1894. SOME NEW BOOKS. 465 



he is reminded that the present volume is concerned with only 

 half of the known British species. The remainder of the work, 

 Mr. Carruthers tells us in a prefatory note, is so advanced that it 

 may be expected to appear next year, and will contain a complete 

 index to all the genera and species. The re-arrangement of the 

 group in the Herbarium of the British Museum, and the incorporation 

 of a great number of specimens, showed the necessity of a revised 

 catalogue, while the extensive series, including a large number of 

 authentic specimens from the principal workers, supplied material, in 

 many cases unique, for determming species and geographical distribu- 

 tion in the British Isles. The book, which is systematic, and nothing 

 else, is well arranged, and forms a valuable addition to the list of 

 British Museum catalogues, as well as to the literature of Lichens. 



Considering the extreme technicality of the descriptions, the 

 glossary is somewhat inadequate, and we hope Mr. Crombie will 

 see his way to make it more complete in the second volume. 

 In the case of common species it seems hardly necessary to give 

 in addition to the distribution the localities of all the specimens in 

 the British Museum (which, we presume, is the meaning of B. M., 

 though it is not so stated) ; we think the space might be used to 

 better purpose for more illustrations ; figures are a great help to the 

 proper understanding of descriptions, and the seventy-four provided 

 is not a large number for so important a work, and so difficult a 

 group. A good morphological introduction embodying the latest 

 views and the results of modern research on these interesting little 

 plants, the nature of which has been the subject of so much dis- 

 cussion, would have made the work more complete, and increased its 

 value. 



The Birds of Norway. 



Bird Life in Arctic Norway. By Robert Collett, Foreign Member, Z.S., 

 Professor of Zoology in the University of Christiania. Translated by A. H. 

 Cocks, M.A., F.Z.S. 8vo. London : R. H. Porter, 2s. nett. 



Ornithologists owe a debt of gratitude to the author of this charming 

 essay, and scarcely less to its very competent translator, for the 

 graphic pictures of northern bird life which it brings before them in 

 a cheap and serviceable form. It was a happy thought that inspired 

 Professor Collett to publish a Norwegian edition of his original essay 

 (read before the second International Ornithological Congress at 

 Buda-Pesth in May, i8gi), since his own countrymen cannot fail to 

 appreciate the value of his arduous labours in the elucidation of 

 Scandinavian zoology ; but it would have been a decided misfortune 

 if the circulation of this essay had been limited to the Continent. 

 Mr. A. H. Cocks has himself an enviable knowledge of boreal bird 

 life, and his translation of his friend's work has been accomplished 

 with a skill and accuracy that merit the highest praise. The preface 

 supplies a tersely-written description of the physical features of 

 Northern Norway, which will be acceptable even to those of us who 

 have spent some of our happiest days in rambling over the mountain 

 wastes included in this too brief survey. Professor Collett considers 

 that Arctic Norway should be studied in three natural divisions, 

 (i) the coast district and the belt of islands girding the coast up 

 to North Cape ; (2) the deep fjords of the Arctic Ocean and the 

 adjacent river basins in East Finmark ; (3) the interior plateaux of 

 Finmark. The first chapter supplies a picturesque sketch of the 



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