49: 



NA TURE 



[September 12, 1907 



I 



The range of evils, which, according to the author, 

 may be met by general limitation of families, is 

 larfje — embracing prostitution on the one hand, and 

 war on the other. The chief excuse for the former 

 is that many men are prevented by prudential con- 

 sideration from contracting early marriages ; and 

 this he suggests might be removed if it were 

 universally recognised that prudence might be 

 exercised after marriage, and if popular opinion 

 shifted so as to condemn the raising of larger families 

 than could be adequately provided for. With regard 

 to war, we find on p. 128 the following passage : — 



" The wars of brutal conquest and plunder, of 

 religion, and of dynastic succession, which have from 

 time to time devastated Europe, are now things of 

 ihe past. But there remain commercial and colonial 

 laws — wars to procure in old countries fresh markets 

 lor manufactures, and to provide in new countries 

 an outlet for their superfluous inhabitants. These 

 are the wars that the future has in store for us, 

 unless we can remove the causes of them." 



Of the causes referred to, the most predominant 

 is the numerical increase of the population of the 

 older countries in a ratio disproportionate to their 

 food supply or to the territory at their disposal. 



E. H. J. S. 



OVR BOOK SHELF. 



Tcmperatur iind Zustand des Erdinnerii. Fine 

 Zusammenstellung mid kritische Beleiichtmig allcr 

 Hypotheseii. By Hermann Thiene. Pp. iv+ioo. 

 (Jena : Gustav Fischer, 1907.) Price 2.50 marks. 

 This memoir, which was written as a prize essay in 

 connection with the University of Jena, is an admir- 

 able ristimi of the various memoirs dealing with the 

 nature of the earth's interior. The first twenty-eight 

 pages contain a slight sketch of the literature 'of the 

 subject from the earliest times down to the vear 1870, 

 beginning with Plato's " Phaedon " and ending with 

 Delaunay and Sterry Hunt. The work done since 

 1870 is treated in somewhat greater detail in the 

 second part of the memoir. For the chemical com- 

 position of the earth's crust the author adopts the 

 average calculated by Clarke from the analyses of 

 American rocks. He then discusses the determin- 

 ations of the mean density of the earth, concluding 

 that it must lie between 54 and 57, while for the 

 density of the crust he argues that the specific gravity 

 of diorite (28) may be accepted as an average. On 

 the problem of the distribution of density within the 

 globe, the author cites the views of Lipschitz, Sir 

 George Darwin, .Stieltjes, Callandrcau, and Radau, 

 and proceeds to consider the very problematic views 

 that have been enunciated concerning the chemical 

 constitution of the earth's interior. 



On the question of the temperature of the earth's 

 crust the author finds himself on safer ground, and 

 he gives_ a summary of the evidence derived from the 

 observations carried on in tunnels, mines, wells, and 

 bore-holes, which is fairly complete and up-to-date. 

 With speculations on the limits of temperature in the 

 earth's interior, the author returns to more debatable 

 problems, and in the absence of exact knowledge con- 

 cerning the effect of enormous pressures on materials 

 at high temperature can only cite the guesses that 

 have been made upon the suBiect. The discussion of 

 the_ question of the condition of the earth's interior, to 

 which the latter part of the memoir is devoted, con- 



NO. 1976, VOL. 76] 



tains a very useful resume of the views of various 

 authors upon the subject, the important bearing of 

 recent discoveries concerning radio-activity upon the 

 question of the source of the internal heat of the 

 globe and upon the age of the earth being kept in 

 view. No fewer than one hundred and fifty-eight 

 authors are cited, and the catalogue of works and 

 memoirs numbers one hundred and seventy-seven. 

 A few, not very important, omissions may be noted, 

 but the summary, on the whole, is fairly complete and 

 judicious, and it can scarcely fail to be »f great ser- 

 vice to those interested in the important questions 

 with which the author deals. 



The Garden Anthology. Edited by Rose Gardner. 



Pp. xiv + 313. Price 2S. 6d. net. 

 The Voice of the Sea. Edited by Ingram Swale. 



Pp. x+163. Price 2X. 6d. net. 

 The Wayfarer. Edited by Claude E. Benson. Pp. 



XV + 252. Price 2S. 6d. net. (London : George 



Routledge and Sons, Ltd. ; New York : E. P. 



Dutton and Co.) 

 These three volumes contain good selections of prose 

 and verse. In each case the respective editor has 

 brought together a very interesting collection. Those 

 tond of flowers and gardening will be attracted to the 

 first book named. The poems have been classified, 

 so that it is possible to refer to gardens of various 

 kinds and to their aspect at the different seasons of 

 the year. Some of the references to plant-life exhibit 

 a very accurate knowledge of the less obvious changes 

 it undergoes. 



" The Voice of the Sea " is chiefly of interest as a 

 collection of poems dealing with the sea in its many 

 changes and phases; objects of marine interest are 

 in some cases referred to, but in few instances is 

 expression given to more technical thought in con- 

 nection with them. 



" The Wayfarer " is a miscellaneous collection 

 referring to the seasons, the times of day, and touch- 

 ing on many things dealing with wild life and nature. 

 The poems are brought together under various head- 

 ings, and the book should be of interest to many 

 readers. 



The Relation of Man to the .iniwal World. By Sir 

 Samuel Wilks, Bart. Pp. 34. (Hampstead : The 

 Priory Press, 1907.) Price li. net. 

 \\"e find ourselves somewhat at a loss to discover the 

 object and aim of this " booklet," which is based on 

 an address by the author delivered some few years 

 ago before the Church Congress at Folkestone. The 

 subjects discussed, or rather, perhaps, mentioned, 

 include the killing of animals for food, clothing, &c., 

 and sport, their maltreatment for the sake of fashion, 

 the use of eggs and milk as nutriment, castration and 

 vivisection, and the rearing of animals in domes- 

 tication. .'\llhough incidentally recording his objec- 

 tion to some of our methods of treating animals, the 

 author (who is an eminent medical man) is in no 

 sense a fanatic or a faddist, taking up for the most 

 part what may be best described as the equivalent of 

 an " agnostic " position. He remarks, for instance, 

 on the concluding page that " if anyone should ask 

 what position I adopt myself towards the animal 

 world, I ,can say no more than that I submit tacitly 

 with others to the present arrangement, which our 

 forefathers have made for us." Such a very tame 

 conclusion seems to cut away the whole raison d'Stre 

 of the book, which is neither a stalwart defence of 

 present conditions such as can be used against the 

 ultra-humanitarian school, nor an advocacy for 

 reform. On the whole, it seems to us likely to do 

 more harm than good. R. L. 



