HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



J 59 



to that wide encircling and numerous group of natural 

 history subjects which have grown into such remark- 

 able importance during the last few years. The 

 work is as charmingly written as "Nature's Fairy- 

 land," and as prettily got up. It gossips delightfully 

 about the swallows, the plants on the chalk cliffs, wild 

 roses, gnats, water scavengers, beetles, aphides, 

 sundews, moles, dragon-flies, insect mimicry, glow- 

 worms, wild flowers, leaves, and other subjects. We 

 congratulate Mr. Worsley-Benison on his second 

 success. 



By Leafy Ways, by F. A. Knight (London : Elliot 

 Stock). The influence of such writers in America 

 and England as John Burrows, Thoreau, and the late 

 Richard Jeffries, is being largely felt in popular litera- 

 ture. Take the above book as an example. The 

 various chapters originally appeared in the "Daily 

 News," and were eagerly and widely read at the time. 

 Twenty years ago no London newspaper editor 

 would have thought of inserting such a series of 

 papers. They were not political ! We think Mr. 

 Knight has done wisely to collect his charming 

 fresh-air sketches of nature and natural history 

 objects into this dainty and attractive little volume 

 — all the more attractive by Mr. E. T. Compton's 

 exquisite vignettes and sketches. It is a summer 

 holiday book above all things, — a book you can 

 take with you to the songful woods, the green hills, 

 and the babbling seashore, and dreamily read and 

 learn of the ubiquity of the Great Spirit whose 

 Presence is the breath of life to the organic 

 world. 



Sylvan Folk, by John Watson (London : T. Fisher 

 Unwin). This is another highly readable volume of 

 natural history papers. Mr. Watson had previously 

 made his mark by his "Year in the Fields," and he 

 has maintained his reputation by these sketches of 

 bird and animal hfe. There is not one chapter 

 which cannot be picked out anywhere which is not 

 highly readable. All of them bear strong marks of 

 originality and are full of fresh air. 



Our Fancy Pigeoiis, by George Ure (London : 

 Elliot Stock). This handy volume is a great boon 

 to all young fancy pigeon breeders. Time was when 

 this amusement was regarded as a somewhat degrad- 

 ing one, particularly in the north of England. In 

 our day, however, pigeon-keeping and pigeon-breed- 

 ing have come to be a favourite pursuit amongst the 

 middle and upper classes of society. Mr. Ure, the 

 author of the above volume, is an observant naturalist 

 as well as a pigeon-fancier, and he gives us the re- 

 sult of over fifty years' experience both in breeding 

 pigeons and in the observance of natural phenomena. 

 The different well-marked and recognised varieties 

 are fully described, and there is a long chapter entitled 

 " Rambling Ornithological Notes," which gives an 

 interesting account of our native song-birds and other 

 common species. 



The Middle Lias of Northamptonshire, by Beeby 



Thompson (London : Simpkin, Marshall & Co.). 

 The author of this neatly got up little monograph 

 has already obtained a good position among practical 

 geologists, which will be sustained by this useful work. 

 There is a practical side to it, as it deals with the 

 problems connected with the finding of water and 

 the mitigation of floods in the district about which 

 Mr. Thompson writes. The author treats his sub- 

 ject stratigraphically, palKontologically, economically, 

 as a source of water supply, and as a mitigator of 

 floods. All the available sections in the Middle Lia!> 

 of Northamptonshire are detailed, and lists of their 

 fossils given. Mr. Thompson has laid all students of 

 the Lias formation under a debt of gratitude. 



Cosmic Evolution, by E. A. Redsdale (London : 

 H. K. Lewis). To students of the literature of 

 evolution, this little work will not be without interest. 

 Although there is much in it that we have read of 

 before, there is also much that is new, particularly 

 the chemical aspect of cosmic evolution. 



Celestial Motions, by W. T. Lynn (London r 

 Edward Stanford). The fact that this handy little 

 book has reached the sixth edition is a sufficient proof 

 of its value. The present edition has been revised 

 and rearranged. Young students of astronomy could 

 not do better than procure it. Its arrangement is- 

 clear and terse, and one wonders how so much trust- 

 worthy matter has been got into so small a space. It 

 is in short a miniature handbook of astronomy of the 

 very best kind. 



Lectures on Massage and Electricity, by T. S. Dowse 

 (Bristol : John Wright cS: Co.). This work has been 

 variously received, yet there can be little doubt but 

 that it contains a vast number of important and 

 practical reflections on the subject of massage and 

 electricity. It consists of fifteen lectures with illus- 

 trations, showing how massage should be applied to 

 various kinds of muscular and nervous affections,, 

 particularly gout, rheumatism, spinal compIaints,^ 

 lumbago, neuralgia, hysteria, writer's cramp, sleep- 

 lessness, low spirits, dipsomania, wasting diseases, 

 and the changing of life. The rapidity with which 

 massage treatment has come up in the last few 

 years endows a volume like this with extra im- 

 portance. 



Elementary Bandaging attd Surgical Dressing, 

 by Walter Pye (Bristol : John Wright). We are 

 pleased to see the third edition of this useful little 

 handbook, and would advise every member of the 

 numerous ambulance classes throughout Great Britain 

 to procure a copy. 



Letters from the Lakes ; this is a translation from 

 the German of Kempferhausen, written in 1818. The 

 Study of Lichens, by J. A. Martindale. Both these 

 little brochures are published by Mr. Geo. Middleton, 

 of Ambleside. The latter has special reference to 

 the Lake districts. Both will be very acceptable to 

 the numerous visitors who frequent this lovely country 

 every summer. 



