HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



73 



A GOSSIP ABOUT NEW BOOKS. 



rE are glad to notice 

 some of the books 

 which have been 

 lying on our table 

 until the present 

 opportunity. A 

 new book by Pro- 

 fessor Huxley is 

 sure to excite the 

 attention of all 

 earnest students 

 of biology. Few 

 naturalists have at 

 the same time so 

 successfully de- 

 voted themselves 

 to original investi- 

 gation, and the 

 genuine populari- 

 sation of science, 

 as this author. 

 The book which we have now the pleasure of noticing 

 is a remarkable illustration of this capacity. The 

 Crayfish : an Introduction to the Study of Zoology, by 

 T. H. Huxley, F.R.S. (London: C. Kegan Paul & 

 Co.), will be welcomed by all naturalists. It forms 

 one of the well-known volumes of the International 

 Scientific Series, and as the illustrations are all original, 

 and in the highest style of wood-cutting art, it is really 

 a very handsome book. Professor Huxley shows that 

 the careful study of one of the commonest and most 

 insignificant of animals may lead us from every-day 

 knowledge to the widest generalisation, and the most 

 difficult problems of biology. By the aid either of a 

 crayfish or a lobster, to be dissected as the student 

 progresses with this volume, a very complete structural 

 knowledge may be worked out. It is impossible too 

 highly to recommend a work like this, at once so 

 luminously, simply, and yet scientifically composed. 

 It suggests the profoundest sympathy with the student, 

 for whose sake it has been written. 



Illustrations of the British Flora, by W. H. Fitch, 



F.L.S., and W. G. Smith, F.L.S. (London : L. 



Reeve & Co.) This well got up little volume is 



composed of the very clever wood engravings from 



No. 184. 



the illustrated edition of Mr. Bentham's " Handbook 

 of the British Flora." The woodcuts were originally 

 drawn by the above-named gentlemen, which is a 

 quite sufficient guarantee for their excellency. There 

 is a very copious index of genera and species of 

 British plants, but no letterpress beyond the names 

 of the 1306 illustrations. We are sorry, however, to 

 notice that these names are often grossly misspelt, and 

 we feel certain that neither Mr. Smith nor Mr. Fitch 

 could be guilty of the carelessness that is here dis- 

 played ; we have corrected something like fifty errors 

 of this kind in our copy. With this exception, which 

 we hope will be seen to in the next edition, we have 

 nothing to say of the book except what is commen- 

 datory, and we have purposely pointed out the defects 

 in order that their rectification may enhance the value 

 of the work. 



Chapters from the Physical History of the Earth : 

 an Introduction to Geology and Paleontology, by Arthur 

 Nicols, F.G.S., F.R.G.S. (London : C. Kegan Paul 

 & Co.) This is a very pleasantly written and well 

 illustrated little book, which ought to take a good 

 place as an introduction to the fascinating study of 

 geology. The author shows himself to be acquainted 

 with the latest discoveries in palaeontology and physi- 

 cal geology, and he is familiar with the latest views 

 on these subjects as held by our most distinguished 

 scientific men. The book is separated into .two 

 divisions, one dealing with stratigraphy and physical 

 geology generally, and the other with palaeontology, 

 in which the life of the globe is viewed as an evolu- 

 tional whole. We think the value of this book 

 would have been enhanced by a good index. 



The Story of the Earth and Man, by Dr. Dawson, 

 F.R.S., &c, Sixth edition. (London : Hodder & 

 Stoughton.) The fact that this work (which we had 

 the pleasure to notice favourably on its first appear- 

 ance) has reached its sixth edition, practically re- 

 moves it from the sphere of criticism, and we can 

 only express our congratulations to the author that 

 the public have had the good sense thus to take his 

 work under their patronage. We cordially say thus 

 much, because we cannot agree with the author in 

 his sometimes too severe denunciation of the theory 

 of Evolution, although we sympathise with a man 



