126 



NA TURE 



[Al'RlL I, 1909 



The work is a perfect model of descriptive or system- 

 atic botany, combining a true sense of proportion, tiie 

 authors' well-lvnown grasp of their subject enabling 

 them to deal primarily with the material under in- 

 vestigation, and, secondly, with the book phase of the 

 subject known as synonymy. 



Seven beautifully executed plates elucidate the text. 



Trees : a Handbook of Forest-Botany for the Wood- 

 lands and the Laboratory. Vol. iv. Fruits. By 

 the late Prof. H. Marshall Ward. Pp. iv+i6i. 

 (Cambridge : University Press, igoS.) Price 45. 6d. 

 net. 



It was the_ intention of the author to complete this 

 work in six volumes, but unhappily he was not 

 spared to see the scheme accomplished. However, 

 three excellent volumes, full of useful and interesting 

 information, dealing respectively with buds, leaves, 

 and flowers, had been published, and the author 

 left behind sufficient manuscript for two other 

 volumes. Prof. Groom undertook the task to see 

 these two volumes through the press. A perusal 

 of the present volume shows that the manuscript 

 could not have fallen into better hands. The skill 

 with which he has edited this part leaves nothing 

 to be desired. Like its predecessors, vol. iv. is 

 divided into two sections — a general and a special. 

 The first section contains seven chapters. The first 

 chapter gives an idea of what fruit is, its function 

 and parts. In the second chapter is given a classifi- 

 cation of fruits, and the remaining chapters of this 

 section_ deal with the fruits of woody plants, each 

 under its own natural order. In section ii. we have 

 a tabular classification of trees and shrubs according 

 to their fruits and seeds. 



The many excellent illustrations given throughout 

 the volume serve to enhance its value as a book for 

 students and others who may wish to study fruits, 

 and it will also be found of service for the purpose 

 of reference. 



The next and final volume is already in the press, 

 and when issued will complete a monumental work 

 on trees written by an enthusiast as only one who 

 is imbued with the love of his subject can write. 



"Trees," by Prof. Marshall Ward, will be found of 

 use to the expert and student alike, while the 

 beginner who has once started to read will soon find 

 himself becoming enthusiastic under the inspiring 

 influence of the writer. 



A complete index has been compiled for this as 

 well as for the other volumes by Mrs. Marshall 

 Ward. 



The Story of Iron and Steel. Bv J. Russell Smith. 



Pp. xi+193. (London: Appleton and Co., 1908.) 



Price 2s. 6d. net. 

 To all who are interested in the gradual development 

 of our great iron industries, and especially the 

 more recent development in America, this little 

 volume may be of some interest. It, however, can 

 hardly be said that the author has succeeded in 

 carrying out the object he had in view, as stated in 

 his preface, of presenting to intelligent persons a 

 clear and concise description of the complex technical 

 phenomena of iron- and steel-making. The author's 

 apparent lack of detail technical knowledge has 

 prevented his emphasising in his descriptions the 

 fundamental principles involved in the various pro- 

 cesses to which he refers. Thus, in dealing with 

 the reduction of iron as it was practised during the 

 various stages of development in passing from the 

 Catalan forge to the modern blast furnace, there is 

 not the slightest suggestion made that there is anv 

 chemical reaction between the iron ores and the fue'l 

 NO, 2057, '^'OL. 80J 



employed, and the lay reader would go away with 

 the impression that the only function of the carbon, 

 in whatever form it was used, was to act as a heating 

 agent. 



On p. 99, in dealing with the quality of iron pro- 

 duced, he makes the statement that if the iron is 

 melted at 800° centigrade, it will contain i per cent, 

 of silicon, which is, of course, an absurdity, as this 

 temperature is below the melting point of iron. A 

 page or two further on he speaks of the hot blast 

 being injected into the furnace at 800° or iioo^ 

 centigrade. 



His description of the puddling furnace is of the 

 crudest when he speaks of the carbon in the pig-iron 

 being combustible and gradually burnt out by the 

 flame, while no suggestion is made that the real 

 oxidising agent is the oxide of iron added. In 

 chapter xi., " On the New Steels and their Signifi- 

 cance," in which he refers to various alloj'-steels, he 

 seems to be under the impression that the self- 

 hardening properties of high-grade steel tools are 

 a function of their melting points, and his state- 

 ment as to certain influences of manganese on steel 

 certainly has the single advantage of being distinctly 

 novel. 



It is to be regretted that the technical descriptions 

 in this little volume are so inaccurate, as in other 

 respects it is a very interesting synopsis of the 

 progress of the iron and steel industry. Perhaps the 

 most interesting portions of the book are those 

 chapters dealing with the various causes which have 

 influenced the great developments in recent years 

 in America, and also induced the rise and growth of 

 the great financial trusts that now so largely control 

 steel manufacture in the States. 



Physiological and Medical Observations among the 

 Indians of .South-western United States and 

 Northern Mexico. By Ales Hrdlifka. Pp. ix-(-46o. 

 (Washington : Government Printing Office, 1908.) 



This publication is a bulletin of the Bureau of 

 American Ethnology (Smithsonian Institution), and 

 comprises the result of observations among a large 

 number of Indian tribes. It will prove a mine of 

 useful information to those interested in anthro- 

 pology, but, like the publications of most Govern- 

 ment institutions, is hardly written in a manner to 

 make it interesting to the general reader. It con- 

 tains, for instance, nearly 200 pages of statistical 

 tables. Its title — physiological and medical observa- 

 tions — is justified because the data collected include 

 what is so often missing in books on ethnology, details 

 not only of size, stature, date of puberty, rate of pulse, 

 muscular development, and so forth, but also statistics 

 relating to prevalent diseases and native methods 

 of treatment. Not the least attractive feature of the 

 work is a series of twenty-eight beautiful plates, 

 which illustrate the ohysiognomy and dwellings* of 

 the native races, as well as other points interesting to 

 those who study folk-lore. 



The author appears to have spared no pains in 

 carrying out his investigations. 



Ernst Haeckel. Vcrsuch einer Chronik seines Lebcns 

 tind Wirkens. By Prof. Walther May. Pp. 

 vii + 301. (Leipzig': J. A. Barth, 1909.) Price 

 5'6o marks; bound, 6'6o marks. 

 There are already two biographies of Haeckel, but 

 Prof. May's book is complementary to these, and 

 written in a different mood. It aims at showing 

 what the great naturalist has accomplished, from 

 his first research in 1855 to the institution of the 

 Phyletic Museum in 1907. The author gives a care- 

 ful account of the chief results of Haeckel's books, 



