LITERARY AND BIOGRAPHICAL. 



223 



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IlTERARY 



f-^ANDBIOGI 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



Microscopy the Construction, Theory and 

 Use of the Microscope. By Edmund 

 J. Spitta, L. R. C. P., Lond., M. R. C. S., 

 Eng., F. R. M. S, President of the Que- 

 kett Microscopic Club, author of an At- 

 las of Bacteriology: With 47 Half-tone 

 Reproductions from Original Negatives, 

 and 241 Text Illustrations. New York: 

 E. Dutton & Company. 



This book is a delight to those who, like 

 Prof. Douglas in the July number of "The 

 Guide to Nature," would restore and in- 

 crease interest in microscopy. 



The frontispiece, a beautiful photo-micro- 

 graph of the proboscis of a blow-fly, is ex- 

 quisite in detail. The plates of diatoms and 

 other test objects ^°poeii our gratitude to 

 those workers who perfected that marvel 

 of lenses — the microscope objective. Some 

 of the best things of the book are in the 

 inconspicuous department "Hints" in the 

 last part of the volume. 



The Study of Nature. By Samuel Christian 

 Schmucker, Ph. D., Philadelphia: J. B. 

 Lippincott Company (Educational Se- 

 ries). 



This is a book of pedagogical nature 

 study, dealing with principles, methods and 

 materials. 



The author is a true teacher and natural- 

 ist, and the book contains valuable sug- 

 gestions and instructions. 



I received the book while sitting before a 

 large number of teachers at an Institute. 

 I handed it to a colleague instructor who is 

 not a naturalist He at once severely criti- 

 cised the first sentence — "Nature study is 

 the study of nature," as "Absolutely foolish 

 and meaningless, going around a circle and 

 not getting anywhere" We who are natur- 

 alists know what the author has in mind of 

 genuineness versus sham. We know that 

 there is a "nature study" that is fizz. Yet 

 some of us, who best appreciate Professor 

 Schmucker and know all he meant by that 

 trite and laconic sentence, can but regret 

 that he has not defined a sharp distinction 

 between the pedagogical "nature study" and 

 the strict "study of nature" or natural sci- 

 ence. 



However, it is not so very important what 

 we call it nor how we define it, but rather 

 how we do it and how we live it. The 

 author does, lives and studies all right and 

 his wife helps him well in all — especially in 

 the illustrations of this book. 



"American Birds Studied and Photographed 

 from Life." By William Lovell Finley. 

 Illustrated from photographs by Herman 

 T. Bohlman and the Author. Charles 

 Scribner's Sons, New York, 1907. $1.50 

 net. 



For some years past the observation and 

 study of birds has been growing in popu- 

 larity. That this interest shows no sign 

 of waning is evidenced by the steady suc- 

 cessions of interesting and finely illustrated 

 books on the subject which are being pub- 

 lished. Another worthy book in this mer- 

 itorious succession is "American Birds," by 

 William Lovell Finley. In order not to 

 misunderstand the scope of the book, one 

 must note the sub-title, — "Studied and Pho- 

 tographed from Life." It is not a treatise 

 on the entire ornithology of America, but 

 a series of sketches of twenty-one repre- 

 sentative, well-known birds, as they were 

 observed and photographed by Mr. Finley 

 and his companion, Mr. Herman T. Bohl- 

 man, who does most of the photographing. 

 These sketches are breezy, pleasantly writ- 

 ten accounts of experience with the various 

 birds afield, well adapted to interest young 

 people, as well as older nature-lovers. The 

 127 photographs of birds from life, adult 

 and young, and some of nests and eggs, are 

 all well done, being, like all good bird-pho- 

 tographs, instructive as to the life of the 

 subjects and also suggestive of the pleasure 

 to be found by anyone who will go afield 

 with the camera in the same spirit and do 

 the hard, patient work required to obtain 

 such trophies. 



Mr. Finley is personally known to the 

 writer of this review. A young man, resi- 

 dent on the Pacific Coast, he has rapidly 

 come to the fore, and is widely known for 

 the splendid and spectacular photographs 

 which he and Mr. Bohlman in company have 

 secured. He is a tireless enthusiast, and no 

 amount of hardship or danger deters him 

 from succeeding in his quest. Certainly he 

 has the true enthusiasm and love for Nature. 

 Here is what he says in his chapter on the 

 Warbler, — and he practices what he 

 preaches: 



"One cannot take a camera, no matter 

 how expensive it is, and snap off good bird 

 pictures during the spare moments of a 

 busy day . . . but to be a successful 

 amateur bird-photographer one has fairly 

 to make a business of lying in wait for his 

 subjects hour after hour, day by day, and 

 maybe week after week. The reward of 

 real success comes not in mere acquaint- 



