622 
fact that the book was not written as a whole, 
but is a collection of lectures, delivered at 
various times and places, on different aspects 
of the general problem of the evolution of 
the universe. 
Cuas. Lane Poor 
Modern Navigation. By Frank Srymour 
Hastines. D. Appleton & Co. 1918. Pp. 
xvi-t 84, illustrated. With introduction by 
Rear-Admiral Albert Gleaves, U. S. N. 
In “Modern Navigation” the author has 
rendered a real service to all interested in the 
safe navigation of the seas. In the last quar- 
ter of a century there have been many improve- 
ments in the art of finding one’s place at sea, 
and the officers of our Navy have been quick 
to take all possible advantage of these inven- 
tions and improvements. Not so, however, 
with those responsible for the vessels of the 
mercantile marine. These vessels have been 
navigated and are being navigated to-day by 
methods requiring long and cumbersome cal- 
culations, by methods long obsolete in the 
Navy. 
When the necessity of manning the vessels, 
now being ‘built under the emergency of war, 
was recognized, the government started schools 
for the training of many thousands of seamen 
to rank as mates and masters in the new mer- 
‘eantile marine. The attention of those in 
charge of this training was early called to these 
new methods and they were urged to start the 
future navigators right, to discard all the obso- 
lete methods, and to substitute the simple mod- 
ern method. This was not done: the training 
has gone on along the old fashioned and anti- 
quated ideas of a past generation. The time 
and energy of thousands of bright, aspiring 
young men are being wasted, and old, worn 
out methods are being fastened on the next 
generation, all because the power to grant li- 
censes to masters and mates rests in the 
hands of a few retired seamen, who have failed 
to keep abreast of the advances in their pro- 
fession. For this reason the book of Mr. Hast- 
ings is most timely; it may help to bring the 
great advantages of modern methods before the 
officers and students of the training schools. 
SCIENCE 
LN. S. Vou. XLVIII. No. 1251 
This small book gives a short account of the 
St. Hilaire method. Very wisely all extrane- 
ous matter is eliminated, and the book is con- 
fined to the bringing before the merchant offi- 
cer the advantages of the Navy method. The 
working of this method is shown by a number 
of concrete examples, and the book is well illus- 
trated with carefully prepared diagrams. The 
book, however, lacks a clear explanation of the 
fundamental principles of a “ line of position,” 
and of the real underlying basis of the St. 
Hilaire method. 
It is certainly refreshing to see a book on 
navigation, which is something more than a 
mere compilation from treatises of a past gen- 
eration. ; 
Cuas. Langs Poor 
SPECIAL ARTICLES 
RHINEODON TYPUS, THE WHALE SHARK— 
FURTHER NOTES ON ITS HABITS AND 
DISTRIBUTION 
In a brief note published in Scrmncz in 1913+ 
I recorded the second taking in Florida waters 
of this great fish. As an interesting coin- 
cidence it may be pointed out that this spec- 
imen is the second ever taken in the Atlantic 
Ocean, or, so far as records go, ever seen 
therein. Jn a later and more extensive paper,? 
I gave the details of the capture of this fish 
with as full a description and as many photo- 
graphs_as possible, and followed these with 
the natural history of the fish as contained 
in the writings of those scientists who have 
been privileged to study it at first hand. Re- 
produced in this larger paper were all the 
Imown figures of this great shark. Inasmuch 
as im the course of this work there were 
brought to light a number of accounts and 
descriptions of this greatest of all sharks 
which up to that time had remained unknown, 
it was believed that the paper contained a 
1Gudger, E. W., ‘‘A Second Capture of the 
Whale Shark, Rhineodon typus, in Florida 
Waters,’’ ScrENcE, 1913, N. S., Vol. 38, p. 270. 
2‘*Natural History of the Whale Shark, Rhi- 
neodon typus Smith,’’? Zoologica: Scientifie Con- 
tributions, New York Zoological Society, 1915, Vol. 
I., pp. 349-389, 14 figs. 
