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a clear idea of the composition of forces, at a time when the fundamental principles of dynamics were unknown.

up-to-date information on planting operations and on catch crops. The advantages and disadvantages of close planting are fully considered. The most general distance now employed is from 15 feet to 20 feet. The main justification for close planting is the increased tapping area which is available in the first few years, but there is a note of warning in the following passage:

"No one who has seen the uncultivated thirtyyear-old trees at Henaratgoda can doubt that such specimens require at the very least a distance of thirty to forty feet if they are to be allowed to continue in their growth and maintain a healthy constitution."

Catch crops, says Mr. Wright, are all very exhausting, and their profitable cultivation is limited to about the first four years.

The writings of the German philosopher Nicolaus de Cusa seem to have made a profound impression on Leonardo, and M. Duhem shows how suggestive they were to him in his studies on the motion of bodies. Leonardo discussed the motion of an arrow shot vertically upwards from the earth, assuming the latter to rotate in twenty-four hours, not because he wanted to prove or disprove the rotation of the earth, but merely as a problem of dynamics. Here, as well as in his general investigation of the motion of a projectile, he found it hard to free himself from old ideas; he believed, for instance, that a cannon ball at first moves in a straight line while influenced by a "violent force," next in a curved path while that force and gravity are struggling for supremacy, until it finally Considerable space is devoted to a description of drops to the earth in a straight line. Though he cannot be considered a precursor of Copernicus (hements, but, apparently, the systems employed are the various methods of tapping and tapping implesays repeatedly that the earth is at the centre of the universe), he reasons as freely as Cusa about the nature of the stars, and rejects the Aristotelean distinction between the terrestrial elements and celestial matter. He believed the moon to be composed of the four elements which it supports in space in itself and by itself, as the earth does with its component parts. This is much the same as the statement of Copernicus that gravity is a natural tendency of all particles to join themselves into a whole in the form of a sphere, a tendency which is innate in the sun, moon, and planets.

The fourth essay deals with speculations on the origin of fossils. Leonardo did not consider them to be "plays of nature," or to have been carried to the tops of mountains by a deluge, but recognised that they are the remains of animals which actually lived on the spot where the fossils are found.

PARA RUBBER.

Hevea brasiliensis, or Para Rubber. Its Botany,
Cultivation, Chemistry, and Diseases. By Herbert
Wright. Third edition. Pp. xviii+204. (Colombo :
A. M. and J. Ferguson; London: MacLaren and
Sons, 1008.) Price 10s. net.

A

REVIEW of Mr. Herbert Wright's valuable work on Para rubber appeared in NATURE about two years ago. The present edition (third) has been considerably enlarged, and in Mr. Wright's words has been compiled in consequence of the many advances which have been recently made in methods of cultivation and tapping, coagulating and curing." The text has been increased from 177 pages to 304 pages, and the really well reproduced and instructive illustrations from 86 to 272. Many of the chapters have been re-written and expanded, especially the one on uses of rubber. There is now separate chapter on the botany of the Para tree, Hevea brasiliensis, and one on the effect of tapping on the

trees.

a

far from perfect, as the following passage implies :—

"The adoption of better systems of tapping which obviate the necessity of paring away the tissues wherein the milk accumulates, and drawing supplies of latex by merely cutting and not excising the laticiferous tissues is bound to result in an increased

yield since the life of the tapping area is so much prolonged."

At present the average yield per tree per year for the Malay States would appear to be about 2 lb. Most of the trees, however, are still young. The cost of production is about 1s. 6d. per lb. Various methods of coagulating and treating latex are described the use of centrifugal machines is more or less experimental; "the principle . . . . of causing a separation of the caoutchouc globules by mechanical means is one which cannot be too strongly impressed on the experimentalist."

