384 NATURAL SCIENCE. May, 
were far too much neglected by zoologists; but at the present day 
these narrow views have been, to a great xtent, abrogated, although 
there are still some naturalists who affect to despise the subject. To 
those, however, who, like curselves, are of opinion that a full a cquain- 
tance with domestic animals is essential to a right understanding of 
evolution, the appearance of the present volume will be welcome as 
showing to what extent our modern dogs are still being modified 
under the selective care of the breeder. The work—which treats 
only of the breeds more or less closely connected with sport—is, of 
course, written for the breeder and sportsman rather than the natu- 
ralist, but the latter will be able to select the portions of special 
interest to himself and skip the remainder. 
An especial feature of the book is the excellence of the illus- 
trations, which are in the form of plates by one of the photo- 
engraving processes, and are far superior to those in any other 
English work of similar size. Asa rule, no particular dog has had 
his portrait taken for the group he represents, but a ‘‘ generalised ”’ 
dog is in most cases depicted, and in this the author has been 
decidedly well-advised. 
Mr. Lee’s remarks on the scenting power of the bloodhound— 
in the course of which various old stories are disposed of—will be 
found of special interest, while as an instance of remarkable modifi- 
cations produced of late years, the reader may refer to the account 
of the modern English breed of the dachshund. Following the 
practice of English shows, the author considers the great Dane as 
inseparable from the German boarhound; but if he will turn to the 
dogs depicted under these names in the third edition of Brehm’s 
“ Thierleben,”’ he will find a considerable difference between them ; 
and this is surely a subject in which the views of foreigners ought to 
receive a large amount of weight. We are glad to see that the 
author endorses the view that one of the so-called Irish wolfhounds 
was a boarhound. 
The work ought long to remain the authority on the subject of 
British sporting dogs, and we hope that it may ere long be followed 
by a companion volume from the same pen on the other groups. 
Kees 
THE Foop oF Prants: An Introduction to Agricultural Chemistry. By A. P. 
Laurie, M.A., B.Sc. Pott 8vo. Pp. ix. and 77. With 15 Illustrations. London: 
Macmillan & Co., 1893. Price ts. 
A nkEat little primer, ‘“‘ written as an experimental introduction to 
Agricultural Chemistry for beginners,” and embodying a number of 
simple experiments by which the principles of plant nourishment are 
put before the student. 
The idea of the book is an excellent one, theory and practice 
being happily combined, but occasionally the author’s statements are 
somewhat crude or even misleading, while a sentence ending with a 
preposition and the use of ‘¢and which” are not to be commended. 
In Chapter I., the relation between the plant and water is well and 
simply illustrated, but it is wrong to speak of the young root as 
‘¢covered with little branch roots or hairs,’ branch roots are one 
thing and hairs another, and to make the two synonymous is to incul- 
cate error for some one else to eradicate. Again, we question the 
wisdom of teaching that the soil holds ‘“‘the water just as a sponge 
does”; when one of the points to be impressed on the embryo 
