BOOK XOTES 117 



How to Destroy English Sparrows is the subject of Farmers' Bul- 

 letin 383, issued by the U. S. Department of Agriculture under date of 

 January 20, 1910. The Bulletin is of special interest following, as it 

 does, soon after the lively discussion in Chicago over the propriety of 

 encouraging school children to feed this pest. Although the extermi- 

 nation of the bird is impracticable, "a reduction of its numbers is feas- 

 ible and important. The present bulletin aims to describe the best 

 methods of destruction." The author is Ned Dearborn. 



The Proceedings of the Second Annual Conference on Agricul- 

 tural Science in the Summer School of Agriculture, Massachusetts Ag- 

 ricultural College, has just been issued by the Department of Agri- 

 cultural Education of that institution. The topics discussed are: Na- 

 ture Study and Agriculture in Rural Schools; Elementary Agriculture 

 as a Subject of Study in the Grades; Some Connections between School 

 Studies and Home and Industrial Activities; Agriculture for High 

 Schools; Relation of the Physical Sciences to Agriculture; and Bio- 

 logical Sciences in Their Relation to Agricultural Sciences. 



County Schools of Agriculture, Manual Training and Domestic 

 Science are discussed by W. S. Hiser in The Educator- Journal for 

 April, 1910. A second paper of interest in this number is entitled 

 "General Hygiene in its Social Bearings". 



General Biology, a Book of Outlines and Practical Studies for the 

 General Student, by James G. Needham, Ithaca, New York. Comstock 

 Publishing Co., 1910. Pp. 530, 64 practical studies, 287 text figures, 

 and 9 portraits. $2.00 (Postpaid, $2.16.) This eagerly awaited text 

 has just been issued in attractive form with very serviceable flexible 

 binding. 



"It is not a formal text and not at all a treatise, but only a guide 

 intended to assist the student in acquiring for himself some real 

 knowledge of living nature." This statement from the preface is evi- 

 dence that the author appreciates a present need. He has endeavored 

 to escape the dominance of morphology and to give a more equable 

 treatment than has been customary, "in the hope of leading the stu- 

 dent to a practical acquaintance with elementary phenomena in the 

 whole broad field". The book is intended as a college text; the sub- 

 ject matter is arranged to suit the seasons of the college year, and 

 more than a year's work is outlined in order that selections may be 

 made. This is quite in keeping with the growing recognition of the 

 nature-study view-point as extended to secondary and collegiate in- 

 struction. 



The general plan is indicated by the topics of the comprehensive 

 chapters, of which there are but seven: The Interdependence of Or- 

 ganisms; The Simpler Organisms; Organic Evolution; Inheritance; 

 The Life Cycle; The Adjustment of Organisms to Environment; and 

 The Responsive Life of Organisms'. 



Each chapter has its important divisions and includes a number 

 of practical exercises. An appendix deals with laboratory materials 

 and methods, together with suggestions for field work. 



A valuable feature is the number of portraits of noted biologists 

 from Aristotle to Mendel and Pasteur. 



The book is an important contribution to educational biology. 