There is very little doubt, from Mr. Wright's remarks and his inquiries amongst manufacturers, that plantation Para is inferior in quality to fine hard (wild) Para. A wise manufacturer would not dare to buy 50 tons of cultivated rubber and store for six months, for fear of grave deterioration in quality, but he would buy thousands of tons of up-river fine Para with a full knowledge that it would grow better in storage. Mr. Wright appears to have very little faith in the so-called "synthetic rubber."

Natural rubber consists chemically of very complicated compounds. The "resins" and " proteins are in themselves highly complex bodies, the components of which are but little understood.

"How can it then be possible, since we do not various components of natural rubber, to have synfully understand the chemical composition of the thetic rubber already on the market?"

Mr. Wright's book is perhaps the most comprehensive and up-to-date work on Para rubber published in this country, and has proved of great utility to practical men in the various branches of the rubber L. C. B.

Chapter iv. contains a great deal of useful and industry.

ALTITUDE TABLES FOR NAVIGATORS. Altitude Tables, computed for Intervals of Four Minutes between the Parallels of Latitude 24° and 60°, and Parallels of Declination 24° and 60°, designed for the Determination of the Position Line at all Hour Angles without Logarithmic Computation. By Frederic Ball. Pp. xxxvii+313. (London: J. D. Potter, 1909.) Price 155. net.

THERE

HERE are many circumstances connected with actual navigation which tend to make calculation on board ship difficult to the inexpert, and we naturally welcome any effort intended to shorten an onerous task and to introduce greater simplicity. The substitution of tables which give an approximate solution of a spherical triangle, involving only a very easy interpolation, is the form that assistance usually takes, and the main feature in the book before us is to make tables, already published, available for wider limits of latitude and declination. As tables extend, and contrive, perhaps, to serve more than one purpose, complications are likely to arise, and however great an ingenuity is displayed in adapting trigonometrical formulæ to tabular arrangement, if simplicity is sacrificed to ingenuity, the ultimate gain is questionable.

Accuracy is as necessary as brevity of calculation, and it is possible to be so enamoured with the apparent advantages of tables that the chances of misusing them are overlooked. We have a slight fear that the author has not sufficiently considered this point. It is a mistake to cumber the work with many rules, which put too great a strain on the memory. For instance, the rules for determining the " name of the azimuth; using different methods within ten degrees of the meridian or of the prime vertical; interchanging latitude for declination under certain conditions; all these things are apt to be a little burdensome in a moment of stress or excitement. Further than this, there must come a time when tables do not shorten the work, for the number of interpolations becomes excessive. Tables of double entry are always inconvenient to the computer, and when, as in nautical problems, we get three arguments, latitude, declination, and hour angle, for other values than those in the tables, the process becomes very laborious. In an example given, it is necessary to take out four altitudes with arguments of even degrees of latitude, and of declination, and to make three interpolations between these altitudes. Not a word is said about the signs of the corrections, and it is quite possible to use an incorrect sign. In any case, the attention is kept on the strain more than if a direct calculation of altitude was made from the ordinary trigonometrical formula. We may ask, too, whether the use of logs. for solving the simplest question in rule of three is not a little overdone. We have a problem, in which is given the difference of altitude for 60', and it is required to find the proportional amount for 416'. The correction is worked out by logs. involving three entries.

But these are little technical points, on which, no doubt, the author's information is a safe guide. He has actual experience to lead him aright, and we are

prepared to surrender our opinion to his practical judgment. On a more important point we are entirely effort to impress, especially, on the Mercantile Marine, with Mr. Ball. We recognise that this is part of an methods of tried excellence, and the desirability of the necessity and the advantage of employing modern abandoning obsolete processes. In these days of rapid locomotion at sea, it is more than ever necessary to produce a correct result in the shortest possible time, and when the expenses of ship management are SO enormous, it is a matter of prime importance to know the exact position of the vessel, and to ensure accurate landfall. No time must be lost in groping about to pick up a light, no hesitation must be allowed in determining the ship's course and speed. We trust the author will be successful in enforcing the lesson he has at heart.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

Guide to the Whales, Porpoises, and Dolphins (Order
Cetacea), exhibited in the Department of Zoology,
British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road.
London, S. W. Pp. 47. (London: British Museum
[N.H.], 1909.) Price 4d.

