228 



NATURE 



[October 29, 19 14 



but it seems to us that in the bulk of the book the 

 author is informational with the best of them. But 

 Prof. Ainsworth-Davis knows his own business, 

 and while we do not think that his method (as re- 

 gards living creatures) is the best, he has chosen it 

 deliberately. We hasten, therefore, to say that he 

 has produced a wonderful little book, clear, terse, 

 and accurate, which will aid in their pursuit of 

 natural knowledge those who combine good in- 

 tellectual digestion with the inclination and oppor- 

 tunity to verify what they are told. 



(3) It is interesting to find Drs. Boulenger, 

 father and son, uniting their abilities and enthu- 

 siasm in the production of a guide to the study 

 of the animal life of the seashore. The result is a 

 delightful and effective book by which those in- 

 terested can identify many of the littoral animals 

 and get some trustworthy information about them. 

 We confess to being surprised at the suggestion 

 in the preface that there was a lack of a book 

 of this kind, for Dr. Marion Newbigin's "Life 

 by the Seashore " is an excellent and trustworthy 

 guide, and Sinel's is also good. But there is no 

 risk of exhausting the interest of the shore, and 

 the book before us has a character of its own 

 and pre-eminence in the excellence of its photo- 

 graphic illustrations, many of which are fas- 

 cinatingly beautiful. That of the sea-horse 

 (Fig. i) is a good instance. 



The authors tell their story in a clear and in- 

 teresting way, which stimulates both observation 

 and reflection. We read of the wrasses sleeping 

 on one side, of the stickleback's nest and large 

 eggs, of the sting of the weever, of paternal care 

 among pipe-fishes, of the homing of limpets, of 

 the boring of piddocks, of the shrivelling of the 

 lobster's muscles before moulting, of the colour- 

 change in Hippolyte varians, of the various sea- 

 shore insects, of the cotton-spinner's sticky 

 thread-like tubes, of the partnership between 

 hermit-crabs and anemones, and of much more 

 that makes us long to be back to the shore again. 



(4) Another shore-book, to be strongly recom- 

 mended, has been written by Mr. Elmhirst, super- 

 intendent of the Marine Biological Station at 

 Millport. It is the work of an experienced 

 naturalist who has written simply and clearly about 

 what he knows well. He begins with the common 

 seaweeds and works up to the shore-birds, and 

 by exercising a wise restraint has succeeded in 

 giving a luminous, not over-crowded, picture of 

 the natural history of the shore. He has many 

 interesting notes on the habits of animals, telling 

 us, for instance, of the way in which Echinus 

 miliaris dresses itself up till it becomes "a sort 

 of moving scrap-heap," of the shrimp's rapid 

 burying of itself, of the sea-spider (Pycnogonum) 

 sticking its proboscis into an anemone and suck- 

 ing up the juices through a filter, of the dog-whelk 

 boring through a mussel, and of the starfish 

 slowly forcing the same bivalve to gape. There 

 are some very effective photographs, but the most 

 striking feature of the book is to be found in the 

 charming coloured pictures by Mr. William Smith. 

 It seems to us very unpractical to put one of 



NO. 2348, VOL. 94] 



these beautiful sketches on the cover. If it is put 

 there it should also be repeated inside the book. 



(5) Mr. Westell believes in "a very real desire 

 for a school-book on birds," and he has suggested 

 twenty-four practical out-of-door studies, which 

 he has wisely arranged in the order of the seasons. 

 The "lessons" are conversational and socratic, 

 and they suffer a little from the defects of these 

 qualities. The conversation is occasionally thin, 

 and the questions are sometimes fatiguing. But 

 there is a pleasant temper in the book and a feel- 

 ing of the open-air. The children who answer all 



Fig. I. — Sea-horse. From "Animal Life by ihe Sea-shore. ' 



the problems set — some of them very educative — 

 will certainly know a lot about birds. W"e think 

 that the author should have taken more care with 

 his English — especially in a book intended for 

 schools. Thus we read : " One of the most re- 

 markable episodes connected with the life-story of 

 these aquatic birds is the provision which has been 

 made for the young to be able to take care of 

 themselves as soon as they are born." As the 

 starling "hawks and hovers in the air," etc. ,"it 

 presents a fine study of a familiar bird which adds 

 a good deal of charm to the bird life near at 



