8 



NA rURE 



[May 6, 1897 



of the legends he quotes, especially in regard to the 

 animals and plants of distant lands. 



The early writers whom the author quotes as his autho- 

 rities form a long list of names. Among them are Friar 

 Bartholomew and his editor Batman, whose works seem 

 to have been the standard natural history of Shake- 

 speare's boyhood ; Topsell, so beloved of the late J. G. 

 Wood ; Gerard and Parkinson, as known by their respec- 

 tive Hcrbals ; Holland, in his translation of Pliny's 

 Natural History ; and Evelyn, of Silva fame. Long 

 quotations from these and other writers are given under 

 the heading of the more important animals, plants, and 

 jewels; contemporary illustrations being in many instances 

 reproduced. 



Many of these latter are of the quaintest, and form 

 puzzles for the naturalist to discover the animals from 

 which they were compounded. The crocodile, for example, 

 is represented as a very marvellous complex animal, 

 having a head which can scarcely have been taken from 

 aught else but a wild boar, while in the armature of its 

 back and fore limbs it recalls a pangolin ; and the 

 panther (p. 131) is more like a spotted hyaena than the 

 creature it is intended to portray. What can have been 

 the origin of the eight-rayed crest on the head of the 

 serpent (p. 280), it is hard indeed to guess. But the most 

 marvellous creature of all is the reputed whale (p. 341), 

 which is a pig-faced, four-legged, scaly animal, with a 

 long tail ending in flukes ; the creature being represented 

 as having just climbed on the poop of a vessel, with 

 its head high up among the rigging. It has surely 

 much more connection with certain modern stories of the 

 sea-serpent than with any whale that ever swam. 



That the author has succeeded in producing a very 

 delightful and, to a certain extent, an instructive volume, 

 may be freely granted. At the same time, it would have 

 been decidedly an improvement had he given some ex- 

 planation of the legends connected with real animals and 

 plants, and likewise have ofifered suggestions as to the 

 origin of mythical ones. As it is, the reader is left almost 

 or completely in the dark on both these points. It is not 

 as if nothing had been written in modern times upon such 

 subjects. For instance, we find on p. 11 the following 

 sentence : " And it is said that in Ethiopia be Ants 

 shap [ed] as hornets, and diggeth up golden gravel with 

 their feet, and keep it that it be not taken away." Now 

 if the author had consulted a paper by the late Dr. 

 Valentine Ball, published some years ago, we believe, in 

 the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, he would 

 ■have found some interesting information concerning these 

 gold-digging ants, and also about many legends connected 

 with other animals, both real and fabulous. Again, when 

 treating of sirens, or mermaids, the non-scientific reader 

 would probably like to have been informed that the legend 

 almost certainly originated from dugongs having been 

 mistaken for sea-maidens. All that the early writers 

 have said of the unicorn is very fully given, but a few 

 words as to what modern authorities think as to the 

 origin of the myth would surely have been acceptable. 

 As it stands, we can, however, confidently recommend 

 the work to all who are interested in learning what 

 were the views of our non-scientific ancestors of two 

 centuries ago as to the habits and uses of animals and 

 plants of their own and foreign lands. R. L. 



NO. 1436, VOL. 56] 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Chapters on the Aims and Practice of Teaching. Edited 



by Prof. Frederic Spencer, M.A., Ph.D. Pp. viii -1-284. 



(Cambridge : University Press, 1897.) 

 This book should be read by all who are interested in 

 educational methods. With the chapters on the teach- 

 ing of Greek, Latin, French, German, English and 

 History, we are not much concerned ; our only regret is 

 that the methods of teaching languages described therein 

 were not in use in our own schooldays. 



As to the chapters on the teaching of various branches 

 of science, we commend them to every earnest teacher. 

 Geography is dealt with by Mr. H. Yule Oldham, who, 

 beginning with the consideration of position, distance 

 and area, as exemplified in the schoolground and parish, 

 passes therefrom to the consideration of the British Isles 

 and the earth as a whole. The plan of study he sketches 

 makes geography a living science, instead of a demoral- 

 ising exercise for the memory. Prof. G. B. Mathews 

 plans an algebra course, and urges that the natural 

 approach to the study of it is by the way of ordinary 

 arithmetic. After simple arithmetical algebra come 

 rules of sign, negative quantities, factors, geometrical 

 progression, and then surds. The way to teach geometry 

 is shown by Mr. W. P. Workman, whose many suggestive 

 and practical hints will, perhaps, help teachers to see that 

 the main function of the subject is intellectual discipline. 



Methods of teaching physical science are described by 

 Dr. R. W. Stewart. The method of teaching advocated 

 involves theory, demonstrations, and individual laboratory 

 work, but the research attitude of the learner is not 

 advised ; for, says Dr. Stewart, " Experimental work is 

 of no value whatever unless the theoretical knowledge 

 of the scholar is full enough to enable him to under- 

 stand clearly the objects and the details of the experi- 

 ment." Against this view we have Dr. H. E. Armstrong's 

 remark, in his very helpful chapter on the teaching of 

 chemistry, that "students are not .to be told ahont things, 

 or even to be shown things, but are to be trained to 

 solve problems by experiment — that is to say, they are 

 to be trained to discover; and their discoveries are to 

 have reference to common objects and phenomena." 

 Two brief chapters on the teaching of botany and 

 physiology, by Prof R. W\ Phillips and Dr. Alexander 

 Hill respectively, conclude the volume. 



Education in this country will certainly gain by the 

 publication of these chapters on pedagogic methods. 



Star Atlas. By W. Upton. Pp. iv -I- 29, and plates. 



(London, and Boston, U.S.A. : Ginn and Co., 1896.) 

 This atlas is primarily intended as an educational guide 

 for the amateur astronomer ; and with this end in view, no 

 stars fainter than the sixth magnitude have been charted, 

 thus avoiding the crowding in of detail inseparable from 

 more complete star atlases. 



Stereographic projection is adopted throughout the 

 series of six maps, two of which are circumpolar, showing 

 northern and southern stars ; the remaining four cover 

 the regions lying between N. 40" and S. 40° declination. 



In addition there are six key maps, plotted to half the 

 scale of the principal series, showing only the chief 

 stars, and having connecting lines drawn between the 

 stars of each constellation. These will be found useful 

 in passing from one constellation to another when 

 searching for an object. 



The explanatory text gives a brief outline of the history 

 of the formation of constellation-areas, the names and 

 designations of the stars, and the system of indicating 

 magnitudes. Very representative and concise catalogues 

 of double stars and nebuhe are given, and following 

 these are lists of variable and coloured stars. The letter- 

 ing and outlining of the groups is very legible ; but it still 

 seems usual for the ancient constellation figures to mask 

 somewhat the resemblance of a star chart to the sky as 