THE whale-room in the Natural History Museum is
national collection, and the publication of a new guide
one of the most notable and interesting features of the
to its contents calls for a word of comment. Within
fifty pages Mr. Lydekker has compressed not only a
series of clues to the models, skins, and other pre-
parations, but has furnished students of zoology gener-
ally with a most useful and well-illustrated summary
of the chief characters of the Cetacea and of their
presumable ancestors. In a
Dr.
prefatory note,
Harmer gives reason for confining exhibits of this
order to skeletons and models, but it is to be hoped
that the public will always have an opportunity of see-
ing the skins of some of these impressive animals, in
order to judge of their proportions. The only feature
of this excellent guide that we could have wished more
fully expounded, relates to the puzzling vernacular
names of whales that are used by fishermen. The
members of our own branch of the international sea
investigation are often quite at a loss to know what
and their experience is not unique. The matter has
these names correspond to in scientific nomenclature,
some importance since the cetacean fauna of the
north-western seas is probably more familiar to fisher-
men than to naturalists, and the fisherman's records
cannot be stated precisely until we are able to under-
stand the vernacular terms in use.

La Naissance de l'Intelligence. By Dr. Georges Bohn.
Pp. 350.
(Paris: Ernest Flammarion, 1909.) Price

3.50 francs.
THIS book is the latest addition to the well-known
series of volumes entitled the "Bibliothèque de Philo-
sophie scientifique," and, in both matter and style,
by its predecessors. The author restricts his atten-
easily reaches the high standard of excellence set
tion to the psychology of the lower organisms, and
has succeeded in giving an extremely interesting
account of a part of modern comparative psychology
hitherto rendered attractive only at the expense of
truth. An implacable foe to the "anthropomorphism "
of the last generation of comparative psychologists,
Dr. Bohn devotes a large part of the earlier chapters
of his book to a full statement and vigorous defence
of Loeb's theory of tropisms, relieving it of several

serious misconceptions on the part of the critics by distinguishing it from and relating it to the theories of differential sensibility" and "associative memory," respectively, which were adumbrated by Loeb himself, and are equally necessary to the explanation of many forms of behaviour of lower organisms. From this general standpoint he finds himself in a position to criticise, on the one hand, the modern mechanistic school of the Germans (Beer, Bethe, Uexküll, &c.), who deny sensations to animals only to be forced, later on in the argument, to attribute intellect to them, and, on the other hand, Jennings and his American supporters, whose theory of "trial and error" is accused (somewhat unjustly, we think) of an anthropomorphic taint. Other interesting points in the book are discussions on the vital rhythms of marine animals, on the criteria of psychism (where the author rejects Yerkes's various criteria-discrimination, docility, initiative-in favour of that suggested by Loeb, viz. associative memory), on the laws of associative phenomena, and on instinct, a term which the author scornfully expels from comparative psychology as being "metaphysical" and useless. Such a method of getting rid of difficulties should not be encouraged.

W. B.

The Dyeing and Cleaning of Textile Fabrics. A Handbook for the Amateur and the Professional. By F. A. Owen. Based partly on notes of H. C. Standage. Pp. vi+253. (New York: Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1909.) Price 8s. 6d. net.

A HANDBOOK was published some time ago under some such title as “Every Man His Own Lawyer." To what particular class of people such a book is useful it is not easy to say, but it is fairly safe to assume that the work of the legal profession was not materially lessened by its publication. The book above mentioned might with equal aptness have been termed "Every Man His Own Dyer," but the probability is that the people who are successful in dyeing their own clothes will be even smaller in number than those who are satisfied with the result of their own legal efforts. The first portion of the book is taken up with such general matters as solution, maceration, &c., and here the author drifts into pharmacy. "The ordinary dose of such infusions is 1 to 2 ozs., three or four times per day." He does not explain, however, the connection between the internal application of infusions and the renovation of garments. His remarks on maceration are equally illuminating. "Its object is usually to impregnate alcohol with the principles of a substance which would be but slowly extracted without the aid of heat, such as the sun or other warm situation."

