BOOKS AND MAGAZINES 



319 



Beginnings in Agriculture. By Albert Rus- 

 sell Mann. New York: The Macmillan 



Company. 

 This is a thoroughly practical book in its 

 suggestions for the study of agriculture in 

 the seventh and eighth grades of elementary 

 schools, it is well arranged and the subject 

 is attractively presented. It will interest and 

 instruct pupils in the study of elementary 

 agriculture. 



Illustrations of a Thousand Shells. By 



V. Hirase, Karasumaru, Kyoto, Japan. Made 

 from wooden prints. Single copy $1.50. in- 

 cluding the postage. 



This unique and charming book is a good 

 specimen of Japanese skill and artistic taste 

 in book making. It is beautifully bound in 

 silk, the illustrations are exquisite, and the pag- 

 ination is delightfully unusual in America, 

 whatever it may be in Japan. The Japanese 

 people are lovers of nature. Some of that af- 

 fection is embodied in this attractive book. 



The American Annual of Photography, 1915. 



New York City: George Murphy, Inc., 

 57 East Ninth Street, General Sales 

 Agents. Price in paper, 75c ; in cloth, 

 SI. 25. 

 Ths standard manual for American photog- 

 raphers covers a wide range of photographic 

 interests. The pictures are beautiful, the 

 articles are interesting, the entire book is full 

 of details, and the printer has well done his 

 part. We cordially commend it to all who 

 love to write with light on sensitive plates. 



Students' Handbook to Accompany Plants 

 and Their Uses. By Frederick LeRoy Sar- 

 gent. New York : Henry Holt and Com- 

 pany. 



This is a unique little manual that at once 

 commends itself to the reader. It contains 

 many interesting and valuable directions for 

 the testing of seeds, the study of food plants, 

 of those that are poisonous or medicinal, or 

 are used in the making of beverages or for 

 industrial purposes. The book is edifying and 

 meritorious. 



Studies of Trees. By J. J. Levison, M. F. 



New York City: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 



The book covers the whole range of tree 

 study including the identification of trees ; 

 their nature, habits and growth ; insects and 

 diseases which attack them ; their grouping 

 and planting: the pruning and care of trees; 

 the identification of commercial woods ; the 

 care of the woodlot and forestry in its many 

 aspects. 



The treatment is concise, systematic and 

 free from an undue use of botanical terms. 

 The author's aim throughout is to give only 

 the salient points and to so present his text 



that the reader is enabled to reach at a glance 

 the main features of the subject under dis- 

 cission. 



The Birds of Sew York. Part II. Published 



by the State Museum at Albany, New 

 \ ork. 



Readers of Part I especially will heartily 

 welcome the appearance of Part II. The new 

 issue makes a volume of more than seven 

 hundred quarto pages, with sixty-four colored 

 plates and as many more text figures in black 

 and white. The editing has fallen to the same 

 competent hands as the former work— those 

 of Air. E. H. Eaton. Altogether the two vol- 

 umes are by far the best thing that any of our 

 state governments have yet turned out on any 

 similar topic. 



As Part I disposed of the water and game 

 birds, Part II is given over to the ordinary 

 land birds. About five hundred pages are 

 devoted to a systematic account of these, the 

 order being that of the A. O. U. check list. 

 The remainder of the work takes up such 

 matters as the economic value of birds, legis- 

 lation concerning bird life, measures for in- 

 creasing the number of birds, private pre- 

 serves and sanctuaries, food, nesting sites, 

 habits, migrations, and the like. 



The entire work is the standard authority 

 on the subject for the region which it covers. 



The Pet Book. By Anna Botsford Corn- 

 stock. Ithaca, New York: The Corn- 

 stock Publishing Company. 

 Here is the book that has been needed by 

 our Members and friends that love animals. 

 Heretofore nearly all the books pertaining 

 to pets that have been obtainable are English 

 manuals and somewhat out of date or out of 

 place. Other similar books, even when mod- 

 ern, seem to favor animals for sporting and 

 exhibition purposes rather than for nature 

 study. Mrs. Comstock is an enthusiastic ex- 

 ponent of nature study. She has produced 

 just the book that is needed. To help her 

 she has had the liberal support of some of 

 the best photographers and artists in the 

 country. The publishers too have shown the 

 right spirit and have done their part thorough- 

 ly. Each chapter is well arranged giving 

 first the interesting peculiarities of that par- 

 ticular animal, followed by subdivisions that 

 pertain to the home, food and care. One of 

 the most interesting sections is devoted to the 

 pig. The author does justice to even this 

 commonplace subject. The reader of this 

 chanter will agree with her that the pig has 

 many attractive qualities. She says : "A 

 little pig makes a charming pet. It is pretty 

 and iie-it ruul very intelligent. Tt will soon 

 know the little master nr mistress who feeds 

 it. and will follow those it loves like a devot- 

 ed dog. It is sufficientlv clever so that it 

 may be taught many tricks, and will repay 

 patient training." 



