igiS' Reviews. 215 
Careful notes are given with each plate of tlie ]jhotograi)hic data, and 
a section is devoted to this subject which will be useful to bird photo- 
graphers. The shed and its erection are described, and the endurance 
of the observer, who was daily relieved b\- another, does not seem to liave 
been tested so severely as that of Mr. Mac]ihcrson (" Home Life of a 
Golden Eagle "). 
Dr. Heatherley has nothing but reprobation for egg-collectors, and 
adopted the singular expedient of defacing eggs with a blue pencil and 
replacing them in the eyrie, where they were hatched out, another instance 
of the Peregrine's tolerance of interference with her home. Bird- 
photography has made wonderful advances since the brothers Kcarton 
produced the first books devoted to the subject, but collections of skins, 
and eggs, at least for museums, are more necessary than Dr. Heatherley 
would allow — though theie are some collectors who fully deserve his 
denunciation. 
R. J. USSHER. 
RURAL BOTANY. 
Weeds : Simple Lessons for Children. By I^obert Lloyd Pr.\eger. 
With Illustrations by S. Rosamond Praeger and R. J. Welch. Cam- 
bridge University Press, 191 3. pp. x. + 108, 3 Plates. 45 illustrations. 
Price 15. 6(/. net. 
This is one of the Cambridge Nature Study Series, and some idea of 
its scope \\\z.y be gained from the titles of the six chapters : — I. What 
W^eeds are, and their place in the Plant World. II. The Life of a Plant. 
III. On Weeds in general. IV. Seeds and their ways. V. The War 
against Weeds. VI. Some Common Weeds. It is written in an agree- 
able and easy style, and there is no one better fitted than its author to 
discourse on such a subject. As might perhaps be expected the examples 
of weeds and their ways are chiefly drawn from Ireland. Each chapter 
is followed by a set of practical exercises, and it would be difficult to 
conceive of any more useful form of instruction in Irish rural schools than 
working through these. As an additional recommendation for its use 
in this country the Irish name of each weed described is given in addition 
to its English name. There are a few slips in the book, but none of 
serious consequence, and in a few^ cases the author's meaning is hardly 
sufficiently clear. On p. 9 where the Poplar is mentioned among the 
native trees of Ireland it is doubtless the Aspen that is meant. The 
Cuckoo Pint is ntentioned (p. 20) along with Bracken and Couch Grass as 
having a creeping stem, but the distance travelled by the short tuberous 
stem of the first-named must be very slight each year. The hairs of 
the Nettle are said (p. 97) to contain formic acid, and up to recent years 
this was supposed to be the case ; but Solereder in his " Systematic 
Anatomy of the Dicotyledons '" states that the acid is not formic. 
These, however, are minor matters and in no way detract from the 
usefulness of the book. As regards the illustrations it is sufficient to 
say that they are of the high quality associated with the names of both 
artists. 
J. A. 
