XVI 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE— ADVERTISEMENTS 



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LITERAK 



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NOTICES 



Tropical Wild Life in British Guiana. 

 Zoological Contributions from the Tropi- 

 cal Research Station of the New York 

 Zoological Society. By \\ llliam Beebe, 

 Directing Curator ; G. Inness Hartley, 

 Research Associate, and Paul G. Howes, 

 Research Assistant. Introduction by 

 Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. 111 

 Broadway, New York City: The New 

 York Zoological Society. 



The New York Zoological Society has 

 entered upon a new era in establishing a 

 tropical research station in British Guiana. 

 This will give wide scope for obtaining 

 knowledge of living creatures. The station 

 provides for intensive, open field study of 

 the teeming animal life of the tropics, and 

 extends a cordial hospitality to all natural- 

 ists. A somewhat significant announcement 

 is that ''jealousy is regarded as utterly un- 

 worthy." Every original investigator fit to 

 work in the field is sure of a welcome and 

 of all possible aid in his studies. Theodore 

 Roosevelt in the introduction says many 

 good things. We quote the following: 



"The time has passed when we can afford 

 to accept as satisfactory a science of animal 

 life whose professors are either mere roam- 

 ing field collectors or mere closet catalogue 

 writers who examine and record minute dif- 

 ferences in 'specimens' precisely as phila- 

 telists examine and record minute differ- 

 ences in postage stamps — and with about 

 the same breadth of view and power of in- 

 sight into the essential. Little is to be 

 gained by that kind of 'intensive' collecting 

 and cataloguing which bears fruit only in 

 innumerable little pamphlets describing 

 with meticulous care unimportant new sub- 

 species, or new 'species' hardly to be dis- 

 tinguished from those already long known. 

 Such pamphlets have almost no real inter- 

 est except for the infrequent rival special- 

 ists who read them with quarrelsome inter- 

 est. 



"Of course a good deal can still be done 

 by the collector who covers a wide field, if 

 in addition to being a collector he is a 

 good field naturalist and a close and intel- 

 ligent observer; and there must be careful 

 laboratory study of series of specimens of 

 all kinds. But the stage has now been 

 reached when not only life histories, but 

 even taxonomic characters can normally be 

 studied better in the field than in a museum 

 —or at least, when, although both types of 

 study are necessary, the field study is the 

 more important; and when intensive study 

 in the field, as carried on at this station, 

 yields more important results than can nor- 

 mally be achieved by the roaming collec- 

 tor. 



"In addition, it must always be remem- 

 bered that the really firstclass naturalist 

 whose observations are to bear most fruit, 

 must possess the gift of vividly truthful 

 portrayal of what he has possessed, the vis- 

 ion clearly to see in its real essentials." 



Volume I contains an immense amount 

 of good original work. It is not a compila- 

 tion but a real book The naturalists that 

 have participated are thoroughly sincere, 

 well informed, energetic and enthusiastic. 

 They have produced a book that not only 

 adds to natural science but to the pleasure 

 of the general reader. The illustrations are 

 new, the text is interesting and the magnifi- 

 cent workmanship of the book is a delight. 

 We cordially recommend it. 



Audup.on The Naturalist. A History of 

 His Life and Time. By Francis Ho- 

 bart Herrick, Ph. D., Sc. D. New York 

 City. D. Appleton and Company. 

 This history has been prepared by an 

 eminent ornithologist and admirer of Audu- 

 bon after years of research. It contains the 

 first authentic record of Audubon's birth 

 and antecedents, with a wealth of hitherto 

 unpublished material regarding the life and 

 romantic career of America's pioneer nat- 

 uralist. The complete history of Audubon's 

 life is a story of rare interest. Every bird 

 lover will delight in it. 



The work is in two volumes sumptuously 

 illustrated with color portraits of Audubon's 

 birds, photogravure portraits, many half- 

 tones of scenes in Audubon's life, examples 

 of his work, portraits of contemporaries, 

 etc. There are also numerous reproduc- 

 tions of rare letters and documents. It is 

 printed on special paper, and attractively 

 bound in blue cloth, gilt tops, uncut edges. 

 In a box. $7.50 net per set. 



Productive Bee-keeping, By Frank C. Pel- 

 lett. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J. B. 

 Lippincott Company. 

 Mr. Pellett is an accomplished apiarist 

 and naturalist and, one may add, an earnest 

 sympathizer with human beings. He evi- 

 dently has had experience with the troubles 

 of bee-keeping and knows how to make 

 the knowledge gained in that way beneficial 

 to others. The book is one of a series of 

 farm manuals and, like most of the others, 

 merits commendation for the manner in 

 which it depicts its subject. The plan is 

 good, the information concise and practical. 

 We heartily congratulate the author and the 

 publishers, and especially the beginner in 

 bee-keeping, upon the fact that so attractive 

 a book is now available. 



