﻿304 
  Scientific 
  Intelligence. 
  

  

  grams 
  have 
  been 
  constructed, 
  all 
  redound 
  to 
  the 
  credit 
  of 
  the 
  

   author 
  and 
  publishers. 
  In 
  short, 
  the 
  book 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  valuable 
  

   and 
  efficient 
  contribution 
  to 
  the 
  important 
  field 
  to 
  which 
  it 
  per- 
  

   tains, 
  h. 
  s. 
  u. 
  

  

  10. 
  The 
  Booh 
  of 
  the 
  Damned; 
  by 
  Charles 
  Fort. 
  Pp. 
  298. 
  

   New 
  York, 
  1919 
  (Boni 
  and 
  Liveright). 
  — 
  The 
  gilded 
  illustration 
  

   of 
  a 
  fictitious 
  planet 
  and 
  of 
  ten 
  suns 
  or 
  stars 
  on 
  the 
  bright 
  red 
  

   cover, 
  taken 
  in 
  conjunction 
  with 
  the 
  striking 
  title, 
  would 
  gener- 
  

   ally 
  cause 
  the 
  casual 
  observer 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  the 
  book 
  is 
  a 
  novel 
  

   and 
  that 
  it 
  might 
  contain 
  some 
  very 
  entertaining, 
  perhaps 
  even 
  

   highly 
  exciting, 
  reading 
  matter. 
  Such 
  expectations 
  are 
  imme- 
  

   diately 
  dashed 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  attention 
  is 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  actual 
  contents 
  

   of 
  the 
  volume. 
  It 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  that 
  by 
  "the 
  damned' 
  the 
  

   author 
  means 
  the 
  alleged 
  facts 
  and 
  observations 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  

   found 
  recorded 
  in 
  reputable 
  scientific 
  journals 
  and 
  which 
  have 
  

   been 
  "excluded" 
  from 
  the 
  heaven 
  of 
  accepted 
  phenomena 
  

   either 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  their 
  lack 
  of 
  importance 
  or 
  of 
  their 
  doubt- 
  

   ful 
  authenticity. 
  He 
  has 
  undoubtedly 
  devoted 
  a 
  large 
  amount 
  

   of 
  time 
  and 
  energy 
  to 
  the 
  compilation 
  of 
  the 
  material 
  presented, 
  

   but 
  the 
  object 
  in 
  so 
  doing 
  is 
  left 
  in 
  doubt 
  by 
  the 
  absence 
  both 
  

   of 
  a 
  preface 
  and 
  of 
  an 
  introduction. 
  

  

  The 
  author's 
  style 
  is 
  at 
  first 
  confusing 
  or 
  bewildering, 
  then 
  

   amusing, 
  but 
  soon 
  very 
  tiring. 
  Two 
  fairly 
  chosen 
  typical 
  quo- 
  

   tations 
  will 
  suffice 
  to 
  illustrate 
  this 
  adverse 
  criticism. 
  (P. 
  8.) 
  

   "But 
  by 
  the 
  excluded 
  I 
  mean 
  that 
  which 
  will 
  some 
  day 
  be 
  the 
  

   excluding. 
  Or 
  everything 
  that 
  is, 
  won't 
  be. 
  And 
  everything 
  

   that 
  isn't, 
  will 
  be 
  — 
  But, 
  of 
  course, 
  will 
  be 
  that 
  which 
  won't 
  

   be 
  — 
  . 
  " 
  (P. 
  207.) 
  ' 
  ' 
  It 
  may 
  be 
  that 
  the 
  Milky 
  Way 
  is 
  a 
  compo- 
  

   sition 
  of 
  stiff, 
  frozen, 
  finally-static, 
  absolute 
  angels. 
  We 
  shall 
  

   have 
  data 
  of 
  little 
  Milky 
  Ways, 
  moving 
  swiftly 
  ; 
  or 
  data 
  of 
  hosts 
  

   of 
  angels, 
  not 
  absolute, 
  or 
  still 
  dynamic. 
  I 
  suspect, 
  myself, 
  that 
  

   the 
  fixed 
  stars 
  are 
  really 
  fixed, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  minute 
  motions 
  said 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  detected 
  in 
  them 
  are 
  illusions. 
  I 
  think 
  that 
  the 
  

   fixed 
  stars 
  are 
  absolutes. 
  Their 
  twinkling 
  is 
  only 
  the 
  interpre- 
  

   tation 
  by 
  an 
  intermediatist 
  state 
  of 
  them." 
  h. 
  s. 
  u. 
  

  

  11. 
  Mesures 
  Pratiques 
  en 
  Radioactivite; 
  by 
  W. 
  Makower 
  

   and 
  H. 
  Geiger. 
  Translated 
  by 
  E. 
  Philippi. 
  Pp. 
  vii, 
  181. 
  

   Paris, 
  1919 
  ( 
  Gauthier-Villars 
  et 
  Cie.). 
  — 
  A 
  page 
  by 
  page 
  com- 
  

   parison 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  volume 
  with 
  the 
  original 
  English 
  edi- 
  

   tion, 
  — 
  which 
  appeared 
  as 
  long 
  ago 
  as 
  the 
  year 
  1912, 
  — 
  shows 
  that 
  

   absolutely 
  the 
  only 
  change 
  effected 
  by 
  the 
  translation 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  

   language. 
  The 
  translator 
  gives 
  neither 
  a 
  preface 
  of 
  his 
  own 
  

   nor 
  any 
  clue 
  to 
  the 
  reason 
  for 
  making 
  the 
  translation. 
  He 
  has 
  

   not 
  brought 
  the 
  text 
  or 
  appendixes 
  up 
  to 
  date 
  in 
  any 
  respect 
  

   whatever. 
  On 
  the 
  contrary, 
  he 
  has 
  retained 
  the 
  typographical 
  

   slips 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  volume 
  [for 
  example, 
  the 
  one 
  in 
  equation 
  

   (39)] 
  and 
  added 
  some 
  new 
  errors. 
  Consequently 
  the 
  French 
  

   edition 
  has 
  nothing 
  to 
  recommend 
  it 
  to 
  English 
  readers. 
  

  

  h. 
  s. 
  u. 
  

  

  