6 MARCH 1926, Page 31

SPENCER'S DESCRIPTIVE SOCIOLOGY, NO. IL ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. Compiled by Sir

W. Flinders Petrie. (Williams and Norgate. 25s. net.) THESE treasuries of information upon racial customs and beliefs are invaluable to the student of history, sociology, or anthropology. The series was projected by Herbert Spencer. At first the books seem heavy : for they are more usefully than elegantly prepared, and the tabulation of the contents is forbidding. Actually better reading can hardly be imagined. Sir W. Flinders Petrie's volume on Egypt is admirably compiled, and is to be warmly recommended.