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HARDWI CKE ' S S CIENCE- G SSIF. 



tion, and references are made to all the works in 

 which they have been figured. The work is beauti- 

 fully printed, as all the Clarendon Press works are ; 

 and it is a high credit to the delegates of the Oxford 

 University Press that their liberality has enabled a 

 valuable work like the present to be given to the 

 scientific world. 



The Eulogy of Richard Jefferies, by Walter Besant 

 {London: Chatto&Windus). This excellently-printed 

 and handsomely-got-up book is as idyllic and dramatic 

 as any of the world-famed novels of which Mr. Besant 

 is the author. Richard Jefferies was unknown to fame 

 a few years ago. Then suddenly it was evident a new 

 star had arisen above the horizon. Articles appeared, 

 and even books, such as " Wild Life in a Southern 

 County," which displayed natural history knowledge 

 of large range, observation almost photographic in 

 its accuracy, a sympathetic love for the objects he 

 described, not even excelled by Gilbert White, and a 

 power of description more than equal to that of 

 Thoreau or of John Burrowes, the famous author of 

 "Wake Robin," &c. Indeed, Richard Jefferies' 

 books have added a new and additionally rich 

 element to our already surpassingly rich English 

 literature. Poor Richard Jefferies' life was one both 

 of suffering and poverty ; it was only wealthy in its 

 deep and reverential love of nature. He attempted 

 novel writing, failed in his plots and characters, 

 although he succeeded in their realistic natural 

 settings. It is as a natural-history writer and 

 observer he will be longest and best known. 

 Besant's life of him is a most charming volume ; for 

 although Besant never knew Jefferies personally, he 

 had the keenest interest in and sympathy for his 

 writings. 



The Building of the British Isles, by A. J. Jukes- 

 Browne (London : George Bell & Sons). It is now a 

 fact well known to all geologists that continents, and 

 even islands like our own, have had a geographical 

 evolution. You can begin with the oldest, and 

 gradually proceed to the newest formations. Mr. 

 Jukes-Browne has already distinguished himself in 

 geological literature by his well-known books on 

 " Physical Geology," and " Historical Geology ; " 

 and now he meets the wants of students in another 

 direction, in the admirable volume before us, wherein 

 he deals with the physical conditions under which 

 our islands were formed. This volume is, in short, 

 a continuous series of geographical restorations, 

 commencing with the Cambrian period, and ex- 

 tending to the present. These restorations are 

 assisted by fifteen plates, or maps, representing the 

 areas supposed to have been covered by sea during 

 each geological period. The book is well written, 

 and will sustain Mr. Jukes-Browne's reputation as a 

 geological literary authority. 



Oti the Senses, Instincts, and Intelligences of Animals, 

 by Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F.R.S. (London: 

 Kegan Paul & Co.). This is the sixty-fifth volume of 



the now famous " International Scientific Series." 

 It deals with one of the most fascinating departments 

 of modern physiological and psychological research 

 and observation. The hard and fast lines between 

 the two have recently been toned down into a kind of 

 shadowy borderland. It hardly need be said that in 

 the present work Sir John Lubbock dwells chiefly on 

 his beloved insects ; but he by no means confines 

 himself to the Invertebrata. His book is a perfect 

 cyclopsedia for the general and even scientific reader, 

 of all that is known on the subject up to date. We 

 need hardly say that it is written with the lucidity 

 and naturalness characteristic of all Sir John's 

 popular writings. A list of Ii8 specially drawn 

 illustrations help to make the text clear wherever 

 necessary, and students will find the bibliography of 

 works referred to in these pages a great help, as 

 references to various authorities on the different 

 subjects herein discussed. 



The Folk-Lore of Plants, by T. F. Thistelton Dyer 

 (London : Chatto & Windus). The author is already 

 well and favourably known as an authority upon the 

 increasingly interesting subject of Folk-lore. The 

 old-world sayings and beliefs regarding plants are, 

 perhaps, more voluminous than those concerning any 

 other group of natural objects. Consequently within 

 the last few years several works have appeared on the 

 fascinating subject, amongst which the principal are 

 those of the Rev. Hilderic-Friend and Mr. Richard 

 Folkard. When we remember how the supposed virtues 

 of plants have been associated not only with planetary 

 influence, but also with medicine and witchcraft, as 

 well as with hypothetical protection from diabolical 

 influences, it cannot be wondered at that most of our 

 common wild plants are linked with the hitherto 

 unwritten history of the fears, hopes, thoughts, and 

 beliefs of the unlettered masses of the people. Mr. 

 Dyer's book is pre-eminently readable, and in its 

 variety of treatment he covers a larger ground than 

 any of his fellow-writers on the subject. This will be 

 seen by the following headings of the chapters : — 

 "Plant Life," "Primitive and Savage Notions 

 respecting Plants," "Plant Worship," "Lightning 

 Plants," "Plants in Witchcraft," "Plants in 

 Demonology," " Plants in Fairy-Lore," " Love 

 Charms," "Dream Plants," "Plants and the 

 Weather," "Plant Proverbs," "Plants and their 

 Ceremonial use," "Plant Names," "Plant Lan- 

 guage," "Fabulous Plants," " Doctrine of Signa- 

 tures," "Plants and the Calendar," "Sacred 

 Plants," " Plant Superstitions," " Plants in Folk 

 Medicine," "Plants and their Legendary History," 

 "Mystic Plants." 



Star Atlas, with Explanatory Texts, by Hermann 

 J. Klein ; translated and adapted for English readers 

 by Edmund McClure, M.A. (London: S.P.C.K.). 

 The increasing interest in astronomical observation is 

 best shown by the establishment of provincial 

 astronomical societies, of which that at Liveriwol is a 



