HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE - G O SSIP. 



might expect, the longest and fullest of any ; but 

 Captain Baldwin was a noted Nimrod, and here 

 narrates to us all that it is possible to say on this 

 subject. Among other animals whose habits he ob- 

 served minutely in his sporting adventures, are the 

 panther, the leopard, the snow leopard, the red lynx, 

 the cheetah, Indian black bear, Himalayan black 

 bear, hya;na, Indian wolf, wild dog, wild buffalo, 

 Indian elephant, rhinoceros, wild boar, and the nu- 

 merous kinds of Indian deer and antelopes. The 

 game birds of the regions visited by the author are 

 more numerous than in any other part of the world, 

 — the pheasants and partridges notably so. Captain 

 Baldwin devotes many chapters to the most interest- 

 ing of these birds, including the pea-fowl, jungle- 

 fowl, spur-fowl, the various species of pheasants and 

 partridges, the quails, sand-grouse, bustards, plovers, 

 cranes, woodcock, wild geese and ducks; &c. Each 

 species is prefaced with a technical zoological descrip- 

 tion ; there is quite as much science as sport in the 

 subject-matter of every chapter, and the text sparkles 

 with many a well-told anecdote and tale of adventure. 

 The sketches are by the author, and are for the most 

 part both artistic and vigorous, as will be seen by the 

 example here adduced. It is impossible for the 



Fig. 35. Head of Striped Hyena. 



naturalist not to derive both pleasure and profit from 

 Captain Baldwin's ably-written work. 



Already two books based on the "Challenger" 

 Expedition have been given to the public, and yet 

 the authoritative description of the results from the 

 pen of the chief of the scientific staff has not ap- 

 peared. We have received ' ' Log Letters from the 

 Challenger,'''' by Lord G. Campbell (London : 

 Macmillan & Co.). It does not profess to be a scien- 

 tific description of the work of the voyage, but is 

 merely an historical account of the famous cruise. 



As such the book is welcome, for there can be little 

 doubt that Sir Wyville Thomson will find quite 

 sufficient on his hands in the shape of scientific dis- 

 covery to leave this to other writers. That the pre- 

 sent volume is intended as a sort of pendant to 

 Prof. Thomson's eagerly-expected book, is evident 

 from its being published by the same firm. The 

 only chapter of a scientific nature in Lord George 

 Campbell's book is the last, in which we have some 

 notes chiefly on the various kinds of oceanic ooze. 

 This is illustrated by a coloured map, showing the 

 distribution of the areas, from Mr. Murray's paper 

 read before the Royal .Society. But the author comes 

 of too scientific a stock not to take a deep interest 

 in the actual work of the voyage, and so we find 

 frequent references to it in the vigorously and even 

 picturesquely written, but professedly unscientific 

 account of the cruise. 



SCIENCE IN THE PROVINCES. 



NO fact better illustrates the spread of natural 

 science than the increase in the number of 

 societies founded for the purpose of mutually studying 

 the various branches of natural history. A great 

 deal of real good work is thus effected ; and 

 although the larger number of every society con- 

 sists of members who are not active field naturalists, 

 yet those who are thus receive a sympathy and en- 

 couragement they would not have obtained a quarter 

 of a century ago. The natural history features 

 of each neighbourhood thus get a better chance 

 of being worked for the benefit of science generally, 

 whilst the " ornamental members " at least come into 

 contact with genial natures, flowery meadows, craggy 

 rocks, purling streams, and sunny blue skies, during 

 the ordinary summer rambles. The facilities for 

 publication of memoirs enable each society to issue 

 its " Transactions," and in most of these we find ex- 

 cellent papers, some of which would ornament the 

 annual volumes of the Metropolitan learned societies. 

 The North Staffordshire Naturalists' Field Club have 

 recently issued a handsome volume to their members, 

 containing addresses and papers, delivered or read 

 during the last three or four years. This plan is 

 better than that of publishing a thin, paper-covered 

 annual brochure, whose insignificance causes it soon 

 to be lost. Among the papers in the above volume 

 we have one by a well-known anthropologist. Dr. J. 

 B. Davies, F.R.S. (illustrated), " On the Interments 

 of Primitive Man." Mr. John Ward contributes a 

 short paper " On the Fossil Trees in a Hanley Marl- 

 pit," and a more important and lengthy communica- 

 tion (illustrated), "On the Organic Remains of the 

 Coal-measures of North Staffordshire." No man is 

 better able to speak on this subject than Mr. Ward, 

 whose knowledge of carboniferous fishes is well 

 known among palaeontologists. Mr. Molyneux has 



