Jan. 27, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



87 



First Year of Scientific Knowledge. By Paul Bert. 

 Translated by Mme. Paul Bert. Fifth Edition. 

 London : Relfe Brothers, 1887. 

 This excellent little book differs essentially from most 

 of its kind, as far as we know them, in being scien- 

 tific in spirit. The temptation to make a book attractive 

 to young readers leads often to its becoming a collection 

 of striking curiosities, used to catch the imagination only, 

 and not to lead up to and illustrate scientific principles. 

 Such a book does not teach science, does not educate 

 the mind scientifically ; interesting facts about habits of 

 animals, or chemical and physical experiments, have a 

 charm for many minds, but no more form a training in 

 science than a collection of postage-stamps forms a train- 

 ing in geography. In. the book before us all the charm 

 exists, and we see in addition to it a thread of purpose 

 linking the facts together ; the child, and, indeed, the man 

 and woman wise enough to read, may be helped to think 

 out connecting principles and to draw reasonable con- 

 clusions, so that the final outcome should be not a mind 

 merely stored with bits of knowledge about animals and 

 plants and stones and gases, but one trained to appre- 

 ciate the value of accurate reasoning about such things, 

 one wherein is laid a firm foundation for sound work in 

 the future. We heartily commend this valuable part of 

 the work of the late M. Bert to all who would further 

 the best education of children. It is worthy of notice 

 that over 300,000 copies of the original were sold in 

 three years, and that it is used in nearly every school 

 in France. The illustrations are many, and are very 

 well suited for the purpose of directing the attention of 

 children to salient points, a matter too often sacrificed 

 to a love of pretty pictures. 



Elektrische Apparate, Maschinen imd Einrichtnngen. Eine 

 Sammlung von Bcschrcibiiugcn sum Gcbraucli fur 

 Techniker, Ingenietirc, etc. W. E. Fein. (J. Hoffmann, 

 Stuttgart, 1888). 

 This finely illustrated and well got-up book, although 

 appearing at first sight to be a manufacturer's catalogue, 

 contains neither prices or advertisement. The arrange- 

 ment is rather confusing, but we find in the preface that 

 it is a chronological description of the author's work since 

 1867. The book would be more useful to the " tech- 

 niker " (an expressive, hardly translatable word, mean- 

 ing one who is technical) if the apparatus had been 

 grouped under a few heads. It leads off with a Wilde 

 dynamo with two Siemens armatures ; this is followed by 

 an ordinary electric bell indicator, thermometer alarms, 

 bells, batteries, etc. An " Alarmvorrichtung fur Leichen- 

 hallen " is a gruesome device for use in a mortuary, and 

 might be connected with startling effect to the " Rilck- 

 signal," or repeating bell push, which announces " Man 

 kommt ! " An indicator for showing the height of water 

 bears a good deal of resemblance to one which was 

 described by Mr. Upton at the last meeting of the British 

 Association at Manchester. 



Many forms of telephone are illustrated and described, 

 and diagrams of the connections are given separately. 

 The author is best known in this country as the inventor 

 of a dynamo, with extensions of the magnets on the in- 

 side of a Gramme armature. The first machine of this 

 kind is dated 1880. The principle is based on the much- 

 debated notion that the inner wires are useless. This \ 



feature is abandoned in the later machines. An account 

 is given of a series of experiments with dynamos of dif- 

 ferent shapes, to determine the best form of field magnet. 

 The results have been published in Industries. The 

 pattern which the author considers best offers difficulties 

 of manufacture which will deter most dynamo builders 

 from following him. An alphabetical and a classified 

 index diminishes, to some extent, the drawback of the 

 chronological arrangement. 



Bird-Stories, Old and New, told in Pictures and Prose. 

 By Harrison Weir. London : Society for Promoting 

 Christian Knowledge. 



The " pictures," as might be expected from the artist, 

 are admirably bird-like in expression and attitude. The 

 " prose," though brief and simple, contains not a few 

 valuable observations. For instance, the fact of rooks 

 coming back every spring to visit the site of their former 

 abode, though the trees had been cut down more than 

 twenty years ago, is a good proof both of the longevity of 

 these birds and of their tenacious memories. Still more 

 curious that a young cuckoo is fed, not only by its foster- 

 parents, but by other birds which happen to be in the 

 neighbourhood. The design of a cat put to the rout by a 

 pair of great tits, whose nest she has been attempting to 

 rob, is, in its way, delicious. We could wish that every 

 cat might fare thus when on bird-nesting expeditions, 

 always except in the case of the common sparrow. The 

 anecdote of an old cock parting two young cockerels who 

 wished to get up a fight, is very interesting. 



The common magpie is justly described as an inveterate 

 robber of chicks and ducklings. But their impudence 

 and rapacity in Norway are far more marked than in 

 England. In spite of the combined vigilance of men and 

 dogs they often succeed in carrying off the larger portion 

 of a brood. 



The account of the "drover raven," whose delight it 

 was to turn sheep out of the right road, is most amusing. 

 There is in many birds a vein of mischief We once saw 

 a small party of sheep which had evidently come astray, 

 soberly travelling along a main road, when suddenly a 

 flock of geese rushed out of a farm-yard, and with loud 

 cries and flapping of wings chased the terrified sheep 

 for about a quarter of a mile into a by-lane. 



The pea-shelling habits of the jay are duly recorded. 

 Beautiful as these birds are it is not pleasant to take up 

 pod after pod of peas, and find that they have been 

 emptied so skilfully as to look untouched. 



Mr. Harrison Weir utters a timely protest against the 

 barbarous folly ot destroying owls to make ornamental 

 screens of their wings. We want some good, sharp legis- 

 lation on the subject of using for personal or household 

 decoration birds which cannot be multiplied at pleasure. 

 But here, as in many other good movements, we must 

 count on the most determined opposition of the economists. 



" Bird-stories " will afford pleasant and not unprofitable 

 reading to the old as well as to the young. 



The Student's Handbook of Chemistry, with tables and 



chemical calculations. By H. Leicester Greville, 



F.I.C., etc. Edinburgh : E. and S. Livingstone. 



Although there are so many treatises on chemistry we 



welcome the appearance of the second edition of this 



clear and concise manual. It is not as bulky as the first 



edition, but owing to the use of a smaller type it contains 



no little fresh matter. 



The first four chapters deal with chemical philosophy . 



