220 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



The Book of Grasses. By Mary Evans 

 Francis. Garden City, New York: 

 Doubleday Page & Company. 

 This is the first book written for the ama- 

 teur which takes up in a simple yet com- 

 prehensive way the common and rare species 

 of grass. The work is thoroughly scientific 

 in its treatment without being forbidding or 

 dull. The author has a vast amount of most 

 interesting matter and the layman is aston- 

 ished in reading Miss Francis's volume to 

 discover a wealth of beauty and variety in 

 what is oftentimes regarded as a rather un- 

 attractive side of nature. 



By John Henry Comstock. 

 New York: Doubleday 



Tlie Spider Book. 



Garden City, 

 Page & Company. 



The Spider Book, by John Henry Comstock, 

 now Senior Professor in Cornell University, 

 is a scientific work, but it is written with 

 the clarity and simplicity of style that has 

 made his "Manual" a classic in the literature 

 of insect life. The reader is, at the outset, 

 relieved of the old, widespread, false notion 



that spiders are venomous and detestable 

 creatures. On the contrary, as, family by 

 family, they are described and named, their 

 wonderful habits hold the interest, and send 

 the reader out to watch the doings of these 

 industrious, skilful, beautiful creatures. This 

 in the first comprehensive book on the habits 

 and classification of a vast natural group 

 and it is a notable contribution to the litera- 

 ture of science. 



This book is one of the best, mechanically, 

 that has been issued in the Nature Library. 

 High class, heavy weight, coated paper is 

 used and there are over seven hundred il- 

 lustrations. It is a book in subject and style 

 of treatment that literally fills a long felt 

 want. There have been previously written 

 a very small handbook by Emerton, and a 

 very elaborate book by Dr. McCook, selling 

 for some $50.00. This new book by Profes- 

 sor Comstock will meet the needs of a great 

 number of students. In writing to the pub- 

 lishers, as I am sure a large number of our 

 readers will wish to do, please refer to "The 

 Guide to Nature." 



WEB OF METARGIOPE TRIFASC1ATA. 

 From "The Spider Book." 



