26 OCTOBER 1912, Page 30

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

' [Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been reserred for review in other forms.] The Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature. 7 vols. (Cambridge University Press. Is. net each.)—The seven new volumes of this series are concerned with seven widely different subjects, all of which, however, are alike in their interest. Pro- fessor Giles sketches the history of China since the seventeenth century under the title China and the Manchus. This volume, more than any of the others, loses value owing to the compression necessary in dealing with such a wide question in such narrowlimits. Dr. Bernard Hart writes upon The Psychology of Insanity. He treats insanity from a rigidly psychological point of view, and entirely avoids the discussion of the morbid physiological conditions which accompany the morbid states of consciousness with which he is con- cerned. We notice that he never approaches the question of a defini- tion of "insanity," but assumes that there is no difficulty whatever as to the meaning of the word. House-Flies and How they Spread Disease is the subject of a monograph by Dr. C. G. Hewitt. It is to be hoped that his blood-curdling indictment may help to stir up the public towards taking the precautions recommended in his last chapter. Mr. Lewis Spence gives an account of The Civilisa- tion of Ancient Mexico, with some especially interesting chapters upon Mythology and Religion. The biological and chemical processes that underlie Brewing are described by Mr. A. Chaston Chapman ; a history of monumental Brasses is provided by Mr. J. S. M. Ward ; and, finally, The Work of Rain and Rivers is explained by Dr. T. G. Bonney.