270 



NA TURE 



[July 23, 1908 



that cats possess ideas, yet there is enough analogy 

 between their nervous systems and our own to make 

 it improbable that consciousness, so complex and 

 highly developed in us, is in them wholly lacking." 



There follows on this a very full and admirably 

 lucid description of the investigation of sensory dis- 

 crimination, space perception, and higher forms of 

 consciousness in tlie various classes and orders of the 

 animal kingdom — methods and results being in every 

 case given in connection with the names of the in- 

 vestigators and references to their works. These 

 references, by the way, nearly five hundred in num- 

 ber, are collected at the end of the book, under the 

 heading " Bibliography," and greatly enhance the 

 value of the book to the intending research student. 



Two chapters are devoted to the consideration of the 

 processes of learning in animals. The subject is as 

 difficult as it is important, which perhaps justifies the 

 author's attitude of extreme caution, apparent 

 throughout the discussion. The account is descrip- 

 tive rather than critical. For example, the conflict 

 between the results of Thorndike and Hobhouse re- 

 spectively in their experiments on cats and dogs is 

 indeed stated but not discussed. The closing chapters 

 on the memory idea and attention are full of interest, 

 and really come to close quarters with the vexed 

 question of the relation of animal to human intellect. 



Psychologists will be unanimous in their gratitude 

 to Miss Washburn for the very thorough way in which 

 she has accomplished her task. 



William Brown. 



Natur-Urkunden. By Georg E. F. Schulz. Heft i. 



Vogel. Erste Reihe. Pp. 20, with 20 plates. 



Heft 2. Planzen. Erste Reihe. Pp. 16, with 20 



plates. Heft 3. Planzen. Zweite Reihe. Pp. 16, 



with 20 plates. Heft 4. Pilze. Erste Reihe. Pp. 



16, with 20 plates. (Berlin : Paul Parcy, 1908.) 



Price I mark for each part. 

 Various books on birds by Messrs. Kearton, and 

 others on natural liistory, including a miniature series 

 that has attained a wide circulation, have served to 

 indicate how suitably photographs from the life may 

 be utilised to illustrate books on botany and zoology. 

 A very charming series of this kind is now being 

 issued by Messrs. Paul Parey under the title of 

 " Nature Records "; they are being entirely prepared 

 as to photographs and text by Mr. G. E. F. Schulz. 

 The volumes will deal with both branches of natural 

 history. Of the first four, two are devoted to wild 

 plants and a third to fungi. It will be recognised 

 that, owing to their low growing position, size, and 

 tendency to movement, it requires great care and skill 

 to photograph plants as they grow. However, Mr. 

 Schulz is not content to take his photographs under 

 the easiest conditions, but has been at considerable 

 pains to record special phases, such as the open flowers 

 of Silenc noctiflora and the rain-flecked leaves of 

 Aira canescens. Among the illustrations of fungi, one 

 of the best, representing Boletus scaber, shows even 

 part of the hymenophore. 



Difficult as it must have been to secure these plant 

 photographs, some of the studies of birds in the first 

 part must have required even greater skill and 

 patience. There is a delightful picture of the parent 

 tern holding a small fish while one youngster tries 

 to gobble and the other cries lustily. The turning 

 of the eggs in the nest is shown both for the seagull 

 and the avocet. Altogether the volumes cannot fail 

 to meet with the admiration of all "nature-lovers." 

 Inasmuch as the records are taken at random, the 

 series is intended primarily for the dilptfante, but 

 the author's notes are full of nature knowledge that 

 may be recommended to teachers of nature-study and 



NO. 2021, VOL. 78] 



others who are not too old to learn. It is to be 

 hoped that the early parts will have a ready sale, as 

 in these circumstances the series will be continued. 



.4 Pocket Handbook of Minerals. By G. Montague 

 Butler. Pp. ix-l-29S. (New York : John Wiley and 

 Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1908.) 

 Price 12s. bd. net. 

 Every student of mineralogy knows how difficult it 

 is to acquire facility in identifying minerals off-hand. 

 It is with the view of assisting the student, the 

 miner, and the collector in determining his specimens 

 that this little work has been prepared. It has no 

 pretension to be a manual of mineralogy, even of 

 an elementary character, but it is simplv a book for 

 the pocket, to be used as a work of ready reference. 

 For this purpose it seems well adapted. The 

 mineralogist finding an unknown or doubtful mineral 

 may turn to it for assistance, much in the same way 

 that a botanist would use his flora. Chemical and 

 crystallographic characters are deposed from the 

 supreme position which they usually occupy, and at- 

 tention is directed rather to obvious physical char- 

 acters, which in some cases appear even trivial, but 

 are yet of diagnostic value. The most characteristic 

 features of a mineral are emphasised by being printed 

 in thick type so as to catch the eye. At the end is 

 a rather ingenious scheme, forming a kind of arti- 

 ficial key for the identification of an unknown species. 

 There is also a glossary, which seems to have been 

 prepared with care. 



As the book is likely to be used by the prospector, 

 the commercial element is not ignored, and tables 

 are introduced giving the value of metals, useful 

 minerals, and especially gem-stones. It is notable 

 that space for notes is left here and there in the book, 

 a feature which, though increasing the size of the 

 volume, is likely to be of service in the field ; thus a 

 description of moonstone in less than half-a-dozen 

 lines occupies an entire page (p. 136). We have not 

 noticed many printer's errors, but the name of the 

 mineralogist who suggested the scale of hardness 

 was Mohs, not Moh, as printed twice on p. 290. 



La Little contrc les Microbes. By Dr. Etienne 

 Burnet. Pp. ix-t-3i8. (Paris : Librairie Armand 

 Colin, 190S.) Price 3.50 francs. 

 In this book a very readable account is given of 

 certain diseases of microbic origin, of the parasites 

 producing them, modes of transmission, and methods 

 of treatment and prevention. Cancer is first dealt | 

 with, the author evidently inclining to the view that f 

 this disease is due to a micro-parasite, transmitted 

 perhaps b)' food and by insect parasities, which we 

 think is probably not the case. The statistical part 

 of this section is a useful summary of data concerning 

 the frequency of the disease, cancer houses and dis- 

 tricts, &c. After cancer, tuberculosis, tetanus, sleep- 

 ing sickness, intestinal infections, and small-pox and 

 vaccinia are dealt with, and with these the author is 

 on less debatable ground, and a good summary of our 

 knowledge of each is given. The volume concludes 

 with a translation of Jenner's researches on the causes 

 and eff'ects of cow-pox. R. T. Hewlett. 



The Farm .':hown to the Children by F. M. B. and 



A. H. Blaikie. Described bv Foster Meadow. 



Pp. xii + gi. (London and Edinburgh : T. C. and 



E. C. Jack.) Price 2S. 6d. net. 



This attractive little volume contains a great deal of 



information about farming, expressed in a very 



simple manner. Its fortv-eight coloured pictures are 



sure to please children greatly, and the book, as a 



whole, is well calculated to arouse an interest in 



agricultural pursuits. 



