388 NATURAL SCIENCE. May, 
‘‘ George’ appeared on an examination of the teeth to be after alla 
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 Birps oF DERBYSHIRE. By F. B. Whitlock, with Notes by A. S. Hutchinson. 
8vo. Pp. vi. and 235. Illustrated. London and Derby: Bemrose & Sons, 
1893. 
Tue fact that no complete history of the bird-life of such an impor- 
tant and interesting county as Derby 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. Ravi 
Forest TITHES AND OTHER STUDIES FROM Nature. By ‘A Son of the Marshes.”’ 
1zmo. 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 