It is a matter for regret that the book should have been published in its present form. It contains many trustworthy and useful recipes for the removal of stains, the cleaning of gloves, &c., but these are associated with so much useless and even misleading matter that their value is greatly discounted.

WALTER M. GARDNER.

Codex of Resolutions adopted at International Meteorological Meetings, 1872-1907. Prepared at the request of the International Meteorological Committee by H. H. Hildebrandsson and G. Hellmann. Pp. 80. (London: H.M.'s Stationery Office, 1909.) Price 1s. 3d.

PROGRESS in the observational sciences depends to a great extent on cooperation among those engaged in collecting and making generally available the observational data, and in no subject is this more true than in meteorology, in which the number of individuals who have to be brought within the meshes of the

Much

general organisation is exceptionally great. has been accomplished in the direction of drawing up rules for general guidance, but the lack of a satisfactory index to the various reports in which these are embodied has hitherto made it difficult to find the information bearing on any given point. Recognising this difficulty, the International Meteorological Committee, at its meeting at Southport in 1903, requested the authors to prepare a summary of what had been already accomplished.

The manuscript of the "Codex," which takes the form of a reprint from the minutes of the meetings of all important resolutions, with short explanatory paragraphs interspersed, was submitted for approval at the International Conference of Directors of Observatories and Offices, held at Innsbruck in 1905. Subsequently Dr. Hellmann incorporated the decisions adopted at that meeting, and the German edition of the work was issued by the Royal Prussian Meteorological Institute in 1907. In the English edition, Dr. Shaw has incorporated the resolutions adopted by the International Committee at Paris in 1907, and we have thus a complete summary of the work accomplished by the seventeen international meetings which have been held since 1872, the date of the first conference, held at Leipzig. In view of the large area over which the English-speaking peoples hold sway, the publication of an English edition of the work is very welcome, and should prove of great service to all engaged in meteorological or magnetic work. A full index to the " reports on progress " in particular branches, and to the scientific papers which have appeared as appendices to the minutes of the meetings, is not the least valuable part of the book. The Balance of Nature, and Modern Conditions of Cultivation: A Practical Manual of Animal Foes and Friends, for the Country Gentleman, the Farmer, the Forester, the Gardener, and the Sportsman. By George Abbey. Pp. xlvii+278. (London: Routledge and Sons, Ltd.; New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1909.) Price 7s. 6d. net.

In his preface the author, who appears to have had a very large experience in trapping vermin, states that the only natural-history works he has consulted are "Wood's Natural History and "The Popular Encyclopædia." All we can say is the more's the pity, for had he undertaken a somewhat wider and more modern course of reading we might have been spared such out-of-date statements as that the hedgehog is a member of the same family as the one which includes the mole and the shrewmouse, or that there are two British species of dormice and also of watershrews. Such errors are possibly excusable in a writer who is not a zoologist; but what can be said of a so-called sportsman or outdoor naturalist who states that only tame red deer are hunted in England, and that wild roebuck are unknown south of Scotland?

But if the text be bad the illustrations, which the author declares to be diagrammatic, are ten times worse, the climax being reached in the figure of the roebuck, which is represented with a long tail!

As regards the economic portions of the work, the author appears to know more of his subject, and we trust his observations will be found of use to the country gentlemen and farmers for whom the volume is specially intended. We must, however, express surprise at the merciless manner in which he advocates trapping and other methods of destruction; and we are still more concerned at the statement on p. 201 that fish-preservation societies scruple not to destroy the kingfisher, especially if they countenance the use of the cruel pole-trap depicted on the same page. R. L.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Diurnal Variation of Temperature in the Free
Atmosphere.

