206 NATURAL SCIENCE. March, 



by Goes and Hedelin, and lithographed by Schlacter, and are beau- 

 tiful ; an especially fine figure of Astrorhiza occupies plate i. 



Among the Californian Mountains. 



The Mountains of California. By John Muir. Pp. 381, with 53 illustrations in 

 the text. London : T. Fisher Unwin. Price 7s. 6d. 



This book contains some excellent studies in natural history, among 

 which, in our opinion, one of the best is that upon the Dipper. 

 Ci iic I us mexicanus is a frequenter of the coldest waters of the sierra, 

 and is one of the few birds that is equally merry under depressing 

 and exhilarating circumstances. Many birds droop and are dull when 

 external nature does not suggest joviality ; not so the Water Ouzel, 

 who "both in winter and summer sings sweetly, cheerily, independent 

 alike of sunshine and of love, requiring no other inspiration than the 

 stream on which he dwells." It is one of those birds that are 

 thoroughly at home under the waves despite the fact that, apart from 

 the plump and rounded form of the body, there is no special adapta- 

 tion to an aquatic life. The feet are, of course, not webbed, and so 

 progression is effected by flying under water as in the case of the 

 penguin. The Water Ouzel is dignified with a chapter all to himself; 

 so, too, is the Douglas Squirrel ; but no other beast is thus treated, 

 though scattered through the book are numerous notes and casual 

 allusions. Like " Orpheus at the Zoo," Mr. Muir whistled to the 

 animals, and especially to the squirrels. He sang or whistled 

 " Bonnie Doon," " Lass o' Gowrie," and many other national airs to 

 which the squirrel listened with more than a polite attention. But 

 when, remembering, perhaps, its effect upon the Scotch professor, 

 our author came to the " Old Hundredth," off went the squirrel 

 screaming "his Indian name, Pillillooeet." We are inclined to praise 

 Mr. Muir's book, not only for what is in it, but also for what is not in 

 it. With praiseworthy fortitude, in these days of free and easy 

 generalisation, the author refrains from relating his experiences, if he 

 had any, with living creatures looking like bits of sticks or, like the 

 dweller in the suburbs, trying to appear to be something else than 

 what they really are. However, we must not speculate further upon 

 the " might have been " ; and so, with a final commendation, we bid 

 — not farewell — but an revoir to Mr. Muir. 



RecenT Publications and Periodicals. 



Mr. Mellard Reade's paper in the last issued number of the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Liverpool Geological Society, on the Dublin and Wicklow 

 Shelly-Drift, will be welcome to geologists who want some general 

 account of these deposits, and it will also be valuable as containing 

 careful mechanical analyses of the gravels; that is to say, of the size 

 and nature of the stones composing them. From a biological point 

 of view it is not so satisfactory, for Mr. Reade, like most writers on 

 the subject, ignores the strange mingling of the contained fossils. 

 We observe also that the same fauna occurs at extremely different 

 levels, and that there is no apparent division into zones of depth, 

 such as one would expect in undisturbed marine stratum. A great 

 deal has yet to be done before we can accept such confused gravels as 

 evidence of a "great submergence." How is it that no one has yet 

 found on the lowlands, anywhere in the British Isles, a marine fauna 

 pointing to a depth of 100, or even of 50, fathoms ? Such deposits 

 should be common, if there has really been a submergence of 500 

 or 1,000 feet. 



