40 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [i, i, jan. 1905 



may be placed on the " island " and the cover left open so that 

 the ants may get into the darkened rooms. 



Instead of the " island " above described, some collectors make, 

 on a table, a stockade of dry plaster of Paris which, like water, 

 confines the ants until they collect beneath the darkened glass. 



In transporting the nest it is advisable to tie the covers with 

 tapes or rubber bands. Miss Fielde has carried her nests on long 

 railroad journeys, placing them on shelves in a portable wooden 

 case. 



These improved ant-nests are so simple in construction and make 

 keeping the insects so easy that they deserve a trial in schools, 

 and this review is made because it seems probable that we have 

 here a valuable suggestion for nature-study work. At a later time 

 we hope to present some suggestions as to studies of ants which 

 may be made by pupils in the school. 



BOOK REVIEWS 



American Natural History. By W. T. Hornaday, Director of 

 the New York Zoological Park. N. Y., Scribner's Sons. 1904. 

 Pp. 449 (about 7 by 10 inches), illustrated. $3.50. 



This new " foundation of useful knowledge of the higher ani- 

 mals of North America " supplies a long-felt want for a one- 

 volume work devoted to the natural history of American verte- 

 brate animals. With the exception of some interesting foreign 

 types (e. g., the kangaroo) introduced simply to complete sys- 

 tematic surveys of groups, this is strictly a book of American 

 backboned animals. One may examine the book in vain for de- 

 scriptions of animals such as the lion, zebra, giraffe, tiger, and 

 elephant, and other familiar representatives of the Old World ; 

 but the woodchuck, bison, raccoon, opossum, moose, and the 

 others of the long list of peculiar American types are in promi- 

 nence, and concerning them there is the kind of information which 

 the general reader requires of a reference work in natural history. 



This book is intended to give the teacher and general reader 

 that information which will fill the " w^de and deep chasm " be- 

 tween the scientific " zoology " of the colleges and universities and 

 the nature-study books of the grammar grades. We infer that 



