The Scottish Naturalist. 359 



years, and yet maintain its original level, is to believe that 

 " matter does not exist except in the imagination." The high 

 banks in the Almond valley, and in the wonderful valley of 

 the Tay, testify to the denuding power of water. Men can 

 conceive much more easily the. power of a steam-engine than 

 the power of a river. For this we are not culpable ; we are 

 only weak in our humanity, appreciating only those things that 

 are immediately of human origin, or of special utility, — with 

 these we come and with these we go ; the river was old when 

 the first snort of the engine was heard, and it will still be 

 creeping along the valley long after the last of the iron wheels 

 has rusted again to its earth. A long, long chapter is this of 

 the rivers, full of hard lines and blank pages that would tax 

 the short life, but for poems that breathe from the whole in 

 reward for the toil that it gives. 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



"Gambles of a Naturalist in Egypt and other Countries." 

 By G. J. H. Gurney, jun., F.Z.S. London : Jarrold & Sons. 



The title of this work -would imply that it was rather beyond the field to 

 which the Scottish Naturalist is restricted ; but, as it includes notes and 

 remarks on British birds, it may fairly claim the attention of any orni- 

 thologist (if such there be) who restricts his studies to the birds of Britain. 

 For example, at p. 58, Vol. II., of this magazine is mentioned the occurrence 

 of an eagle-owl in Perthshire, of which Mr. Gurney says in the work under 

 review that it "had come from the stock of Mr. Fountaine, the noted 

 breeder of these birds, and had been purposely set at liberty on an estate 

 in that country " (p. 253). To the ornithologist who spends a winter in 

 Egypt, this work will be of great utility, while all may read it with 

 pleasure and profit. 



" Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Glasgow, Vol. II, 

 Part 2." Glasgow : Published by the Society. 



As usual, this volume is well got up, with good type and paper, and 

 contains many articles of interest. Of actual proceedings there are 180 

 pages, containing reports of the meetings from October, 187 1, to April, 

 1875. Surely a flourishing Society like this might publish a yearly volume 

 or part, or at least not allow such a long interval (upwards of a year) to 

 elapse between the publication of the part and the date of the last meeting 

 reported. Some of the papers, too, to judge from their titles, might have 

 been given at greater length with advantage — little more than their titles 

 appearing. The Part contains papers in many branches of natural history, 

 the majority of them, we are glad to see, relating to the district, or at least 

 to Scotland. Amongst others may be noticed articles on Ornithology by 

 Messrs. Angus, R. Gray, J. Lumsden. Bateson, Harvie Brown, &c. ; on 

 Insects, by Messrs. King, Chapman, Cameron, and Prof. Young ; on 

 Geology and Palaeontology, by Prof. Young, Messrs. J. Young, Coutts, 

 &c. There are three plates, illustrating a paper on "New Species of 

 Glauconome from Carboniferous Limestone Strata of the West of Scot- 

 land," by Prof. J. Young and Mr. J. Young. 



