HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



3i 



means a loss to me of money, seed, time, labour, and 

 grass, and I wish that we had never seen or heard a 

 skylark here. When all wiose birds were imported, 

 their natural enemies, such as sparrow-hawks, owls, 

 bird's-nesting boys, ought to have been brought out 

 and turned out with them. 



As it is, we are suffering from upsetting the 

 balance of Nature, a thing that cannot be done with 

 impunity, as the Australian squatters found out when 

 they poisoned the dingoes and eagle-hawks to save 

 their sheep, and then, through the immense increase 

 of kangaroo and wallabi, had their flocks nearly 

 starved for want of grass. 



I have only been out shooting once this season, 

 when I got a hare. Game is so scarce hereabout, 

 with the exception of rabbits, that it is not worth 

 while taking a gun out ; and there is so much cover 

 (manuka scrub) that the rabbits are hard to get at. 



THE BEST HUNDRED BOOKS ON 

 NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE idea has occurred to me that a very large 

 number of people who are interested in natural 

 history, either as a whole or in some branch, would 

 like to purchase a few of the best books bearing on 

 the subject for reference and study, but are utterly 

 overwhelmed by the large number of works between 

 which they have to choose. It is to assist such that 

 the following list has been drawn up. 



The books chosen are, for the most part, those 

 which have been praised by persons most capable 

 of judging their value. Where books on special 

 branches of the subject are quoted, they are, as far 

 as possible, such as would interest any worker in 

 natural science, even though the subject were not his 

 speciality. In some instances option has been left 

 between two books of different states of advancement. 



In order to keep down the expense, the illustrated 

 books of reference relate only to British species. 



Any proposed alterations should be sent to 

 K. Roberts, 60 Princess Road, Kilburn, London, 

 and will be taken into consideration for an amended 

 list. 



Classical. 



Aristotle's " History of Animals ;" Pliny's "Natural 

 History ;" " Harvey on the Circulation of the Blood ;" 

 White's "Natural History of Selborne ;" Humboldt's 

 "Cosmos," and "Travels;" Chambers's "Natural 

 History of Creation." 



General Natural History, &c. 



Wood's "Illustrated Natural History," and 

 " Homes Without Hands;" Waterton's "Essays on 

 Natural History," and "Wanderings in South 

 America ; " Buckland's " Curiosities of Natural His- 

 tory ;" Darwin's " Naturalist's Voyage ;" Bates' 



"Naturalist on the Amazon;" Belt's "Naturalist in 

 Nicaragua;" Wallace's " Malay Archipelago." and 

 " Travels on the Amazon." 



Text Books. 



Claus and Sedgwick's " Zoology ;" Marshall and 

 Hurst's " Practical Zoology ;" Gray's or Quain's 

 "Human Anatomy;" Holden's "Osteology;" 

 Flower's "Comparative Osteology;" Foster's, 

 Kirke's, or Huxley's "Physiology;" Balfour's 

 "Embryology;" Tylor's "Anthropology;" Lyell's 

 " Principles, or Elements of Geology," or Geikie's 

 "Text Book ;" Sachs', or Prantl and Vines' "Text 

 Book of Botany;" Bower and Vines' "Practical 

 Botany." 



Handbooks, and Books on Special Classes 

 of Animals and Plants. 



Browne's "Practical Taxidermy;" "Taylor on 

 the Aquarium;" "Carpenter on the Microscope;" 

 Hartman's "Anthropoid Apes;" Mivart's "Man 

 and Apes ;" Yarrell's " British Birds ;" " Huxley on 

 the Crayfish;" "Mivart on the Frog;" Lubbock's 

 "Ants, Bees, and Wasps;" Romanes' "Jelly Fish, 

 Star-Fish, and Sea-Urchins ;" Kirby and Spence's 

 "Introduction to Entomology;" Kirby's "Text- 

 Book ot Entomology;" Van Beneden's "Animal 

 Parasites and Messmates;" Hooker's "Flora of the 

 British Isles;" Cook's "Fungi;" Miller's "Old 

 Red Sandstone." 



Books on Prehistoric Times. 



Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times," and "Origin of 

 Civilization;" J. Geikie's " Prehistoric Europe," and 

 "Great Ice Age;" Lyell's "Antiquity of Man;" 

 Boyd Dawkins on " Early Man in Britain ; " Tylor's 

 "Early History of Mankind," and "Primitive Cul- 

 ture." 



Works on Function, Origin of Species, &c. 



Darwin's "Origin of Species," "Descent of Man," 

 "Variations of Animals and Plants under Domesti- 

 cation," " Vegetable Mould and Earthworms," 

 " Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals," 

 " Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the same 

 Species," "Fertilization of Orchids," "Insectivorous 

 Plants," "Movements of Climbing Plants," "Power 

 of Movement in Plants," " Effects of Cross and Self 

 Fertilization in the Vegetable Kingdom," "Coral 

 Reefs," " Volcanic Islands;" Fritz Muller's "Facts 

 and Arguments for Darwin;" Lubbock's "Origin 

 and Metamorphoses of Insects," "British Wild 

 Flowers in relation to Insects," "On Flowers, 

 Fruits, and Leaves;" Grant Allen's "Colour of 

 Flowers ; " Hermann Muller's " Fertilization of 

 Flowers;" Ray Lankester, "On Degeneration;" 

 Schmidt's "Descent and Darwinism;" Hankel's 

 "History of Creation," "Evolution of Man;'" 



