28 The Irish Natnr'aUst. January, 1902. 



Through the Editors' courtes}', I have seen the above strictures on 

 my review of what I considered to be an absurdly conceived and 

 indifTerentl}' executed work. I admit, at once, that errors and omissions 

 do not of themselves justifj^ wholesale severity in a critique. They 

 should be pointed out gently, when the plan is otherwise good. But my 

 chief objection was not to the errors or omissions, nor to any points of 

 detail, but to the plan. While I do not share Mr. Dillon's fear that such 

 remarks as mine may deter non-scientific men from writing on natural 

 history, I shall be glad if they tend to avert the publication of botanical 

 or entomological "primers" in which the plants are arranged according 

 to their heights, or the moths according to the amount of space they 

 may occupy in a cabinet. Such "short cuts" to learning are not 

 addressed to the capacity of any class of learners, however humble ; they 

 are simply addressed to the temper that will not expend more than a 

 minimum of time in the acquisition of knowledge ; and I cannot retract 

 my opinion that it is undesirable to attempt to coax such careless or 

 lazy persons into the ranks of zoologists at all. A glance at the book in 

 question would have shown Mr. Dillon that it is not addressed to the 

 semi-educated. Its cost is, indeed, small ; but surely the student who 

 has most right to be warned against throwing his money away is he who 

 has least to throw. A cheap boDk, therefore, should uot be handled 

 with misleading tenderness. 



C. B. Moffat. 



Ballyhyland, Co. Wexford. 



A STUDENT'S DIARY 



*' Knowledge " Diary and Scientific Handbook for I902i 



Pp. 112 and 408. London: "Knowledge"' Office, High Holboru. 

 Price, 3^. 



The second issue of this annual will be warmly welcomed by students 

 of science. As before, the diary is designed on a liberal scale of space, 

 and the astronomical notes and articles, which form the most prominent 

 feature of the reading-matter, may be relied upon as trustworthy and 

 valuable. Natural science is represented by some useful " Hints on the 

 Microscope" by M. I. Cross, and some "Aids to Field-Botany " by R. 

 LI. Pracger. The volume contains only one ol^jectionable feature. We 

 remember that last year, strictures were passed by some of our contem- 

 poraries on the bad apjjearance of a type-written advertisement on the 

 front cover. We rejoiced to miss that advertisement this year, but on 

 looking through the book, we find what is far worse — advertisements 

 on pages alternating with the scientific articles. 



