922 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1148 



prejudice. She has so long and so loudly in- 

 sisted that she leads the world in all organiza- 

 tion and administration that it is a shock to 

 find that her civil service is admittedly 

 inefficient. It is already well known that her 

 social science, as reflected in the infant death- 

 rate, is inefficient. Various branches of her 

 educational system are very weak and ill-or- 

 ganized. We are beginning at last to realize 

 that German face-values are not always true 

 values. But this, though entertaining, is not 

 necessarily comforting to us. Is our own 

 Home Civil Service, devoted though it is, se- 

 lected on a system that is calculated to secure 

 men who have, as part of their outfit, the scien- 

 tific method of thought? We do not want 

 pure or applied scientists for our service any 

 more than the Germans want lawyers. We 

 believe that the German engineers are wrong 

 in the system that they would substitute for 

 the legal system. What is needed for an effi- 

 cient civil service is a class of men and women 

 trained to think, to see and to foresee. — Lon- 

 don Times Educational Supplement. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Soils, Their Properties and Management. By 

 T. Lyttleton Lyon, Ph.D., Professor of 

 Soil Technology; Elmer O. Fippin, B.S.A., 

 Extension Professor of Soil Technology; 

 and Harry 0. Buckman, Ph.D., Assistant 

 Professor of Soil Technology, all of Cornell 

 University. New York, The Macmillan 

 Company. 764 pages. 



This is a very complete text on soil tech- 

 nology, as can be seen from the following 

 chapter heads: I. Some General Considera- 

 tions; H. Soil-Forming Processes; ILL The 

 Geological Classification of Soils; TV. Geo- 

 logical Classification of Soils (Continued) ; 

 V. Climatic and Geochemical Eelationships 

 of Soils; VI. The Soil Particle; VII. Some 

 Physical Properties of the Soil; VEIL The 

 Organic Matter of the Soil; IX. The Colloidal 

 Matter of Soils; X. Soil Structure; XI. The 

 Eorms of Soil Water and their Movement; 

 XII. The Water of the Soil in its Relation to 

 Plants; XIII. The Control of Soil Moisture; 

 XIV. Soil Heat; XV. Availability of Plant 



Nutrients as Determined by Chemical Anal- 

 ysis; XVL The Absorptive Properties of 

 Soils; XVLT. Acid or Sour Soils; XVTTL 

 Alkali Salts; XIX. Absorption of Nutritive 

 Salts by Agricultural Plants; XX. Organisms 

 in the Soil; XXI. The Nitrogen Cycle; XXLL 

 The Soil Air; XXIII. Commercial Fertilizers; 

 XXIV. Soil Amendments; XXV. Fertilizer 

 Practise; XXVI. Farm Manures; XXVLL 

 Green Manures; XXVTII. Land Drainage; 

 XXIX. Tillage; XXX. Irrigation and Dry 

 Farming; XXXI. The Soil Survey. 



Particular attention should be drawn to the 

 all too brief chapters on the organic matter 

 and the colloidal matter of soils, both of which 

 are admirably done. The discussion is clear 

 and to the point. Too often organic matter is 

 hazily treated, and colloids neglected entirely. 

 As a book of reference for students of soils 

 this text is exceptionally good, not only for 

 the subject-matter itself, but also for the pro- 

 fuse bibliography. But as a text for a general 

 class in soil technology it is somewhat too 

 comprehensive, and the subject-matter not 

 sufficiently coordinated. The various phases of 

 soil study are taken up as separate subjects 

 and not treated as parts of a whole. Although 

 the soil is a very complex material, its various 

 functions work together and should be studied 

 in their interrelationships. 



There are a few corrections to be made. 

 The word " protein " is better than " proteid," 

 page 12, line 7. The formula for kaolinite on 

 page 22 does not agree with the formula on 

 page 9. The latter is correct. On page 128, 

 line 14, " proteosis " should be " proteoses." 

 There is too frequent use of the phrase " and 

 the like " after a series of names. It is as bad 

 as too many " and so forths." 



The typography and binding are excellent. 

 Such illustrations as are given are good, but 

 a text should be more profusely illustrated for 

 the average student. Good pictures well chosen 

 add very greatly to the pedagogic value of a 

 text-book. All things considered, however, 

 the authors are to be congratulated on pro- 

 ducing a book so complete, so accurate, so well 

 written, and so useful to all students of the 

 soil. C. W. Stoddart 



State College, Pa. 



