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NATURE 



{June 9, 1887 



the "Genera Plantarum" of Bentham and Hooker; 

 but the most ardent admirers of that solid book could 

 not expect it to appeal to the laity : it is designed 

 for the use of specialists, and they alone will use it. 

 Between this and the illustrated text-books intended for 

 students there has been hardly any intermediate in this 

 country, though Lindley's " Vegetable Kingdom," a book 

 which still holds its place as a classic, served in the past 

 a part not altogether unlike that which Dr. Engler's book 

 may be expected to serve in the future. It is, however, 

 in France that the nearest approach has been made to 

 the idea of Dr. Engler. In the " Traitd de Botanique'' 

 of Le Maout and Decaisne we have a volume profusely 

 illustrated, and dealing with the vegetable kingdom as a 

 whole : the English translation of this, edited by Sir J. D. 

 Hooker, is familiar to all British botanists. Again, the 

 " Histoire des Plantes " of Baillon, which is still in pro- 

 gress, is a classificatory work of large size, well illustrated 

 as regards external morphology, but somewhat deficient 

 in description of the internal details : his " Dictionnaire de 

 Botanique," which commenced in 1876, is also still in pro- 

 gress,and covers, in dictionary form, much the same ground 

 as his " Histoire." These are, then, the chief illustrated 

 and descriptive works with which Drs. Engler and Prantl 

 will have to compete. If we may judge from the first three 

 numbers, the competition, though keen, will be in favour 

 of the new enterprise, and that chiefly on the ground that 

 the authors of it take a more general view of the subject. 

 They do not confine their task to the description and 

 delineation of external form, classification, and distribu- 

 tion. While giving due prominence to these branches, 

 they also incorporate the results of recent investigations 

 of anatomy and development. F. O. B. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Nomenclature of Colours for Naturalists, and Compen- 

 dium of Useful Knowledge for Ornithologists. By 

 Robert Ridgeway, Curator, Department of Birds, 

 United States National Museum. Ten coloured plates, 

 and seven plates of outline illustrations. (Boston : 

 Little, Brown, and Co., 1887.) 



This will be a very welcome volume to naturalists in 

 general, and ornithologists in particular. We do not 

 know that everybody will agree with the principles laid 

 down by the author, but he has, at all events, brought 

 together a considerable number of colours, and given 

 them very definite names for purposes of comparison, 

 and a mere glance at the coloured plates will show how 

 very important it is that every variety of green shown in 

 Plate 10, for instance, should have its special name and 

 admit of easy reference. 



The comparative vocabulary of colours, which occupies 

 a considerable proportion of the first part, is also a very 

 valuable combination, and should be in the hands of 

 naturalists of all civihzed countries, as we get the English, 

 Latin, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Norwegian, and 

 Danish equivalents of all the colours shown in the 

 coloured plates, and a great many more. 



The piece de resistance in the part of the volume which 

 has been prepared chiefly for the^ use of ornithologists 

 is a glossary of technical terms. It seems to us to have 

 been very carefully done. A study of the plates illustrating 

 the various feathers of birds, and the various birds' eggs, 

 with the attached nomenclature, is certain to lead to a 

 gradually increasing care in description. There is no 

 doubt that the book will prove of very great value to 

 many naturalists. 



English Tobacco Culture, Qr^c. Edited by E. J. Beale, 

 F.L.S. (London : E. Marlborough and Co., 1887,) 



This little book will serve as an important guide to 

 farmers in conducting experiments in the cultivation of 

 tobacco. It gives a detailed account of the origin of the 

 movement for determining whether tobacco could be 

 relied upon as a farm crop in Great Britain, and, if so, 

 whether it could be cultivated to yield a profit to the 

 grower. These two questions, it is maintained, have been 

 answered in the affirmative by the results of last year's 

 experiments, but this conclusion is founded more upon 

 the appearance of the plants than upon actual results in 

 the production of good commercial tobacco. 



Seventeen varieties of tobacco were grown last year in 

 this country, and a full description is given of the plants 

 of each variety, with well-executed illustrations, showing 

 the general appearance and distinctive features of the 

 fully-developed plants. For each description of tobacco 

 grown an " Estimated Balance Sheet" has been prepared, 

 and the anticipated profit, amounting in some cases to as 

 much as £2^ and even £2'j per acre, is very encouraging 

 for farmers who may think of undertaking experiments in 

 tobacco cultivation. 



Perhaps the most useful part of the book is that 

 devoted to directions for conducting the several operations 

 of tobacco culture. These include the preparation of the 

 land ; the sowing of the tobacco seed ; the transplanting 

 of the young seedlings ; the transferring of the plants to 

 the prepared ground ; and their subsequent treatment until 

 finally harvested and cured. Altogether the book is pre- 

 pared with great care, and its publication at the present 

 time is very opportune. 



Life of Charles Darwin, By G. T. Bettany. (London : 

 Walter Scott, 1887.) 



This is one of the series of volumes entitled " Great 

 Writers." It was not to be expected that Mr. Bettany 

 would be able to tell us anything absolutely new about the 

 illustrious man of science concerning whom so much has 

 already been written. He has, however, succeeded in 

 presenting in a bright and attractive style the leading 

 facts of Darwin's career, and he has done good service 

 by taking pains to show that Darwin was not only a great 

 thinker and discoverer, but a man of a singularly pure and 

 noble character. Mr. Bettany's exposition of the results 

 of Darwin's labours is brief, but clear and accurate, and 

 he tries to mark as distinctly as possible the various 

 stages in the process by which the theory of evolution as 

 Darwin conceived it was itself evolved. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold himself 7'esponsible for opinions 

 expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he under- 

 take to return, or to correspond with the writers op, 

 rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous 

 communications. 



[The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their 

 letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space 

 is so great that it is impossible otherwise to insure the 

 appearance even of communications containing interesting 

 and novel facts. "[ 



Thought without Words. 



May I demur to the Duke of Argyll's statement that monkeys 

 and dogs have no true reasoning powers ? Long and careful 

 attention given to the action of animals consequent on true 

 reasoning power, has led me to an opposite conclusion. I do 

 not trouble you with instances, or could give very many ; and I 

 have frequently seen reasoning power exercised after obvious 

 thought over the best course to pursue. Then, are animals 

 speechless among themselves ? I think not, and believe they 

 speak freely to one another at needed times, in their own 

 language. And I certainly with my own domestic animals can 

 understand in a certain sense their language. I clearly know 



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