SOME NEW BOOKS. 



The Beauties of Nature : and the Wonders of the World we Live in. By the 

 Right Hon. Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., F.R.S. 8vo. Illustrations. 

 London: Macmillan & Co., 1892. Price 6s. 



In this new volume, Sir John Lubbock has produced a series of 

 chapters, such as the tired naturahst will be delighted to read, 

 though he will not find in them much that is absolutely new. The 

 ordinary intelligent reader, without special scientiiic training, will also 

 take up the book with pleasure, for the author possesses the rare gift 

 of explaining difficult scientific problems in perfectly simple language. 

 Sir John Lubbock takes for the texts of his different chapters various 

 common natural objects, and in passages which will be appreciated as 

 much for the charm of the language as for the ideas expressed, he 

 points to the beauty and unfailing interest in Nature everywhere. 



In ten chapters the author speaks of animal life, plant life, woods 

 and fields, mountains, water, rivers and lakes, the sea, and the starry 

 heavens ; each chapter dealing, of course, with a few only of the 

 problems. For instance, among the various headings in the first four 

 chapters we find Sir John's special subjects : Communities of Animals, 

 Senses of Animals, Structure of Flowers, Insects and Flowers, Fruits 

 and Seeds, Seedlings, Ants and Plants, &c. Then the chapters deal 

 with wider themes, and under " Woods and Fields " there are de- 

 scriptions of Tropical Forests, of Meadows, and of Downs. Chapter VI. 

 speaks of Mountains, their origin, scenery, and inhabitants, and of 

 Volcanoes. Chapters VII. and VIII. treat of Rivers and Lakes, and 

 their origin, thus leading to Chapter IX., the Sea, 



The book is capitally illustrated, with the exception of one or two 

 of the plates, for which the process adopted is not suitable. The 

 plates we do not like are those representing " Aquatic Vegetation, 

 Brazil," and the " Summit of Mont Blanc." The process used does 

 not succeed with the fine lines of the feathery vegetation, or with the 

 masses of white snow. 



The Great World's Farm ; some account of Nature's Crops and how they gire 

 Grown. By Selina Gaze. 8vo. Pp. x. and 365, with 16 plates. London: 

 Seeley & Co. 



This is the best popular scientific book we have seen for a long 

 time. The authoress has first thoroughly mastered her subject, 

 often giving evidence of extensive knowledge of minute detail and 

 wide research into the literature ; and then in two and twenty 

 chapters, almost every one of which is a complete little story in itself, she 

 tells the tale in language which though simple is not silly, and is 

 accurate though popular. The plates, of which we reproduce an 

 example by the courtesy of the publishers, are often taken from 

 exhibits at the British Museum of Natural History, or from photo- 

 graphs of living plants at Kew ; and there are also w^ood-cuts 

 scattered through in the text. 



