365 



REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 



From Messrs. ^Nlilner & Co., of Halifax, we have received three volumes 

 of their " XXth Century Science Series,' which are remarkable alike for 

 their cheapness and the excellence of their contents. Each consists of 

 about 130 pages, is illustrated, and well bound in an attractive red cloth 

 co\-er. We only hope the volumes will have the circulation they deserve. 

 Prof. A. C. Haddon writes on Races of Man and their Distribution, the name 

 of the author alone being a guarantee of the excellence and reliability of 

 the matter. This volume forms a summary of the subject such as has been 

 wanted for some time. Mr. Joseph McCabe, who is well known for his 

 translations of various foreign works on Evolution, writes on Evolution : 

 a General Sketch from Nebula to Man, and deals with the subject in eight 

 chapters, the last bemg ' A forecast of the end.' Physiology of the Human 

 Body is suggested as a text-book for students, and is by that voluminous 

 writer, Dr. Andrew Wilson. 



The Viking Club continues to issue its valuable publications. Its Saga 

 Book i\'o]. Xl. pt. I, 161 pp.) just to hand, is of more than usual interest 

 to northern antiquaries. Prof. A. Bugge writes on ' Seafaring and Ship- 

 ping during the Viking Ages ' ; some interesting comparisons are drawn 

 between Brunanburh and ^^inhei5 in ' Ingulfs Chronicle and Egil's Saga,' 

 by the Re\". C. W. \Miistler ; and there are also readable papers on ' The 

 \'iknigs in Spain,' by J. Stefansson ; ' The First Christian Martyr in Russia,' 

 b}- F. P. ^larchant ; ' The Sites of three Danish Camps, etc., in East 

 Anglia,' by B. Lowerison ;' ' A Ship Burial in Brittany,' by P. Du Chatellier 

 and L. Le Pontois, etc., etc. Several of these are illustrated. Parts 11 

 to 16 of the Club's Old Lore Series have also been published, and deal with 

 Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and Sutherland records. Amongst the many 

 items are several curious records of superstitions, witchcraft, fairies, etc., 

 etc. These publications reliect the greatest credit upon the Editor, who 

 has had a difficult task. 



A second edition of Observing and Forecasting the Weather : Meteorology 

 without Instruments, by D. W. Horner, has been issued by Messrs. Witherby 

 & Co. (48 pp., 6d. net). It is an improvement on the first edition, already 

 noticed in these columns ; and the illustrations are better. 



The West Riding County Council Vacation Courses is the title of an 

 attractively prepared pamphlet, issued for the benefit of the teachers 

 attending the County Council Course at Scarborough in August. It 

 contains a number of papers, including ' The Queen of Watering Places,' 

 by Dr. J. Irving ; ' A Few Remarks on Botanical Excursions,' by Mr. O. V. 

 Darbishire ; ' The Teaching of Science and Domestic Subjects to Girls,' 

 by Prof. A. Smithells, and ' Filey : its Brig and Cliffs,' by Mr. T. Sheppard. 



Few volumes have appeared in recent years which have shewn such a 

 wide range of reading and research on the part of their writers, as does 

 Folk Memory or the Continuity of British Archaeology, by W. Johnson. 

 (Oxford : the Clarendon Press. 416 pp., 10/6 net). And few volumes 

 can be said to possess such a mass of sound scientific deduction as does 

 ' Folk Memory.' Evolution is the author's key-note, and in a fascinating 

 way Mr. Johnson shews how in many directions we have survivals of primi- 

 tive forms. That he is thoroughly up-to-date with regard to his reading 

 is proved by his numerous references to ' Forty Years' Researches,' by Mr. 

 J. R. Mortimer, and to other works of even more recent date. To find 

 fault with any part of the book is difficult ; to enumerate the various 

 subjects dealt with is impossible in the space at our disposal, but we can 

 give our readers an idea of the nature of the subjects dealt with by the 

 following hap-hazard selection : — Evolution of stone and bronze imple- 

 ments, of canoes from the old ' dug-outs,' of Tombstones, crosses, burial 

 mounds, garden implements, roads, etc., etc. There are also chapters on 

 dene-holes, dew-ponds, megaliths, flint-knapping, linchets, incised figures on 



1909 Oct. I. 



