114 Revieics and Book Notices. 



senior officer of armed constabulary for H.M.'s possession of New Guinea ' 

 (with apologies if we have not inserted enough capital letters), 

 we were prejudiced against the book. ' Swank,' we said to ourselves, 

 and we gathered he was a Mason. But when in his preface he wrote : 

 1 do not pretend that the book possesses any scientific value,' we became 

 more tolerant, read on ; though the good impression this admission 

 made was counterbalanced by the statement that ' only once in my life 

 have 1 felt that a man was my master in every way.' However, reading 

 on, one gleaned much of interest to naturalist or student of human nature ; 

 and certainly the author has many gootl stories to tell — we hope thay may 

 all be true. There are many illustrations from photographs, several 

 being of distinct ethnographical value. There is a good index. 



The Origin of Man and of His Superstitions, by Carveth Read. 

 Cambridge University Press, 330 pp., 18/- net. ' This volume explains 

 in its first part an hypothesis that the human race has descended from 

 some ape-like stock by a series of changes which began and, until recently, 

 were maintained by the practice of hunting in pack for animal food, 

 instead of being content with the fruits and other nutritious products of 

 the tropical forest. The hunting-pack thus being the first form of 

 human society, two further questions are discussed : (i) Under what 

 mental conditions did the change take place from the organisation of 

 the hunting-pack (when this weakened) to the settled life of the tribe or 

 group ? and (2 ) WTiy is the human mind everywhere befogged with ideas 

 of iVIagic and Animism ? ' "WTiile the preceding well describes the scope 

 of this work, it does not give any idea of the fascinating way in which it is 

 written, nor does it explain the wealth of material which the author 

 brings forward in support of his ideas. His chapters on Magic and Ani- 

 mism, Omens, Toteniism, etc., are remarkably fully and clearly written. 



The Country Day by Day, by E. K. Robinson. New edition, 

 371 pp. London : Holden and Hardingham, izjb net. Perhaps the 

 most generous way to deal with this volume is to give extracts from the 

 circular written by the publishers, or by the author? merely adding 

 that we don't agree with them ; — ' No Nature Book was ever more 

 favourably received by the Press and Public than the first edition of this 

 book. It contains a Nature article appropriate to every day in the year, 

 being a selected compilation of the notes which the author contributed, 

 for nearly three years, to The Daily Mail. Although many years have 

 passed, the author still receives letters from correspondents saying they 

 used to take the paper solely for the purpose of reading these notes. 

 Mr. E. Kay Robinson's success has encouraged many imitators in the 

 daily press, but ' The Country Day by Day ' has really No Rivals. Open 

 the book at any page, and you will find a literary cameo, perfectly 

 descriptive of Nature's happenings, appropriate to that day. H you 

 w^ant to take and keep a bright and wholesome view of life, get a copy of 

 ' The Country Day by Day,' and make a practice of reading one page of 

 it every day. The difficulty is to stop reading when you have begun.' 



Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, Vol. XIX., 

 pt. 5. Tlie part recently issued maintains the high level of the Proceedings 

 of this Society. A melancholy interest is attached to two papers by 

 geologists who have passed away, Dr. E. A. Newell .\rber and Lieut. -Col. 

 WTieelton Hind. The first paper, by G. \V. Lamplugh, F.R.S., deals 

 with a supposed raised beach at Saltburn, and describes recent sections 

 made in the deposits. Some of the material is blown sand and rainwash, 

 and the presence of .shells is accounted for, some being regarded as relics 

 of kitchen middens, and others as wind-borne. The terrace itself is 

 referred to fluviatile and not marine action. The paper furnishes a 

 useful warning, showing the care necessary when claiming deposits to 

 be raised beaches. The second paper by the late Dr. Newell Arber is 

 concerned with the fossil flora of the .southern portion of the Yorkshire 



Naturalist 



