HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



241 



A GOSSIP ABOUT NEW BOOKS. 



N spite of the 

 " dulness" 

 which has cha- 

 racterized the 

 book world for 

 the last few 

 months, we can- 

 not complain of 

 sterility. Several scientific 

 works have been issued, and 

 others will be shortly forth- 

 coming, which will make 

 their mark and help on still 

 further the progress of natu- 

 ral science. The " Kambles 

 of a Naturalist in Egypt 

 and other Countries," by 

 J. H. Gurney, jun. (Lon- 

 don: Jarrold & Sons), is the 

 production of a genuine, 

 ardent naturalist, theworthy 

 -«on of a worthy sire. It is almost a pity that the 

 title of this attractive and interesting volume is the 

 same as that of Quatrefages, translated by Dr. 

 Lawson, and given to the English reading world 

 many years ago with the same title that Mr. Gurney 

 has now adopted. This is the only fault we have to 

 find with the present work. The narrative part is 

 related with a vivacity which shows what a vivid 

 impression the scenes amid which the author passed 

 made on his mind. The style is simple, picturesque, 

 and terse. The detailed account of his six. months' 

 bird-collecting will prove valuable to every orni- 

 thologist, as noting the geographical distribution of 

 many forms familiar to English students. The book 

 also contains a clever analysis of the claims of 

 certain foreign birds to be considered British. The 

 material contained in it has taken six years to col- 

 lect, and the author expresses a hope that his book 

 may help to render ornithology more popular. We 

 . are of opinion that this modest hope will be abun- 

 No. 143. 



dantly satisfied, and that its young but accom- 

 plished author will receive all the credit he so richly 

 deserves. 



"Field Geology," by W. H. Penning, F.G.S. 

 (London : Bailliere & Co.), is a book that fills up a 

 gap. We have no lack of general and popular 

 geological manuals, which give full and accurate 

 theoretical outlines of the stony science ; but here 

 is a book fresh from the field, written by a field- 

 geologist, which tells the student how to do out- 

 door work, such as mapping strata, taking sections 

 determining the kinds of rocks, &c. It is profusely 

 illustrated with the diagrams necessary to make this 

 understandable ; whilst its value as a practical work 

 is enhanced by the chapters on " Palaeontology " by 

 Mr. A. J. Jukes-Brown, in which the student will 

 find drawn up lists of the characteristic fossils of 

 each formation, and of the important subdivisions of 

 formations. The fullest details are given concerning 

 field geology and the way to proceed in discovering 

 the various kinds of rocks. Mr. Penning has 

 placed all real students of field geology under a great 

 obligation. 



At this juncture, when " spiritualism " is making 

 such claims to be considered as a science without 

 submitting to the treatment which genuine sciences 

 gladly undergo, the publication of the fourth edition 

 of Dr. Carpenter's " Principles of Mental Phy- 

 siology" (London: H. S. King & Co.) is exceed- 

 ingly timely. Undoubtedly many of the phenomena 

 which spiritualism claims as peculiarly its own, 

 such as clairvoyance, mesmerism, and the like, 

 belong to the domain of mental physiology ; and the 

 student who desires to study them after the induc- 

 tive method, will be both satisfied and delighted 

 with the manner in which Dr. Carpenter has dis- 

 cussed them in this most readable volume. 



From the same active firm (Messrs. H. S. King 

 & Co.), we have also received Mr. R. H. Scott's 

 " Weather Charts and Storm Warnings," and Dr. 

 Blasema's "Theory of Sound in its relation to 



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