaintance 

 with German grammar will find in the book all the 

 assistance required to enable him to read the extracts 

 with interest and profit. -As an introduction to Ger- 

 man scientific literature, the volume will be found of 

 real service both by teachers and students. 



Les Bases de la Philosophie naturaliste. By Andr^ 

 Cresson. Pp. iv -I- 179. (Paris: Felix -Alcan, 1907.) 

 Price 2.50 francs. 

 The title of this little volume serves to define its 

 purpose. The author provides a short and impartial 

 explanation, likely to be understood by a reader of 

 average intelligence, of the fundamental principles 

 upon ""which modern philosophv rests. The scope of 

 the book will be clear from the titles of the six chap- 

 ters into which it is divided : the first deals with the 

 old anthropocentric view of things, and this is fol- 

 lowed by chapters on science and the inorganic 

 world, science and life, science and mind, science and 

 societv, and conclusions. 



