HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



151 



are admitted to the "Third Degree." Then Sir 

 William's style, although terse and brief, is clear and 

 understandable. That he can command a large 

 circle of readers is evidenced by the fact that the fifst 

 edition of the work under notice was soon out of 

 print, and a second had immediately to be issued. 

 Vol. ii of the set has not yet been published. Some 

 of these Essays and Addresses have became classic, 

 notably those in vol. i. on "The Size of Atoms," and 

 " The Sun's Heat." Another lecture in three parts 

 is devoted to " The Secular Cooling of the Sun," 

 "The Sun's Present Temperature," and "The 

 Origin and Total Amount of the Sun's Heat." 

 Among other addresses are " The Six Gateways of 

 Knowledge," "The Wave Theory of Light," 

 " Electrical Measurements," •' Capillary Attraction," 

 &c, JMany of these are supplemented by original 

 notes and appendixes. The whole of these 

 valuable discourses are included in one volume, 

 entitled "The Constitution of Matter." Volume iii. 

 is called " Navigation," and is devoted to navi- 

 gational affairs. Among them we find the following 

 comprehensive range of subjects discoursed upon in 

 various chief places: "The Tides," "Terrestrial 

 Magnetism and the Mariner's Compass," " On Deep 

 Sea Sounding by Pianoforte- Wire," "Lighthouse 

 Characteristics," " The Forces concerned in the 

 Laying- and Lifting of Deep-Sea Cables," 

 "Navigation," &c. Many of these important 

 summaries of valuable knowledge are also added to 

 by original notes. Enough has been said, however, 

 to show that the publication of Sir William 

 Thomson's "Popular Lectures and Addresses" is a 

 welcome addition to modern scientific literature. 



The Birds of Essex — A Cont7-ibiitioti to the Natural 

 History of the County, by Miller Christy, F.L.S. 

 (Chelmsford : Edmund Durrant). This is the 

 second special memoir published by the Essex Field- 

 Club — the most enterprising, active, zealous, and 

 intelligent of our out-door societies. The author is 

 a well-known, all-round naturalist, with a speciality 

 for ornithology. He has long been a welcome 

 contributor to the scientific press, some readers will 

 well remember his name, although we miss the 

 initial letter R in this his latest work. Ornithology 

 is a branch of natural history which demands unusual 

 patience and care ; and, as a rule, none but 

 enthusiastic ornithologists study ornithology. We 

 are gradually acquiring a series of splendid and trust- 

 worthy monographs of British birds. In the eastern 

 countries, particularly, we have Stevenson, 

 Southwell, Babington, and now Miller Christy. 

 The present work is got up with much taste. Most 

 of the illustrations (162 in number) are first-rate 

 specimens of natural history wood-cutting. Mr. 

 Christy is known as a graceful and accom- 

 plished writer, and he also brings to his work all 

 the requisites of a good ornithologist. His book 

 is prefaced with a highly reliable and most 



interesting chapter devoted to short biographies of 

 the principal Essex ornithologists. Next we have 

 an account of the Chief Essex Bird Collections, 

 Migration Tables (by Mr. H. Doubleday and the 

 Rev. R. Sheppard), a chapter of Hawks and 

 Hawking in the Olden Time (by Mr. J. E. Harting), 

 and another on Wild Fowl Decoys and Wild 

 Fowling in Essex. Lastly comes the chief part of 

 the work: "A Catalogue on the Birds of Essex," 

 which occupies over two hundred pages, and is 

 abundantly illustrated. Every species of bird has 

 some interesting note or item. This part is as 

 attractive and instructing as many pages of Gilbert 

 White. The Essex Field Club, through ^^Ir. 

 Christy's help, have conferred genuine assistance in 

 the important work of constructing a national 

 ornithology which will endure for many years to 

 come. 



Lessons in Elementary Biology, by T. Jeffery 

 Parker, F.R.S. (London : Macmillan). We have 

 by no means too many good manuals of biology. 

 Zoology is indeed rather poor therein, and 

 elementary botany is too abundantly represented. A 

 general biology, based on the science of physical life, 

 is open to good literary work. Professor Parker's 

 handsome new text-book is of this character. It is 

 meant for real students, not idlers or dilettanti 

 skimmers of every fresh pot of scientific milk, 

 although such people imagine they run away with the 

 cream. For students in B.Sc. exams, this book is a 

 genuine friend. The illustrations are numerous, well 

 selected, and special. There is neither a needless 

 nor a useless one in the volume. The table of 

 contents includes thirty so-called " Lessons " ; and it 

 would be difiacult to formulate a wider area of 

 biological research and discussion. Professor 

 Parker's method of instruction is clear, solid, and so 

 strong that the student who has thoroughly mastered 

 his " Lesson " will not be likely soon to forget it. 



The Making of Flowers^ by the Rev. Professor 

 George Henslovv (London: S.P.C.K.). Here we 

 have another welcome addition to the "Romance of 

 Science " series. Professor Henslow is the worthy 

 son of a worthy sire. He is a devoted botanist, and 

 was one of the earliest botanists to recognise the law 

 of evolution in his beloved study. But he never 

 seems to have taken kindly to the definite conclusions 

 of Darwin, Hooker, Lubbock, and others, that insects 

 are absolutely essential for crossing flowers. He 

 rather holds a brief for the opposition, and thinks the 

 plant travelled to the insect, rather than the insect 

 to the plant — through its migrations. Mr. Henslow 

 makes much of stimulation as an agent for effecting 

 floral change, especially the stimulation of insects. 

 We will not even endeavour, by sketching an outline 

 of this charming little book, to rob our readers of the 

 pleasure of perusing it. 



The British Noctua and their Varieties, vol. i., by 

 J. W. Tutt (London : Swan Sonnenschein & Co.). 



