388 NATURAL SCIENCE. mav. 



" George " appeared on an examination of the teeth to be after all a 

 mere baby. A beautiful coloured lithograph of the head occupies one 

 plate, and the hands and feet are also illustrated. It is, perhaps, un- 

 necessary to say that the memoir is entirely technical in character, 

 though the first few pages, occupied by some discussion of the species 

 of Chimpanzees, will be found to be of somewhat more general 

 interest. 



The Birds of Derbyshire. By F. B. Whitlock, with Notes by A. S.Hutchinson. 

 8vo. Pp. vi. and 235. Illustrated. London and Derby : Bemrose & Sons, 

 1893. 



The fact that no complete history of the bird-life of such an impor- 

 tant and interesting county as Dierby has hitherto appeared, affords 

 ample justification for the issue of the little volume before us, in 

 which the subject appears to be as fully treated as materials 

 permit. The author calls attention, however, to the lack of local 

 observers in the wilder districts of the country ; and it may be 

 hoped that the result of his labours will be to stir up other orni- 

 thologists to complete our knowledge of the subject. To show how 

 necessary is local observation, it may be mentioned that, according to 

 the author, till quite recently the merlin was considered to be only a 

 casual winter visitor to the county, whereas it actually breeds on 

 the high peak. It is to be regretted, however, that the efforts of the 

 pestilent gamekeeper have, within the last year or two, almost, if not 

 entirely, exterminated this falcon from its Derbyshire haunts. Of the 

 five plates illustrating the work, four are views of scenery, while the 

 fifth represents a remarkable variety of the corncrake. 



Although the work is, of course, to a great extent of local interest, 

 it contains many observations bearing on the subject of British orni- 

 thology in general, and must therefore be of value to all students of 

 that science. R. L. 



Forest Tithes and other Studies from Nature. By " A Son of the Marshes." 

 i2mo. Pp. 208. London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1893. 



The tendency of modern science to become a mere record of " section- 

 cutting " and of the dry details of comparative anatomy is so marked, 

 that we have sometimes feared whether the old-fashioned field-naturalist 

 was not in as much danger of extermination as many of the animals 

 in which he took such a delight. Happily, however, the observer who 

 writes under the nom de plume of " A Son of the Marshes" shows that 

 the field-naturalist still exists among us in his best form ; and his 

 observations on the varied types of animal life that may still be seen 

 within easy access of London affords us another example of the truth 

 of the old story of " Eyes and no Eyes." Most of the essays in the 

 little volume before us have already seen the light as separate articles, 

 either in the Times, the Cornhill, or Blackwood, where many of our 

 readers have, doubtless, ere this, perused them with pleasure. All 

 who have done so, we think we may safely assert, will have still 

 greater gratification in seeing them in their present guise, as it would 

 have been a thousand pities had such delightful reading remained 

 buried in the pages of a magazine or the columns of a newspaper. 

 Whether in describing the otter, as he slinks alone the river-bank, 

 with which his coat harmonises so closely in colour as to render him 

 invisible to unpractised eyes, or in recording the movements of the 



