48o 



NATURE 



[December 31, 1914 



of correct and delicate colour, the camera un- 

 doubtedly does not see things just as the human 

 eye sees them. To name only one, Mr. Seaby's 

 pied flycatchers, as an example of the sort of 

 picture of bird-life we really desire. The female 

 is about to feed the young, the male looking- on. 

 Here we have a bit of life-history shown in just 

 the spot in the deeply shaded June woods where 

 the nesting birds will be found — perfect in its 

 facts and details. The birds are alive, the ex- 

 pression in their eyes quite wonderful. 



The coloured plates of eggs (some by Mr. 

 Gronvold), carefully prepared, cannot fail to be 

 useful for identification purposes. Since the eggs 

 of the great bustard and the avocet (not to 

 mention the wood sandpiper, only once known to. 

 nest in Britain) are figured, we are at a loss 

 to know why that of the black-tailed godwit 

 is omitted. AH three birds have ceased to breed 

 with us, but the godwit was the last to survive 

 as a breeding bird, and, moreover, is the most 

 likely of the three to resume that status. There 

 is a useful plate illustrating the down and nest 

 feathers found in the nests of the different species 

 of wild duck, the eggs of which are often very 

 much alike. It is only by means of these feathers 

 that the identity of ducks' eggs can be made 

 sure of. 



The final section of the work comprises classi- 

 fied notes on the rare British birds (including all 

 species not described in the body of the book), 

 extending to nearly a hundred pages. Chapters 

 on structural characters; migratory movements, 

 by Mr. T. A. Coward ; the study of bird 

 behaviour; and bird photography. Also a list of 

 works consulted and a good and full index. 



SUPERSTITION AND DISEASED 



I^HIS volume represents the Fitzpatrick lec- 

 tures for 191 2 delivered at the Rdyal 

 College of Physicians. Dr. Crawford has treated 

 his subject as much in its mental and moral 

 aspects as in its physical, and the result is a wise 

 and very interesting book. In a few chapters he 

 gives us a vivid presentment of the long series 

 of epidemics which devastated Europe and the 

 Levant between the days of Moses in Egypt and 

 those of Napoleon at Jaffa. Painting, sculpture, 

 and architecture have all been pressed into the 

 service, and the thirty-one plates in the book 

 testify to the frequency with which the world 's 

 great artists have found inspiration in the terrible 

 scenes of a plague-stricken city. 



Many writers, too, from Thucydides to Pepys 

 have been laid under contribution, and bear wit- 

 ness to the magnitude of the catastrophes. Wc 

 read of Rome in the thirteenth century shaken b} 

 twelve visitations of plague, each one extendinj.- 

 over several years. We read of the Black Death 

 when one-fourth of the entire population of 

 Europe perishes. Half England is wiped oul 

 in this pandemic, and towns and villages arc 

 stripped of inhabitants. 



1 "Plague and Pestilence in Literature and Art." By Dr. Raimonr 

 Crawford. Pp. viii+222. (Oxford : Clarendon Pre«s, igi4 ) Price 12J. 6rf 

 net. 



NO. 2357, VOL. 94] 



Sometimes the epidemic runs its course with 

 appalling rapidity. The destruction by plague of 

 Sennacherib's army in one night may be legend- 

 ary, but there is no reason to doubt that in Byzan- 

 tium during a four months' visitation the dailv 

 mortality often reached the total of ten thousand. 



Dr. Crawford directs attention to the identity 

 through the ages of the " portents " of plague. 

 For example, the angel with drawn sword is seen 

 to hover over London in 1665, as over Rome in 

 590, and over Jerusalem centuries before Christ. 



From century to century, too, similar theories 

 of its causation are rife. It is the work of malig- 



nia^rocfuui ^e Uuan/t^ it mojc^ue a lejyaux 

 ! ') <^ 'T' jTfi t<rf t w /or.^ n< ' 



nQ.T^ye^npli^e. pnt^Jiim^ 



Literature and Art.'' 



nant demons ; it is sent from heaven in punish- 

 ment for sin ; it is the result of evil magic exer- 

 cised by man on man ; it is engendered in the 

 clouds ; it is caused by earthquakes which liberate 

 the poisons from the earth ; by dust which irri- 

 tates the skin; by impure air, or unsuitable food. 

 Of all the speculations, the most mischievous 

 because productive of such hideous cruelty is the 

 surmise that it is caused by water which has been 

 poisoned by our enemies, the Jews — or by our 

 enemies, the Christians. 



Dr. Crawford points out that the contagious 



