'l9ii J Recent Literature. 499 



Observations and Sketches afield, with examples (pp. 269-314). VIII. 

 Ecology — Interpretation of Environment as exemplified in Orthoptera 

 (pp. 315-433). The author says: "This work consists essentially of 

 suggestive essays drawn from observations afield, and treating of various 

 insects, birds, and plants. In this account there is brought together a 

 series of fife histories of many animal forms. I have given more considera- 

 tion here to the insects than to other groups of animals. I think this is 

 justifiable when it is remembered how many more representatives of these 

 animals populate the earth, as compared with other families of animals." 



The work will appeal to the general reader interested in nature study 

 through its wide scope, clear and non-technical descriptions, and evident 

 scientific merit. The author is an entomologist of standing, whose special 

 field is the Orthoptera, from which many of his illustrations and examples 

 are drawn. In discussing general questions of evolution he quotes liber- 

 ally from standard authors, including not only Darwin, Wallace, and 

 Poulton, but the more recent investigators in the field of experimental 

 biology, and current authorities in ecology. It is on the whole a safe 

 guide, replete with original observations, and with illustrations on a 

 liberal scale from the author's own sketches and photographs, and must 

 prove a useful introduction to the study of the animal and plant life of 

 " temperate America." Much of the work is based on studies and observa- 

 tions carried on for many years at Lakeside, Michigan. The ornithological 

 matter is not extensive, consisting mainly of passing references, in the 

 section on ' Animal Behavior,' to various species in illustration of the 

 general subject, and to the Ruby-throated Hummingbird as an agent in 

 the pollination of flowers. — J. A. A. 



Curl's 'Notes on the Digestive System of Hydrocorax.' — In an 



illustrated paper 1 of six pages, the author gives a detailed account of the 

 digestive system in Hydrocorax hydrocorax (Linn.), with special reference 

 to the periodical casting-off of the lining of the stomach. This deciduous 

 membrane " is formed by secretion from the glands of the stomach and 

 after reaching its full thickness, separates spontaneously, leaving the 

 glands to begin at once the formation of a new sac .... It seems reasonable 

 to suppose that, at least when the breeding season is past, the food, mixed 

 with, and acted upon by, the secretion of the proventricular glands, passes 

 into the deciduous sac lining the stomach ; here muscular action completes 

 the mixing, triturates the food, and prepares the digestible parts to pass 

 over into the duodenum. The refuse is then periodically ejected in the 

 membranous sac. Whether this routine is changed in the breeding season, 

 I cannot say." — J. A. A. 



1 Notes on the Digestive System of Hydrocorax. By Holton C. Curl, Surgeon, 

 U. S. Navy. Philippine Journal of Science, Vol. VI, No. 1, pp. 31-37, pll. i, ii. 

 February, 1911. 



