Current Literature. 497 



longitudinal sections of the chief commercial woods, is a small 

 map of the United States showing the natural forest regions. A 

 slight error occurs in the legend to the frontispiece, where the 

 large ray is described as on the "left" instead of the right side. 



Another minor mistake, which we mention to have it corrected 

 in the next edition, is the name of "soft wood" on page 78 instead 

 of in one word to correspond with Hardwood on p. 87. 



This book will do its greatest service in helping teachers and 

 students to observe in the most logical manner the principal facts 

 and characters used in identifying our timbers of commerce. It 

 is especially important because the author has gleaned and 

 brought together into one key information which is so widely 

 scattered in trade and technical papers as to be inaccessible to 

 most teachers. It may be confidently predicted that it will be 

 found very serviceable in all our forest schools. 



C. D. M. 



Earth Worms and Their Allies. By F. E. Beddard. 

 The Natural History of Clay. By A. B. Searle. 

 The Migration of Birds. By T. A. Coward. 



These handy little volumes of less than 200 pages 12°, at 40 

 cents per volume form part of a series — The Cambridge Manuals 

 of Science and Literature — have just come from the press of Put- 

 nam's Sons. They are commendable in giving in condensed form, 

 written by British experts, in simple language yet with scientific 

 accuracy, the essential information on each subject, for laymen 

 not only but also for those who have need of acquaintance with 

 the subject in their professional work and wish a quick reference. 

 The value of the booklet is increased not only by good indexes, 

 but by lists of literature referring to the subject. 



We regret, however, not to find in the volume on Earth worms 

 a chapter devoted to their usefulness in influencing soil structure, 

 etc., the volume being entirely devoted to their natural history and 

 distribution. Similarly the volume on Clay is written rather 

 from the standpoint of the use of the material in keramic art and 

 brick making, the author being professor in that subject, than 

 from the point of view of the ecologist, although in the chapter 

 on Clay and Associated Rock brief references to agricultural value 



