HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE - G O SSI P. 



31 



some thoughtful paper ; or new methods of viewhig 

 structures hitherto not understood, or misunderstood, 

 are developed. Biology is fast becoming a demon- 

 strable science, to which all others are auxiliary. 



The new book by Mr. Charles Darwin (" Cross- 

 and Self-Fertilization of Plants." London : John 

 Murray) will be hailed with welcome by all true 

 naturalists, whether they assent to his developmental 

 views or not. The relationships between the colour, 

 shapes, and perfumes of flowers, and the visits of 

 insects, have delighted modern botanists with the 

 clear light they have thro^^'n on structures that before 

 were regarded as more or less arbitraiy. Sir John 

 Lubbock's little book has put all amateur botanists 

 in possession of tlae outlines of the facts, and now 

 Mr. Darwin's new book stamps the theory with all 

 the emphasis of varied proof. Tlie present work has 

 a value not even second to that encyclopsedia of 

 Darwinism, ' ' The Variation of Animals and Plants 

 under Domestication." It literally bristles with 

 personal experiments, and tlie reader finds himself 

 arriving at certain inevitable conclusions long before 

 the author himself draws them. Moreover, the 

 conclusions have a practical bearing, alike to the 

 horticulturist and the breeder of stock, which such 

 individuals would do well to accept. We have re- 

 garded the brilliant speculations as to the direct 

 connection between colour, perfume, and often shape 

 in flowers, and the cross-fertilization induced by 

 insect visitations, as one of the most notable scientific 

 promulgations of the last five or six years. But here 

 we find that Mr. Darwin has been quietly experi- 

 menting upon the theoiy for deven years, with a view 

 to proving it ! And the present book gives a detailed 

 account of every experiment, both in self- and cross- 

 fertilization of well-known British and exotic plants. 

 We hardly know which most to wonder at — the 

 patient and never-tiring industry, the minute accuracy 

 and conscientious truthfulness of the experiments, or 

 the important and brilliant conclusions which are to 

 be drawn from them ! No fewer than 1,101 crossed 

 plants and 1,076 self-fertilized plants have been ex- 

 perimented upon by Mr. Darwin. These belong to 

 fifty-seven species, selected from fifty-two genera and 

 thirty great natural families. The conclusion drawn 

 is that an extraordinary advantage in height, weight, 

 and fertility is derived by plants from crossing, and 

 that in every instance this gives them an advantage 

 over self-fertilized flowers. It is very certain that 

 these experiments have considerably enlarged our 

 certain knowledge of the raison iVetrc of the chief 

 attractions of flowers ; and at the same time, by 

 showing how almost every winged insect is actively 

 engaged in the all-important work of floral crossing, 

 we are led to see more clearly than ever the intimate 

 union between, and the absolute necessity for the 

 existence of, widely-separated groups of organic 

 objects. 



" The Geology of England and Wales," by H. B. 



Woodward, F.G.S. (London: Longmans & Co.), 

 has obtained deserved and noticeable commendation 

 from the leading, scientific journals. A more carefully 

 compiled work does not exist in our language. The 

 student feels instinctively that Mr. Woodward is a 

 field geologist, and is narrating the conclusions to 

 which he and his confreres have arrived. Our 

 geological literature owes a large debt of gratitude to 

 the officers of the Geological Sui-vey of Great Britain. 

 They are to the front in every department of the 

 "stony science," and their work is nearly always 

 marked by a conscientious care that other writers 

 would do well to imitate. Mr. Woodward is well 

 known as an active member of this useful corps, and 

 one who has done good work by his contributions to 

 special geological literature. The present book is 

 more geological and stratigraphical than palceontologi- 

 cal ; and indeed, to a large extent, it takes the place 

 in modern times that the work, bearing the same 

 title, by Messrs. Conybeare and Phillips, did to the 

 geologists of fifty years ago. The maps and sections 

 are most excellent ; indeed, the woodcuts of the 

 latter call for special commendation on account of 

 their marvellous truthfulness. We are enabled, by 

 the kindness of the publishers, to lay several of them 

 before our readers, who will at once see how well 

 woodcuts can represent actual geological features. 

 The author commences with the Laurentian forma- 

 tion, and gradually works on to the latest of the 

 Tertiary series, describing the chief sections, the 

 characteristic fossils of the beds, the physical features 

 produced by the various rocks, and the writings and 

 opinions of local and other geologists who have made 

 them their special study. In this way every British 

 formation is exhaustively described, whilst the magni- 

 tude of the work forbids both tautology and obscurity 

 of expression. So clearly is even every subdivision 

 of each geological formation described, that the work 

 is a chart, as well as a manual. The concluding 

 chapters on " Denudation and Scenery " are well and 

 clearly written, and there is a copious glossary of 

 geological and other terms. There is a reproduced 

 article on "Darwinism," which perhaps Mr. Wood- 

 ward would have done well to have left out, as, 

 although it is ably written, it seems to us out of place 

 with the general character of the work. With this 

 hardly-to-be-mentioned exception, we have nothing 

 but words of the highest commendation to say of a 

 book which we feel certain will take an important 

 place in all geological libraries. 



Unquestionably there are few men who either have 

 better opportunities or can contribute more accurate 

 information concerning the habits of wild creatures 

 than sportsmen. Unfortunately for science, such 

 gentlemen usually treat us, when they do write 

 books, to nothing beyond enthusiastic descriptions of 

 hairbreadth escapes and adventures, or of successful 

 "dodges" in overcoming their prey. In "The 

 Large and Small Game of Bengal and the North- 



