i68 



NA TURE 



[May 27, 19 9 



with a short account of the universe generally ; this 

 is followed by a short precis of dynamical geology, 

 and the rest is devoted to stratigraphy and pateonto- 

 logy- A map of the geology of the Vienna basin 

 directs the attention of the scholar to the importance 

 of studying the strata of his own neighbourhood. 



Goethe und Pestalozzi. By Karl Muthesius. Pp. vii 

 + 275. (Leipzig : Durr'schen Buchhandlung, 1908.) 

 Price 4.50 marks. 

 When all Europe was keenly excited by the social 

 and educational work of a schoolmaster in a Swiss 

 country town, Goethe held aloof. Pestalozzi's bio- 

 graphers have not hesitated to ascribe this to want 

 of sympathy with the common people. Goethe, 

 Minister of State and intellectual aristocrat, despised 

 the poor and ignorant, and the Schwiirmerei of early- 

 nineteenth-century philanthropy seemed to him exag- 

 gerated, if not foolish. Such, at least, is a com- 

 monly received account of the matter, and the author 

 of this interesting little book has shown what a 

 libel upon the great man's memory it is. There can 

 be little doubt, however, that Goethe made no effort 

 to cultivate Pestalozzi, and still less that he distrusted 

 Pestalozzian educational doctrine as it came under 

 his notice. It was his misfortune to be acquainted 

 with its weakest points. Goethe had no patience 

 with an educational system which left out of its pur- 

 view literature and history — everything, in fact, 

 which could not be reduced to an A B C. In his 

 view, geometry and geography, nature-study and 

 language could never be made to fill up this gap, no 

 matter how carefully they were systematised and 

 ordered for school use. 



Even the religious instruction of the traditional 

 primary school was dropped by many of the new 

 schoolmasters who had brought their inspiration from 

 the shores of Lake Neuchatel. The tendency was to 

 give up everything that would not fall into the Pesta. 

 lozzian plan of beginning with concrete examples and 

 ending with a definition. This was poison to.Goethe. 

 It had all the vices of current naturalism. Every- 

 thing great that men had done and thought might 

 remain unknown. The school youth was not brought 

 into touch with types of human greatness — moral, 

 poetic, or artistic. He was taken out of his historical 

 connections and set afresh in an environment of things 

 that could be defined 1 Small wonder the poet was 

 distrustful. We have learned to know Pestalozzi 

 better than Goethe did. 



Let France et scs Colonies an Dihut dii XX" Siecle. 



By M. Fallex and A. Mairey. Pp. vi+66o. (Paris : 



Ch. Delagrave, n.d.) Price 5 francs. 

 This is one volume of an excellent series of regional 

 studies "at the beginning of the twentieth century," 

 throughout which M. M. Fallex's has been the prin- 

 cipal hand. We find here a proper conception of 

 geographical study thoroughly well applied. In the 

 first part of the work a general survey of France is 

 provided — its position, area, configuration, structure, 

 climate, hydrography, and population. In the second 

 and most important part the country is divided into 

 natural regions, each one of which is considered in 

 succession on the same lines as those of the general 

 survey. The division itself is worthy of commenda- 

 tion and notice — (i.) the Central Massif, subdivided 

 between the east and centre and the west and south, 

 (ii.) the Pyrenean region, (iii.) the basin of Aquitaine, 

 (iv.) the Alps of Savoy, (v.) the Alps of Dauphin<§ and 

 Haute-Provence, (vi.) the Jura, (vii.) the Saone-Rhone 

 valley, (viii.) the Midi, (ix.) the north-east, (x.) the 

 north, (xi.) the basin of Paris in three subdivisions, 

 (xii.) Brittany. Next follows political and economic 



KO. 2065, VOL. 80] 



geography, worked out no less satisfactorily than the 

 regional. France itself occupies nearly five-sixths of 

 the volume ; the colonies, therefore, come in for what 

 is perhaps disproportionately scanty treatment. 



It is of no little interest to gather the French point 

 of view as to the prospects of some of the colonies, 

 for the authors are not content merely to make state- 

 ments of fact and leave their readers to make in- 

 ferences; here the inferences are found ready drawn, 

 even if they are unflattering. Of the French establish- 

 ments in Oceania we read "... ils out toujours 

 veget^. C'est qu'ils sont trop loin de la France; en 

 France on les connait h peine." If this is so, the 

 French student has an excellent opportunity of re- 

 pairing his ignorance from this book and of extend- 

 ing the knowledge he gets from it, for excellent 

 bibliographies are provided. There is also a full topo- 

 graphical index, a feature worthy of remark in a 

 French work of this type. The illustrations are 

 numerous and good. 



The Interpretation of Radium. Being the Substance 

 of Six Free Popular Lectures delivered at the Uni- 

 versity of Glasgow. By Frederick Soddy. Pp. 

 xviii-l-256. (London : John Murray, 1909.) Price 

 6s net. 

 This book is based on popular experimental lectures 

 delivered by Mr. Soddy at the University of Glasgow 

 last year. The lecture form of address is retained, 

 most of the experiments described being illustrated 

 by photographs and diagrams. The book is intended 

 chiefly for the lay reader, the author's object being 

 rather to show the bearing of the new discoveries 

 on our general outlook on nature than . to give a 

 detailed treatment of the subject. 



The author gives a very clear and interesting account 

 (in non-technical language) of radio-active phenomena 

 and the light which the disintegration theory throws 

 on them. The important work which Mr. Soddy has 

 done in helping to establish this theory is a guar- 

 antee of the accuracy of his treatment. He confines 

 his account mainly to the uranium-radium disintegra- 

 tion series. 



The book will be found quite up-to-date, containing 

 as it does reference to such recent work as Ruther- 

 ford's proof that the a particle is an atom of helium, 

 the experiments by Rutherford and Geiger in count- 

 ing the number of a particles expelled by radium, 

 and the author's own experiments on the production 

 of helium from uranium and thorium. Many members 

 of the general public, and workers in various depart- 

 ments of science, will find the book rich in interest. 



Flower and Grass Calendars for Children. By Agnes 

 Fry. Pp. 31. (Clifton: J. Baker and Son; Lon- 

 don : Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 

 3d. net. 

 The idea of making use of children's ability for com- 

 mitting verse to memory to introduce a few facts 

 regarding the time of flowering and habits of plants, 

 and thereby to stimulate their interest in botany, is 

 commendable. The stanzas are short, and each is 

 prefaced by a heading. There are four objects to be 

 sought in such a calendar — the first to get true 

 measure and cadence, the second to give good rhyme, 

 the third to choose the correct month of flowering, 

 and the fourth to introduce any striking facts regard- 

 ing the character or habitats of the plants. The 

 weakness of Miss Frv's verses lies chiefly in the 

 measure, which is apt to be halt or forced ; in this 

 respect the grass calendar is more pleasing. As 

 pointed out, the stanzas may and should be altered 

 to suit the flowers in different localities. 



