iSo The Irish Natiualist. September, 



well got up aud profuselj^ illustrated, was our impressiou as we turned 

 over the pages ; aud here was the key to the weight, in part at least — 

 thirty-seven plates on art (that is, loaded) paper, one of the unfortunate 

 requirements of the printer if really good results are to be obtained 

 from modern half-tone blocks with their shallow relief. A closer 

 examination only confirms our first impression. The l)ook is a succesful 

 attempt to combine the best points of the popular (and, so far as 

 scientific information goes, too often carelessly edited) Guide, with the 

 strictly scientific reference book, and its complete lists of the fauna, 

 flora, &c. While these full scientific lists were of great service locally in 

 the past, they are not the form in which information should be given in 

 a Guide of this sort to-daj . We are glad to see that those responsible 

 for this Dublin Guide realise this, and have taken advantage of the fact 

 that the lists in the Fauna and Flora Reports of the Royal Irish Academy, 

 the Irish Naturalist, etc., provide the scientific student with full 

 details of many subjects. So that instead of long bald lists of animals 

 and plants, we have a concise general survey, comparative and analytical 

 in the majority of cases, giving just those facts and details that interest, 

 and are useful to, both the strictly scientific and the dilettante worker. 

 The Bibliography of published papers at end of most of the Sections 

 provides what is necessar}' for more detailed study. For instance, while 

 the 187S Guide, out of the 260 or so pages devoted to Natural History, 

 contained about 180 pages cf lists without notes, the present Guide out 

 of 220 similar pages gives only about 13 pages of such lists, mainly in 

 Cryptogamic Botau}'. These are either lists of additions to the district 

 since the last visit of the Association, or of specially rare species, and as 

 they are mainly in groups that have received but little attention up to the 

 present, only a carping critic could object to them in this case. We are 

 not surprised that such experienced workers as Barrington, Carpenter, 

 Colgan, Scharff, and Wright, in Zoology, and Pethybridge and Praeger, 

 in Botany, should have abandoned the old st}le, and we are glad to see 

 that the younger workers associated with them have followed on the 

 same lines ; even in the less worked groups, where more than a mere list 

 could hardl}- have been expected. The book is divided into seven main 

 sections, all edited by well-known authorities, with man}' sub-sections. 



The opening pages are devoted to Science instead of to General Topo- 

 graphy or History as usual. In this case these follow the Natural 

 History sections. Geology comes first, and occupies fifty-nine pages. It 

 is edited by Professor Cole, Director of the Irish Geological Survey, and 

 is divided into three parts : General Geology and Scenery, Glacial 

 Deposits, and Mineralogy. I'or the first. Professor Cole is personally 

 responsible, and he gives a good account of the scenic and geological 

 features of the district, written in that clear and lucid style for which he 

 is well known. He reverses the usual order and gives his list of works of 

 Reference at the commencement. These are mainly old papers, but he 

 supplements them by copious references to recent papers b}- well-known 

 workers, in foot-notes to almost every page of his article. There are only 

 two little woodcuts in the text, so far as illustrations go. Surely such 



