July 15. 1875J 



NATURE 



211 



Percy's remarks, which are sometimes severe but always 

 impartial. 



In viewing the volume in relation to metallurgical science 

 generally, we are reminded of a remark made by Dumas 

 more than twenty years ago : " Les nouvelles substances 

 mdtalliques ne mdritent [certes pas I'oubli dans lequel les 

 chimistes les laissent depuis si longtemps." We fear that 

 the words apply with some force to the state of metallur- 

 gical research at the present day ; still, the progress 

 which has been made is very considerable, and this 

 country has good reason to be proud of Dr. Percy's 

 contributions to the literature of the subject. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Sound. By John Tyndall, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., Pro- 

 fessor of Natural Philosophy in the Royal Institution of 

 Great Britain. Third Edition. (London : Longman 

 and Co., 1875.) 

 The principal addition to this new edition of Dr. 

 Tyndall's work on Sound is an account of the investiga- 

 tion which he has conducted in connection with the 

 Trinity House, and which he treats here under the title, 

 " Researches on the Acoustic Transparency of the Atmo- 

 sphere, in relation to the question of Fog-signalling." By 

 this investigation, " not only have the practical objects of 

 the inquiry been secured, but a crowd of scientific errors, 

 which for more than a century and a half have surrounded 

 this subject, have been" removed, their place being now 

 taken by the sure and certain truth of nature." In his 

 preface Dr. Tyndall remarks on some of the criticisms 

 which have been made on the results of the investigations 

 referred to. It is interesting to learn that the work has 

 been translated into Chinese, and published at the expense 

 of the Government at the moderate price of 7.od. 



Six Lectures on Light, delivered in America i7i 1872-73. 

 By John Tyndall, D.C.L., F.R.S., &c. Second Edition. 

 (London : Longman and Co., 1875.) 



We are glad to see that these interesting popular lectures, 

 to which we referred during and after their delivery, have 

 reached a second edition ; they are well calculated to 

 interest the general reader, and, we have no doubt, have 

 been the means of inducing many to make a systematic 

 study of the subject to which they refer. The principal 

 change in this edition is the omission of Dr. Young's 

 " Reply to the Edinburgh Reviewers," the reprint of which 

 in the first edition, Dr. Tyndall believes, has served the 

 purpose intended. In place of this, a beautifully executed 

 steel engraving of Lawrence's portrait of Young is prefixed 

 to the volume. 



The Birds and Seasons of New England. By Wilson 

 Flagg. With Illustrations. (Boston : Osgood and Co. 

 London : Triibner and Co., 1875). 



Mr. Flagg is evidently an enthusiastic lover and close 

 observer of nature in all her moods and phases, but this 

 more from the sentimental and poetic than from the 

 scientific point of view. His book consists of a great 

 number of essays on various aspects of nature as mani- 

 fested in the New England country, the most original 

 being on the songs of the birds of that region. That he 

 must be a very patient and very minute observer is evi- 

 denced by the fact that he has actually embodied in mu- 

 sical notation the songs of some of the principal singing 

 birds of New England. We have no means of testing 

 the correctness of Mr. Flagg's interpretation of these 

 singers, but we should think, judging from the very care- 

 ful observations ;^he has evidently made, that they are 



generally correct. The work also contains essays on the 

 aspects of nature in the various months of the year, and 

 on such subjects as " The Haunts of Flowers," " Water 

 Scenery," " The Field and the Garden," " Picturesque 

 Animals," " The Flowerless Plants," " Swallows : their 

 Hibernation," " Changes in the Habits of Birds," &c. 

 Mr. Flagg's essays, we must say, are on the whole rather 

 tedious, reminding us often of the tiresome moral essayists 

 of last century, although they frequently contain passages 

 of quite poetic beauty. There is also a sufficient amount of 

 novelty about many of the subjects to add interest to his 

 observations, and many facts are recorded concerning 

 the habits of the New England birds that will give the 

 book some value in the eyes of the naturalist. Those who 

 love a quiet dreamy country life will find much through- 

 out the book to interest them. Mr. Flagg, as we have 

 said, evidently possesses the power of minute observation, 

 and we would recommend him to bring himself abreast of 

 the ornithology, and indeed general natural history, of the 

 day, and carry on his observations from a more scientific 

 point of view, which he*can easily do, and still find scope 

 enough for the satisfaction of his sentimentalism ; he 

 might thus render substantial service to science. Judging 

 from what he says about the " hibernation " of swallows, 

 he seems to be unaware that anything has been written 

 on the subject of the migration of birds since the days of 

 Gilbert White. Mr. Flagg's essays want the simplicity 

 and naturalness and geniality of the Letters of that mi- 

 nute observer. 



The illustrations of New England scenery are beau- 

 tiful specimens of the heliotype process, and add much 

 to the interest of the work. An index is appended con- 

 taining both the common and the scientific names of the 

 birds referred to in the work, but why should so carefully 

 " got-up " a book have been printed without a table of 

 contents ? 



Practical Guide to Carlisle, Gilsland, Roman Wall, and 

 Neighbourhood, By Henry Irwin Jenkinson. Also, 

 Smaller Practical Guide. By same author. (London : 

 Edward Stanford, 1875). 



Mr. Jenkinson has succeeded in accomphshing what he 

 has aimed at ; he has written a really " useful, entertain- 

 ing, and instructive " guide-book to the district indicated 

 in the title. This district, of no very great extent, 

 abounds in varied interest, and to those who desire to 

 visit it we could recommend no more valuable companion 

 than Mr. Jenkinson's " Practical Guide." He has evi- 

 dently taken pains to make himself personally well 

 acquainted with the localities he describes, and has diH- 

 gently collected all the historical and other associations 

 which add interest to the various points to be visited. 

 To antiquaries, his " Walk along the Roman Wall from 

 Coast to Coast " will be specially interesting, and with 

 this book in one's hand we could imagine no more inte- 

 resting and instructive walk for a summer holiday. The 

 difference between the larger and smaller Guide is, that 

 the former ; contains an additional eighty pages on the 

 Local Names and the Natural History — Geology, Mine- 

 ralogy, Botany, Entomology, and Ornithology — of the 

 district, which adds to its value from a scientific point of 

 view. Both books contain an excellent map of the 

 county from coast to coast, embracing a distance of 

 several miles on each side of the Roman Wall. We 

 commend the Guide as the best to be had for the district 

 to which it refers. 



North Staffordshire Naturalist^ Field Club. Annual 

 Addresses, Papers, &c. With Illustrations. (Hanley : 

 William Timmis, 1875.) 



This club has now been in existence for ten years, and 

 judging from the list of papers read and excursions made, 

 has evidently carried out with_ creditable faithfulness the 



