220 The Irish Naturalist. October, 



PmicilHum glaticum included under the Hyphomycetes, in spite of the 

 fact that for a generation at least they have been known to be Asconiy- 

 cetes. The book contains a number of excellent photographic illustra- 

 tions, although we are doubtful of the value of photographs of mounted 

 specimens in a book of local natural history. 



The editor of the book, in his Introduction, anticipates the criticism 

 that the lists will prove dry and uninteresting to those who have not 

 studied natural history, but we agree with him in thinking that they 

 will be very acceptable, nay, indispensable, to actual workers at the 

 various groups in the locality, and the editor is to be congratulated on 

 the successful completion of the arduous task he set himself. Never- 

 theless, we cannot help regretting that a chapter was not included 

 dealing with the natural history of the island in a broad sense, show- 

 ing how the various groups of organisms are correlated with one another 

 and with the structural and climatic features of the island, and how the 

 natural history of the island, as a whole, compares and contrasts with 

 that of the adjoining mainland. We look, in vain, for any general 

 account of the types of vegetation to be found on the island, and would 

 suggest, that as the local lists of species are now so nearly complete for 

 the higher planis at least, the local botanists should turn from the 

 floristic to the ecological standpoint it] their study of distribution. A 

 map of the island concludes the volume, but it is of no special natural 

 histor}- interest How welcome would geological and vegetation maps 



of the island have been ! 



G. H. P. 



MORE ''NATURE STUDY." 



The Young Naturalists a Guide to British Animal Life. By W. 

 PERCIVai, WesteIvI., F.Iv.S., M.B.O.U. With eight coloured plates 

 by C. F.Newall, and 240 photographic illustrations. Pp.476 London: 

 Methuen and Co. Price 6j. 



The modern praiseworthy movement in favour of" Nature Study" has 

 had, as one of its results, the production of an alarming number of 

 popular books on zoology and botany — books, for the most part, with 

 excellent photographic pictures and a striking want of originality in the 

 letterpress. The present volume is a typical example of the group In 

 the Preface it is claimed that the volume '* fills an important gap." 

 because there has, hitherto, been no comprehensive guide to the whole 

 British fauna in one volume. The comprehensiveness of this guide may 

 be gathered from the fact that the various classes of worms are dismissed 

 in four pages and the Protozoa in half a page. Birds and insects and 

 other groups on which there are already plenty of popular books are 

 treated at great length. In the chapters on Mammals and Reptiles there 

 is hardly a hint of the interesting differences between the British and 

 Irish faunas, but nearly a page is devoted to extracts from Mr. R. J. 

 Ussher's paper in this Journal on the Birds of the Connaught lakes. 



The coloured plates are mostly good, while the photographs are 

 almost, without exception, of a high degree of excellence. 



G. H. C. 