THE following results, which I have recently obtained by a discussion of temperatures obtained in kite and captive balloon ascents, may be of interest in connection with Prof. Clayton's letter (NATURE, February 4) and Mr. Dines's remark that at a height of 1 km. the daily temperature variation becomes insignificant (NATURE, June 17). The daily variation of temperature at a height of 1 km. over Berlin, deduced from 2232 observations made during the five years 1903-7, is given in degrees C. by T=T-(4'400'08)+(0·87±0.13) sin (nt +1)+(0·14±0.10) sin (2nt +02),

where T, is the mean surface temperature, and the probable errors are deduced by the method of least squares. The most probable values for 0,, 02, are 197° and 123° respectively, the time being measured from midnight.

The variation deduced from 962 observations, made during the four years 1903-6, in which the wind at a height of 1 km. was 8 metres per sec. and upwards, is given by

T=T,-(397±0.15)+(0·84+0°23) sin (nt + 0,')+(0·35±0.15)

sin (2nt+02').

The most probable values of 0, 0, are 173° and 102° respectively.

The close agreement in the values for the amplitude of the whole day wave for the two cases proves that there is no large error due to the influence of solar radiation on the instruments, and that the variation is a real variation of the temperature of the atmosphere.

The mean daily range is, then, 1.7° C. (or 3.1° F.), compared with a mean daily range of about 5° C. at Kew, where the temperature variation is given by

T=T,+256 sin (nt +226°, +0°42 sin (2nt +45°).

The maximum temperature at a height of 1 km. appears to occur from two to three hours later than at the surface in the whole day wave, and two to three hours earlier in the semi-diurnal wave.

The variation at a height of 2 km., deduced from all (1132) observations, is given by

T=T,-(9 84+0°23)

+ (0.64±0.31) sin (nt +01) + (0°25±0.23) sin (2nt + 0), the most probable values for 0,, 02, being 270° and 72° respectively.

The magnitude of the probable errors precludes the results from being regarded as final. More observations are needed. But it appears certain that we do not get, on this side of the Atlantic, the remarkable diminution in amplitude and change of phase in the diurnal component which Prof. Clayton found in the first 1000 m. at Blue Hill. The amplitude of the semi-diurnal component does show an increase at 2 km. over its value at 1 km., but, having regard to the relatively large probable errors, one cannot attach any real significance to the result. At the same time, it is of interest to find that at 1 km. and 2 km. altitude in these latitudes the temperature variation is as great as it is over the ocean near the equator, where the value of the daily range is about 1.5° C. Cambridge, June 20. E. GOLD.

Temperature of the Upper Atmosphere.

AN explanation of the existence of an isothermal layer may possibly be found in the fact that carbon dioxide condenses and freezes at low temperatures even when the pressure is low. The strata in which CO, circulates, falling as small drops and then evaporating, must be comparable in the irregularity of their temperature gradients with the strata near the earth in which water circulates. The temperature of the bottom of the mist of CO, must

be approximately a function of the pressure, so it is to be expected that the height of the mist will vary from day to day and from place to place. In particular, it appears that the change of temperature gradient should occur in the tropics at a greater altitude and lower temperature than elsewhere. The observations to which Mr. Cave refers (NATURE, June 17) confirm this part of the theory. F. J. W. WHIPPLE. Merchant Taylors' School, E.C., June 28.

The Aeronautical Society.

IN reference to Prof. Bryan's remarks on the aims and objects of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain in NATURE of May 27, I would point out that the general scientific character of the proceedings of a society is not annulled because one or more writers have fallen into error, any more than it would be reasonable to say that Prof. Bryan is not a profound mathematician because, in a Friday evening discourse at the Royal Institution, he fell into inaccuracy in scientific history, and said that the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain was at one time called the Balloon Society, and changed its name to its present title, the fact being that the Balloon Society was quite a separate affair, which had its meetings at the Westminster Aquarium and discussed every subject under the sun. In that remark Prof. Bryan showed he had not closely followed the work and career of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain.

