134 



BARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



clerk, and then the acknowledged leading metallur- 

 gist of his day. It is a wonderful story of what a 

 young man can do, and Mr. Burnie has told it well 

 in this handsome volume. 



Coal, and what tue get from it, by Professor R. 

 Meldola (London : S.P.C.K.). This is perhaps the 

 most interesting of the volumes yet issued under 

 the title of " The Romance of Science." It is 

 a much-expanded issue of a Lecture delivered by 

 Professor Meldola at the London Institution, and 

 both to the student and the general reader it is a 

 highly-valuable, clear, and concise account of the 

 now-important coal-tar industry. All the valuable 

 materials here explained not many years ago were 

 worse than wasted. Science has reduced them, and 

 turned them to use. About three hundred coal-tar 

 colouring-matters are now made, and thirty of these 

 •are in economic use, all of them fast dyes. There 

 are thirty more fast enough for all practical require- 

 ments. The value of the coal-tar colouring-matters 

 .annually produced in Great Britain and on the 

 •Continent is five millions sterling. From the same 

 original source are also derived such explosives as 

 picric acid, medicines such as antypyrin, sweets 

 such as saccharin, and perfumes resembling vanilla, 

 bitter almonds, &c., to say nothing of the hydro- 

 quinin and eikeneogen used by photographers and 

 others. Professor Meldola's book is a genuine 

 "Romance," far transcending in interest and plot 

 three-fourths of the so-called "novels" of the day. 

 It is a book that will be largely read and highly- 

 prized. 



Colour Measurement and Afixture, by Captain 

 Abney (London : S.P.C.K.). This is another of the 

 same half-crown series — all of which are written 

 by the chief recognised authorities on each subject. 

 Whatever Captain Abney has to say on the matters 

 .here discussed is sure to be listened to. There are 

 few appeals from his conclusions, especially when they 

 concern the physics and chemistry of photography. 

 Students will here find worked-out the heating, 

 luminous, and chemical effects of the spectrum. 

 The work contains sixteen chapters, devoted largely 

 to colours, their origin, effects, combinations, &c., 

 and is abundantly illustrated where necessary to a 

 fuller understanding of the text. 



The Missouri Botanic Garden. This institution 

 was founded by the late Mr. Henry Shaw, of whom 

 a lengthy biographical sketch is given. Professor 

 Trelease's " Inaugural Address," and a " Flower 

 Sermon," together with the First Annual Report, are 

 included in this nicely got-up volume. It is well 

 illustrated. Mr. Shaw must have been a very 

 sociable fellow, for he left money for an annual 

 banquet. Accordingly we have the report of that 

 •also, at which banquet one hundred guests were 

 .present. 



Fifth Report of the United States Entomological 

 ■Commission on Insects injurious to Forest a7id Shade 



Trees, by A. S. Packard (Washington : Government 

 Office). This is a neatly got-up volume of a thousand 

 pages, illustrated by forty plates, and upwards of 

 three hundred woodcuts. The papers are strictly 

 scientific and thoroughly practical. Hence their 

 high economic value. They deal with the various 

 insects injurious to the oak, elm, hickory, butter-nut, 

 locust-tree, maple, cotton-wood, poplar, lime, birch, 

 beech, wild cherry, wild plum, thorn, crab-apple, 

 mountain ash, willow, hackberry, sycamore, pine, 

 spruce, fir, hemlock, larch, juniper, cedar, cypress, 

 &c., with full descriptions of the habits of their 

 insect enemies, and advice how to cope with them. 



Annual Report of the Fruit- Growing Association 

 and Entomological Society of Ontario, 1S90 (Toronto). 

 This volume is the twenty-second annual report of 

 a most useful society. It is full of capital practical 

 papers on many matters concerning peaches, pears, 

 prunes, cherries, apples, grapes, &c., their growth, 

 decay, enemies (animal and vegetable). Horticul- 

 turists all over the world will be interested in this 

 useful volume, which it is a great pity to have 

 spoiled by the wretched photograph of the President 

 as frontispiece. 



Zoological Articles contributed to the '■'■ Encyclo- 

 pLcdia Britannica," by Professor E. Ray Lankester, 

 &c. (London : A. & C. Black). All earnest students 

 of advanced zoology are already aware that the last 

 edition of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" contains 

 some of the most exhaustive articles on special 

 subjects connected with their science which have yet 

 been published. They are not likely to be excelled 

 for some time to come, and that ponderous but useful 

 work would therefore have had to be consulted, the 

 papers picked out of its many volumes, and much 

 time have been lost, if Professor Lankester and the 

 publishers had not hit upon the happy thought of 

 issuing the present volume at such a price that it 

 comes within pocketable reach of most students, 

 and lies in such a handy and compact form, 

 both for careful study and reference, that iew 

 naturalists or general libraries can do without it. 

 The illustrations are numerous, and one or two 

 important additions have been made to them over 

 and above those in the original work. The text, 

 also, has been corrected and slightly added to where 

 necessary and convenient. On the various papers 

 themselves it is not necessary to make any remarks. 

 Their high-class character practically places them 

 beyond the reach of criticism. All Professor 

 Lankester's articles are here reprinted — on " Proto- 

 zoa, Hydrozoa, MoUusca, Polyzoa, and Vertebrata." 

 In addition we have the following papers, by 

 permission of the authors—" Sponges," by Professor 

 Sollas ; "Planarians," by Professor von Graff: 

 " Nemertines," by Professor Hubrecht ; " Rotifera," 

 by Professor Bourne ; and on " Tunicata," by 

 Professor Herdmann. 



Telescopic IVork for Starlight Evenings^ by 



