7o6 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the retail trade is not, as a rule, in 

 the hands of men of commanding 

 ability and enterprise, alert to seize 

 every opportunity to extend their 

 business. If they do possess these 

 qualities, they either go into some 

 other business or move to a larger 

 town. The consequence is, that in 

 the smaller towns the business of 

 the general merchant does not grow 

 beyond his limited capacity. If it 

 does, there are differentiation and seg- 

 regation. Men more capable in cer- 

 tain lines set up drug stores, gro- 

 cery stores, hardware stores, etc. 

 But when there is a large concen- 

 tration of population, making a con- 

 centration of trade so profitable as 

 to attract men of the highest ability, 

 then the depai'tment store proper is 



certain to make its appearance. It 

 should be remembered, moreover, 

 that such a store, like any valuable 

 labor-saving appliance effecting im- 

 portant economies, has to be discov- 

 ered by some superior mind. Only 

 within recent years has any one 

 thought it possible to unite deliber- 

 ately under one management a large 

 number of forms of retail business. 

 But, as we pointed out in the article 

 criticised, there appears to be a cer- 

 tain limit to this phase of industrial 

 development, thus making superflu- 

 ous the efforts of the " new " social 

 reformers to cure the " evil." Even 

 if it were due to heavy taxation, as 

 our correspondent suggests, the rem- 

 edy would be simply a reduction in 

 public expenditures. 



M>tit\xXitit %ittxxiXnxt. 



SPECIAL BOOKS. 



The author of Bird-life * will not be offended if we begin our descrip- 

 tion of his book by a mention of the illustrations, for he has himself ex- 

 pressed his high appreciation of Mr. Thompson's remarkably spirited and 

 accurate portraits. There are seventy-five full-page plates representing 

 birds described in the text, with natural surroundings and in characteristic 

 poses. Twenty -five smaller figures are scattered through the preliminary 

 chapters. Mr. Chapman begins by pointing out the position of the birds 

 with respect to the other classes of the animal kingdom. The different 

 forms of the chief external organs in different birds he shows to be adapted 

 each to a special habit, thus affording confirmation of the docti-ine of evo- 

 lution. He represents the interest of man in birds as thi^eefold scientific, 

 economic, and aesthetic and presents definite evidence as to the value of 

 the small birds in destroying insects and the seeds of weeds, and of hawks 

 and owls in keeping down field mice and other vermin. Some of the 

 scientific aspects of the coloration of birds are pointed out in another chap- 

 ter, and the migrating and nesting habits are similarly treated. Coming 

 to the subject for which the book will be most in request, Mr. Chapman 

 insists on definite observation of a bird as the first requisite to its identi- 

 fication. Having noted down the form, color, and markings of the bird, 

 and such added facts as to its voice and actions as may be obtained, the 

 amateior should be able, by means of the author's field key of eight pages 

 and the detailed descriptions that follow, to identify the specimen without 



* Bird-life. A Guide to the Study of Our Common Birds. By Frank M. Chapman. With Draw- 

 ings by Ernest S. Thompson. New York : D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 269, 12mo. Price, $1.75. 



