148 



NATURE 



\yune 13. 1889 



There is another point to which we would Hke to draw 

 attention. It is, of course, well known that telegraph- 

 wires are very destructive of bird life upon open moors ; 

 but it is generally supposed that, after the wires have 

 been set up for a year or two, the birds learn by expe- 

 rience to avoid them, and so do not come to grief in 

 nearly such large numbers as they do when the wires are 

 first erected. Now, whether or not this supposition is 

 well founded, it appears certain, from Mr. Chapman's 

 systematic observations upon the mortality thus occa- 

 sioned, that it occurs perennially to an astonishing de- 

 gree. The observations were conducted along a line 

 of telegraph wires (nineteen in number), and are as 

 follows : — 



" I have heard it estimatejj by farmers and shepherds 

 (and believe they are not far wrong) that more grouse 

 meet their deaths annually from these mischievous wires 

 than are killed by all the shooters on the moor around. 

 . . . This destruction is going on at all seasons of the 

 year. It is no exaggeration to say that the roadside is, 

 at certain seasons, strewn with remains. Besides grouse, 

 I have picked up black-game, partridge, curlew, golden 

 plover, snipe, peewits, and other birds. Every morning, 

 at break of day, come out the marauding bands of rooks 

 from the lowland woods,reconnoitering along the roadside, 

 and feasting on the dead and dying." 



As evidence of the cruelty inflicted by the wires, quota- 

 tions are made from the author's note-book, of which the 

 following is an example : — 



"October 6. — Found to-day four grouse which had been 

 severely damaged by flying against the telegraph wires 

 on Elsdon Hill. Two were already dead, and pulled to bits 

 by the crows. The third had evidently received his wound 

 late the night before, and the blow had completely carried 

 away his crop, which at that time would be full of heather. 

 The poor bird had been hungry this morning, and, re- 

 gardless or oblivious of having no crop, had been feeding 

 — his throat, down to the huge gash, being crammed with 

 heather-shoots. I never saw anything more pitiable in 

 my life. This bird could still fly, but very weakly, and 

 could not possibly long have survived. The fourth grouse 

 had been injured some time before. He also had received 

 a horrible gash across the breast, but it appeared to be 

 slowly healing." 



Now, as Mr. Chapman says " it would be easy to 

 adduce hundreds of similar instances" from his own 

 neighbourhood alone, every sensible man must agree with 

 him when he a'dds — 



" Surely, in these days of ultra-humanitarianism, of 

 R.S.P.C.A. Associations, and of 'Wild Bird Protection 

 Acts' — when a maudlin sentimentality comforts itself by 

 fining a poor man for shooting a wild goose in March, or 

 for overworking his horse on which perhaps depends his 

 daily bread — surely, in these days, the wanton cruelty and 

 useless waste above described (carried on for a national 

 profit) should not be permitted." 



Of course the answer to this is, that telegraph wires 

 are nowadays an absolute necessity ; but, on the other 

 hand, there is a simple solution of the difficulty, which 

 we will mention in the hope that it may be taken up by 

 the "R.S.P.C.A.," or some private M.P. in search of 

 material out of which to construct a Bill. Let an Act 

 bs passed, enjoining that all telegraph-wires extending 

 over moorlands, or other open spaces frequented by birds, 

 shall be run underground. 



" Bird-Life of the Borders " is profusely illustrated 

 and in all respects well deserves the patronage both of 

 sportsmen and field-naturalists. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Ciiriosa Mathematica. Part I. A New Theory of Parallels. 

 By Charles L. Dodgson, M.A. Second Edition. 

 (London : Macmillan and Co., 1889.) 



We noticed the first edition of this brochure in Nature 

 (vol. xxxix. p. 124) at some length ; and now merely 

 wish to touch upon one or two points which our author 

 animadverts upon in his new preface. Mr. Dodgson 

 apparently fails even now, after our letter in Nature 

 {I.e., p. 175), to realize our difficulty with the construction 

 in Prop. vi. He says : — " Bisect the angle : that gives 

 halves. Bisect the halves : that gives quarters. Bisect 

 again : that gives eighths. Bisect once more : that gives 

 sixteenths. Voild tout ! " Shade of EucHd ! who knows 

 not such things ? We admitted the same [I.e., p. 175), 

 but stated that our difficulty in the construction was the 

 condition imposed in the enunciation : viz., " the chord of 

 each such sector not less than the radius of the circle." 

 Take Mr. Dodgson's illustration of a sixteenth, this would 

 necessitate that the original angle should be at least 960''. 

 We do not object to that or to any other size. But this, or 

 what is tantamount thereto, we have already brought 

 forward, and have further noted that no one of the chords 

 in Mr. Dodgson's figures is even equal to the radius. 

 But this is not a point touching the author's argument ; 

 and we notice it only because he has pilloried us therefor 

 in his new preface, which some people will read, contrary 

 to his recorded experience. We thought the remarks we 

 wrote (p. 175) touching viii. and xi. would have amply 

 satisfied him, but he returns to the subject. We need only 

 say that the present enunciations of these propositions, 

 had they been given in the first edition, would have saved 

 us from any misapprehension of the author's argument. 

 This edition is little more than a slightly corrected (there 

 was very little need of correction) and so improved 

 edition. The proof of Prop. i. is new : on p. 9, line 4, an 

 = might advantageously, we think, precede AB. The new 

 forms of viii. and xi. are : " It is not true that the angles of 

 every triangle are together greater than two right angles," 

 and " It is not true that the angles of every triangle are 

 together less than two right angles." On p. 23 there is 

 an uncorrected false reference in line 5 up : for iii. read iv. 

 The proof of xii. has been recast, and in the appendix ii. 

 (pp. 43, 44) about a page of matter, with Euclid's definitions 

 of ratio, has been interpolated. On p. 56 the name R. 

 Simpson occurs twice : it should be R. Simson or T. 

 Simpson. It would be possible now, we should suppose, 

 after a year's interval, to speak in somewhat clearer lan- 

 guage (" I understand") of Mr. (now Prof) Cook Wilson's 

 investigations. After a hasty re-examination of Mr. 

 Dodgson's argument, we can only reiterate our admiration 

 for this first part of the " Curiosa Mathematica." We hope 

 other parts are on the way. R. T. 



Longinans' New Atlas. Edited by George Chisholm, 

 M.A., B.Sc, Fellow of the Royal Geographical and 

 Statistical Societies. (London : Longmans, Green, 

 and Co., 1889.) 



This atlas, although primarily designed for use in 

 schools, aims at being a school and a reference atlas in 

 one, and the attempt to effect a compromise between the 

 two is certainly laudable. It contains 40 quarto and 

 16 octavo maps, illustrating the physical conditions of 

 the earth, and dealing with climate, vegetation, products, 

 distribution of population, ethnography, and religion. 

 The maps are finished in a good style, and reference to 

 them is considerably facilitated by the system of ledger 

 indexing that has been adopted. In only a few cases has. 