During my eight years of honorary secretaryship of the society, amongst the readers of papers and those who made communications will be found Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., Mr. W. H. Dines, F.R.S., Prof. C. V. Boys, F.R.S., the late Prof. G. F. Fitzgerald, F.R.S., Prof. Bryan himself, Sir Hiram Maxim, Mr. Lawrence Rotch, Dr. Hergesell, Mr. F. H. Wenham, Captain R. F. Scott, Lieut. E. H. Shackleton, Mr. Orville Wright, Mr. Charles Harding, Mr. W. F. Reid, &c. These names vouch for the general high standard of the proceedings of the society in recent years.

While making these criticisms on Prof. Bryan's remarks, I sincerely hope he will continue his own epochmaking aëronautical researches, for the sake of aeronautical science and for the honour of the Aeronautical Society, of which he is a member.

Airth, Sunningdale, June 14. ERIC STUART BRUCE.

I HAVE no desire to do injustice to the Aeronautical Society, neither do I expect its proceedings to be free from all errors. But in view of the fact that mathematical formulæ and physical considerations now frequently enter into papers bearing on aeronautics, I consider that the time has come when the society should realise the importance of dealing more efficiently with papers of a theoretical character than was necessary formerly. As I have communicated my views on this point to the society through Mr. Bruce, a detailed reply may be unnecessary.

I do not wish all aëronauts to be profound mathematicians. I consider that papers dealing with practical aeronautics have been the most valuable feature of the society's work. Many of the eminent writers to whom Mr. Bruce refers have dealt with the practical and experimental rather than the theoretical side of the subject. Further, a distinction must be drawn between inaccuracies made in discourses or discussions at meetings and those which are allowed to find their way uncorrected into print. But when papers are published in a scientific society's journal which deal with questions of a theoretical character or contain formulæ, it is not unreasonable to expect that the authors shall correctly state and properly apply such principles of mathematics, physics, and mechanics as are found in ordinary text-books, and I trust that, as the result of this correspondence, the exceptions will be less frequent in the future than they have been in the past. May I, in answer to very numerous inquiries,

state

with regret that it has been impossible, as yet, to publish a detailed account of my Royal Institution lectures, and some time will elapse before the work in which I am interested is in a suitable form for publication?

G. H. BRYAN.

THE DARWIN CELEBRATIONS AT

CAMBRIDGE.

A GENERAL account of the proceedings of the Darwin celebrations at Cambridge on June 22-24, and a list of distinguished delegates and other representatives of science who came from the four corners of the earth to proclaim the greatness of Charles Darwin and his work, was given in last week's NATURE. As the chief speeches were delivered on the day we went to press, and on Thursday last, we were prevented from including any report of them in the article, which, however, we are now able to supplement. Short speeches were made in the Senate House on June 23, when the delegates were received by the Chancellor, Lord Rayleigh, and the addresses were presented; and also at the banquet given in the evening of that day.

Eloquent as this testimony was of the universal recognition of Darwin's influence upon scientific work and thought, the scenes in the Senate House and in the new examination hall where the great banquet was held were even more impressive. In each place there was an assembly of naturalists gathered from far and near charged with the spirit which animated Darwin, and alert to respond to any note of apprecition of the man or his work. As more than one speaker remarked, what Newton did to reduce celestial movements to law and order by his discovery of the law of gravitation, Darwin did for the more complex world of animate things. All bodies in the material universe are bound together by the bond of gravitational attraction which decides their past, present, or future paths; and in a similar way the unifying influence in the organic world is the principle of evolution established upon the foundation of

natural selection.

The character and dignity of the celebration made a permanent impression upon the minds of all who were fortunate enough to take part in it, and the occasion has been made memorable for the scientific world in general by the publication of a number of works relating to it. One of these, on "Darwin and Modern Science," was noticed in detail last week, and we now take the opportunity of referring to others.

