NATURE 



[July 9, 1896 



A great French astronomer onre remarked that the only 

 thing which made his head ache was the kinar theory ; 

 and scarcely less tiresome are calendar investigations. 

 All honour, then, to those who do not shrink from these 

 calculations. The last part of the work before us con- 

 tains Dr. Schram's tables (formed by his own " Tafeln 

 zur Herechnung der naheren Umstande der Sonnen- 

 finsternissc " from the late Prof Oppolzcr's well-known 

 "Canon" I of the circumstances of all the eclipses visible in 

 India and its immediate neighbourhood from A.D. 300 to 

 1900. It had been intended that these should be accom- 

 panied by maps, showing the centre-lines, across the con- 

 tinent of India, of the phenomena in question ; but it was 

 not found possible to complete these in time, owing to the 

 numerous calculations that had to be made in order that 

 the path of the shadow might be exactly marked in each 

 case. Dr. Schram hopes, however, to be able soon to 

 publish the maps separately, as they will form a very 

 useful guide to the tables. 



The different eras "adopted in Hindu chronology form a 

 somewhat troublesome subject. Those of \'icramaditya and 

 Salivahana are largely used in the northern and southern 

 provinces of India respectively, the former commencing in 

 B.C. 57, the latter in A.D. 78 of our reckoning. But in Bengal, 

 and some other parts, eras are used, the epochs of which 

 seem to have been derived from that of the Hegira, or, 

 as our authors prefer to spell it, Hijra ; but by preserving 

 solar time and the sidereal year preferred by the Hindus, 

 the dates of these differ from those actually employed in 

 the Muhammadan calendar. This is, however, of course 

 itself now one of those used in many parts of India since 

 the Muhammadan conquest, and is therefore included in 

 the work before us. It is, as is universally known, 

 reckoned from the flight of Muhammad from Mecca to 

 Medina, which took place, by our chronology, on July 

 15, A.D. 622. In principle it is essentially lunar, the year 

 being made to consist of twelve lunar months, or about 

 354 days ; by the use of common and intercalary years 

 (nineteen of the former and eleven of the latter in a cycle 

 of thirty years), the length of a year is, in fact, main- 

 tained at 354"367 days. As this is io"875 days short of 

 a true tropical year, the Muhammadan year retrogrades 

 through all the seasons in about thirty-three years. Had 

 its length been the same as that of ours, the year of the 

 Hegira would now^ be 1274, whereas their year 1314 com- 

 menced on June 12 in the present year (1896). We must 

 demur to one statement (p. 40, note) of our authors : that in 

 Christian chronology it is somewhat uncertain whether the 

 years are current or expired. No doubt those who have not 

 studied the matter are sometimes confused in the back- 

 ward and forward reckoning by there being no >ear o, 

 which is neither B.C. nor A.D. But there is no uncertainty 

 as to what is really meant. The years are reckoned from 

 Christ's birth, supposed originally (but erroneously) to 

 have taken place at or near the end of B.C. I. At the 

 end of A.n. I, therefore, one year had expired, and at the 

 end of 1895 that number of years. Ordinary people are 

 sometimes puzzled by the simple cjuestion when a given 

 century ends, but there is no real doubt or uncertainty in 

 the matter ; the present century will end at the end of 

 December 31, 1900, and the twentieth will commence on 

 January i, 1901. W. T. LYNN. 



NO. 1393, VOL. 54] 



D OMES TIC A TED AN IMA LS. 



Doiiicsliiiiti-i1 Animals : their Relation to Man and to 

 his AthHinccment in Civilisation. By Nathaniel South- 

 gate Shaler, Dean of the Lawrence Scientific School 

 of Harvard University. Pp.264. Illustrated. (London: 

 Smith, Elder, and Co., 1896.) 



THOUGH the literature upon domesticated animals 

 is of immense extent, we are unable to call to mind 

 any work in which the subject is approached from quite 

 the same general standpoint as in this suggestive book 

 of Prof Shaler's. The greater part of the volume con- 

 sists of a series of essays on the dog, horse, poultry, &c., 

 and even insects, so far as any insects can be said to 

 be domesticated, I'eprinted with some amplifications from 

 Sc>-i/>ne?-'s Magazine, and written in a far more philo- 

 sophical manner than is customary on such a subject. 

 The leading idea, the connection between the practice 

 of domesticating animals and social evolution, has of 

 course not been neglected by sociologists ; but it is dis- 

 cussed, together with the causes which have led to the 

 selection of forms for domestication, and their consequent 

 mental and physical modifications, in a manner well 

 suited to attract the general reader who is a lover of 

 animals, and to give an idea of the important part which 

 their domestication has played in human progress. It 

 is for him, rather than the man of science, that the work 

 is intended ; it is not detailed in treatment, and is in 

 part covered by the writings of Darwin and Romanes. 

 A good example of Prof Shaler's method is afl!brded bj- 

 the line of argument in which he points out that the 

 invention of the horse-shoe made possible the disciplined 

 use of the horse in Western Europe, and its differentia- 

 tion into breeds. This led to the development of the 

 war-horse, which played an important part in the war- 

 fare between Christian and Mohammedan States, as at 

 the Battle of Tours, and promoted the institution of 

 organised armies, and consequenth\of centralised States. 

 Referring to the necessity of horses in military operations, 

 he makes the curious deduction that China is unlikely 

 ever to become a menace to outlying countries, because 

 she cannot, and may never be able to, provide the 

 horses necessary for the use of invading armies. 



There is no mention in the book of the reindeer, surely 

 a very important factor in the economy of the races 

 which use it. On the vexed question of the origin of the 

 dog, it is noteworthy that the author does not recognise 

 it as the descendant of any surviving wild form. 



The closing chapters on "The Rights of Animals'' 

 and " The Problem of Domestication " are published for 

 the first time. In the former, the author, a strong and 

 genuine sympathiser with animals, defends the practice 

 of vivisection within proper limits. " So far from natural 

 science tending in any way towards cruelty, it has been 

 the very guide in the development of the modern affec- 

 tion for living beings. By showing something of the 

 marvels of their structure and history, it has increased 

 in a way no other influence has ever done the conception 

 which we form as to their dignity and the wonderful 

 nature of their history"; a point both true, and usually 

 disregarded. Like every naturalist. Prof Shaler deplores 

 the rapidly advancing extermination of animal types. 



