142 



NATURE 



[September 29, 192 1 



could have avoided, nor has he ever been able 

 to hear of the detection of one by other workers. 

 Choulant's second great work was his 

 "Geschichte und Bibliographic der anatomischen 

 Abbildung " (Leipzig, 1852). This useful refer- 

 ence book has always appealed to a somewhat 

 wider public than his " Handbuch der Biicher- 

 kunde." While no less accurate than its fellow, 

 the lacunae have become more serious with time. 

 Notably, the curious and interesting subject of 

 medieval anatomical illustration, entirely un- 

 known in Choulant's day, has been created in 

 our own time mainly by the labours of Sudhoff. 

 Dr. Mortimer Frank, a learned young ophthalmo- 

 logist of Chicago, therefore, in preparing a trans- 

 lation of Choulant's work, attempted to bring it 

 up to date and to bridge the gaps. Frank's death 

 at the age of forty-four, before his work reached 

 the press, prevented his task from being quite so 

 thoroughly finished as he himself had designed, 

 but he had time to add a most valuable chapter 

 on the medieval illustrations and to supplement 

 largely Choulant's references. He has thus ren- 

 dered yeoman service to the study of medical 

 history. The work has been seen through the 

 press by the accomplished historian, Col. F. H. 

 Garrison, of the Surgeon-General's Library, 

 assisted by Dr. E. C. Streeter, and these two 

 writers have added useful chapters on anatomical 

 illustration since Choulant, and on sculpture and 

 painting as modes of anatomical illustration. 

 The book is admirably illustrated and printed, 

 and in its present form entirely replaces the 

 original edition. , Charles Singer. 



Our Bookshelf. 



Some Birds of the Countryside : The Art of 

 Nature. By H. J. Massingham. Pp. 208. 

 (London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., 1921.) 

 I2S. 6d. net. 

 All lovers of open-air Nature, and especially 

 those of birds, will thank Mr. Massingham for 

 putting together in one handy little volume those 

 charming articles of which some have already 

 been published in the Spectator, Contemporary 

 Review, and elsewhere. Throughout the book 

 the reader is by felicitous phrase and by the in- 

 born sympathy of the author with Nature in all 

 her moods transported into the "field"; yes, even 

 when the chapter is entitled " Bird-haunted 

 London." With singular literary skill Mr. Mass- 

 ingham presents his pictures, whether of land- 

 scape or of his favourite birds, so vividly that 

 scene, incident, and character live in the reader's 

 mental vision. No writer of our acquaintance 

 has succeeded better in seeing into and inter- 

 preting the behaviour of birds, and that without 

 undue anthropomorphism. But the reading of 



NO. 2709, VOL. 108] 



character extends beyond a nice and artistic. sym- 

 pathy with feathered life, for the chapters on 

 "Gilbert White and Selborne " and "Charles 

 Waterton " are masterly appreciations of two 

 diametrically different naturalists. In each we end 

 the chapter feeling that we know the man better 

 than ever before, and understand why the fame of 

 one, but not that of the other, has widely endured. 

 If we may be allowed one critical request, it is to 

 entreat Mr. Massingham not to use the word "in- 

 trigue " when "interest" will do just as well — 

 indeed, much better. The latter is English, and 

 the former is, we devoutly trust, a mere passing 

 affectation. The book is, however, a very notable 

 addition to the literature of natural history, and 

 should find a place in every library, large or small. 



London Trees. By A. D. Webster. Pp. xii-t- 

 218-^32 plates. (London: The Swarthmore 

 Press, 1920.) 155. net. 

 Londoners owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. 

 Webster for this book. Not until its pages have 

 been read will one in a thousand of the inhabitants 

 of the Metropolis have any conception of the 

 variety of trees that grow within its limits. The 

 ubiquitousness of the plane and its surpassing 

 merit as a London tree are apt to give the im- 

 pression that there is little else. It is, of course, 

 the fact that many of the more uncommon species 

 are hidden away in private or semi-private 

 grounds. The garden of Fulham Palace, for in- 

 stance, is classic ground to students of trees, for 

 here in the early years of the eighteenth century 

 grew the finest collection of trees in Britain, 

 planted by Compton, then Bishop of London. 

 Fulham is a place very different from what it was 

 200 years ago, but even now, Mr. Webster tells 

 us, the grounds there are rich in rare and curious 

 trees, some probably the finest in London. 



The book consists of two parts. The first and 

 larger is an alphabetical list of London trees 

 briefly but, for the general reader, sufficiently 

 described, with information as to where they are 

 to be found. The second deals with parks, 

 squares, and other open spaces, both public and 

 private, and mentions the more notable trees to 

 be found in each. There are a few errors; the 

 old but exploded idea that the common elm was 

 introduced by the Romans is revived ; the author 

 says Celtis australis is w^ell represented in the 

 London area, but we doubt if he could find a 

 single tree; nor will the statement that Platanus 

 occidentalis occurs in considerable numbers 

 throug-hout London find general acceptance. 



W. J. B. 



The Statesman's Year-Book, 1921. Edited by Sir 

 J. Scott Keltic and Dr. M. Epstein. Fifty-eighth 

 annual publication. Revised after official re- 

 turns. Pp. xliv-hi544. (London: Macmillan 

 and Co., Ltd., 192 1.) 20s. net. 

 The fifty-eighth annual issue of this indispensable 

 year-book is before us, and, as usual, it has been 

 revised up to the eve of going to press. The 

 amount of information is no less noteworthy than 