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PUBLICATIONS OF THE DARWIN CENTENARY. Each delegate was furnished with a copy of two publications which will be of lasting value as souvenirs of this memorable occasion. Perhaps the most remarkable of the publications is the beautifully printed volume issued by the Cambridge University Press under the title of The Foundations of the Origin of Species.' This contains the brief abstract of the theory of natural selection written by Charles Darwin in June, 1842, sixteen years before the famous meeting of the Linnean Society at which the theory was first made known to the scientific world. The MS. of 1842, which was afterwards expanded by its author into the essay of 1844, consists of thirty-five pages written in pencil. It had been hidden in a cupboard under the stairs, and only came to light in 1896 when the house at Down was vacated. It was, as the editor says, evidently written rapidly, and is in Darwin's most elliptical style, with much erasure and correction, the whole being "more like hasty memoranda of what was clear to himself than material for the convincing of others." Mr. Francis Darwin has laid the scientific public under an immense obligation by his admirable introduction and notes, and by the care he has taken that readers should be able to study the sketch exactly as it stood in its original form. Each of the delegates present at the celebration received a copy of this most valuable work, the importance of which in the history

of evolutionary theory it would hardly be possible to overestimate.

In addition to this work, a second volume, admirably printed by the University Press, was put into the hands of the guests at the commemoration. This production, which is purchasable by the public at the price of two shillings and sixpence, is entitled "Order of the Proceedings at the Darwin Celebration held at Cambridge, June 22-June 24, 1909; with a Sketch of Darwin's Life." It opens with a brief preface, which records the names of the committee-to whom many congratulations are due for the successful issue of their labours-and also narrates

the steps that were taken, beginning with a meeting of the council of the Senate in December, 1907, to organise a celebration worthy of the man who has revolutionised science, and whose influence has made itself felt as a power and an inspiration in every department of intellectual activity. Following the programme of the commemoration proceedings comes a very interesting sketch of Darwin's life, which gives the dates of the publication of his various works. This in brief compass the principal events of his career, and short biography, in the preparation of which the secretaries to the committee acknowledge the assistance they have received from Mr. Francis Darwin, is rendered especially valuable by well-chosen quotations from the "Life and Letters," and from the appreciative comments of Judd, Lyell, Huxley, Schwalbe, Goebel, and Thiselton-Dyer. Good photographic views are given of Darwin's birthplace at Shrewsbury, of the exterior of his rooms at Christ's College, of his house and favourite "Sandwalk" at Down. There are also reproductions of several of the well-known portraits of Darwin and of his wife, including a picture of Charles Darwin and his sister Catherine as children. An excellent likeness of Sir Joseph Hooker, taken in 1897, and an interesting print of H.M.S. Beagle in the Straits of Magellan, complete the series.

The Rede lecture on "Charles Darwin as Geolo

gist," delivered by Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., on June 24, has been published also by the University Press, with notes, at the price of two shillings net. Reference was first made in the lecture to the early geological interests of Darwin and the formative influence of Lyell upon his mind. The first volume of Lyell's "Principles of Geology was published early in 1830. Darwin took the book with him on his Voyage in the Beagle and studied it, with a result that changed his opinions and began the life-long indebtedness to Lyell which he so sincerely felt and never ceased to express. In four distinct departments Darwin enriched the science of geology with new material during the voyage of the Beagle. First, he added to our knowledge of the volcanic history of the globe. Secondly, he brought forward a body of striking evidence as to the upward and downward movements of the terrestrial crust, and drew from this evidence some of the most impressive deductions to be found in the whole range of geological literature. In the third place, he made important observations on the geology of South America; and, finally, he furnished new and interesting illustrations of the potent part taken by the denuding agents of nature in effecting the decay and disintegration of the land. Sir Archibald' Geikie proceeded to review Darwin's work under each of these four heads, and to express his appreciation of it. Finally, he sketched the later geological work carried out by Darwin and the geological side of "The Origin of Species."

Another noteworthy outcome of the present commemoration is the special Darwin centenary number of the Christ's College Magazine.

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