LITERARY NOTES 



XXV 



Literary 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



The Birds' Convention. By Harriet Williams 

 Myers. Los Angeles, California : West- 

 ern Publishing Company. 



This book is beautifully printed on tinted, 

 soft finish paper. The photographic illus- 

 trations are good from the naturalist's point 

 of view, and the conversation at the con- 

 vention contains much of ornithological in- 

 terest. The reviewer is not pleased when 

 birds and quadrupeds talk like human be- 

 ings, nor when human beings talk like the 

 lower animals, but he knows that many 

 students of nature take delight in all such 

 artistic fiction. To them this beautiful book 

 will be welcome. The final chapter pays a 

 well-deserved tribute from the birds to the 

 Audubon Society, in grateful recognition of 

 the Society's protection. 



Woodland Idyls. By W. S. Blatchley. In- 

 dianapolis: The Nature Publishing 

 Company. 



This is an amplification of the author's 

 motto, "Be ye satisfied with little things." 

 He believes that this precept should be set 

 before the eyes of every one who in the 

 woods seeks fancies for his brain, content- 

 ment for his soul. The author has recorded 

 the thoughts that have come to him as he 

 has walked in nature's realms. The book 

 is in the form of a diary and describes his 

 rambles at various times of the year. It 

 contains few of those philosophical remarks 

 about nature that so endeared his previous 

 books to hosts of naturalists. He seems 

 to think that, as in some of Whitman's 

 poems, a catalogue of observation may em- 

 body a philosophy. He allows the objects 

 of nature to speak for themselves, as they 

 do effectively. 



The Mechanistic Conception of Life. Bio- 

 logical Essays by Jacques Loeb, M.D., 

 Ph.D., Sc.D. Chicago: The University 

 of Chicago Press. 



The reader will probably recall the fact 

 that the author has achieved no little scien- 

 tific distinction, and almost as much news- 

 paper notoriety, for his experiments on the 

 artificial fertilization of the egg of the sea 

 urchin and of other forms of marine life. 

 This book, as its title implies, explains the 

 mechanical point of view of life dealt with 

 wholly as a physico-chemical affair. It is 

 a popular presentation, in a series of read- 

 able essays, of the results of the author's in- 

 vestigations. He does not assert that any 

 life phenomenon has yet found a physico- 

 chemical explanation. He thinks that the 

 veil that covers the proof of this hypothesis 

 may sometime be lifted, and that we shall 

 then be surprised because "we did not guess 

 from the first what was behind it." 



Principles of Economic Zoology. By L. S. 



Daugherty, M. S., Ph. D., and M. C. 

 Daugherty. With 301 illustrations. Phil- 

 adelphia; W. B. Saunders Company. 

 Cloth, $2.00 net. 



Not only are the salient facts of structural 

 zoology and the development of the various 

 branches of animals here given, but also 

 such facts of natural history — or the life 

 and habits of animals — as show the inter- 

 relations of structure, habit and evironment. 

 The authors have laid much stress upon 

 principles and their application. The book 

 is a useful adjunct to the "Field and Labora- 

 tory Guide." 



The Book of Grasses. By Mary Evans Fran- 

 cis. Garden City: Doubleday, Page & 

 Company. 



Previous books on the grasses have refer- 

 red to their economic importance, their 

 value to the farmer as a part of his agricul- 

 tural work, or have been technical treatises 

 for the scientific man. This is a welcome 

 book intended for the student, and has long 

 been needed. It is accurate, and not too 

 scientific to be appreciated by the general 

 reader. With its descriptions are combined 

 illustrations that effectively show the beauty 

 of the grasses. The grasses are the most 

 decorative of our plants, and the study of 

 them should appeal to every one interested 

 in nature. We are glad that so convenient 

 a book is made available. It should stimu- 

 late a deeper interest in this fascinating fam- 

 ily of plants. 



A Popular Guide to Minerals. By L. P. Grata- 

 cap, A.M., American Museum of Natural 

 History. With Chapters on the Bement 

 Collection of Minerals in the American 

 Museum of Natural History, and The De- 

 velopment of Mineralogy; for use of 

 visitors to public cabinets of minerals 

 and for elementary teaching in miner- 

 alogy. With 400 Text Illustrations, and 

 74 Photographic Plates. New York: D. 

 Van Nostrand Company. 



This guide, while primarily intended for 

 the use of visitors to collections of minerals, 

 contains much matter of general interest on 

 some of the scientific aspects of mineralogy 

 in relation to crystallography, optics, chem- 

 istry and geology. Much of the book is 

 readable aside from its use as a guide to a 

 collection, and undoubtedly will greatly 

 stimulate readers to a more careful inspec- 

 tion of public collections of minerals. One 

 of the most interesting features of the book 

 is the extensive map which gives a "bird's- 

 eye" view of the principal locations of min- 

 erals throughout the United States. 



