V KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



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SOME BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. 



Ecolution vithnut Natural Selection. By CnAiaEs 

 Dixon. (London: R. H. Porter. 188.5.)— The reader 

 who takes up Mr. Dixon's little hook in the hope or ex- 

 pectation that it iswrittiii lo cr.nfute thi' iniiMri>h;,ble 

 tlieory of Charles Darisiii, will find liim.Mlf rurmusly 

 mistaken. Rather does i(s milhcr set hiniself t..supi'le- 

 meut that theory, and to clear up eevtiiiii ditll.-iilt ies 

 expressed in cotmeetion -with it by its imnmrliil ..rij in;il'.r. 

 Particularly does Mr. Dixon insist up-n tie- rir.vl ui 

 isolation in the origination of species, and, in'stnlatin'.,' 

 a primeevai Polar centre, whcnei- life radiated, shows 

 how this factor would opiiaie m tlie in-i.diK linn of new 

 forms of life. Climatic iiilliiriKas. simi d s'lretion, and 

 interbreeding, are dealt with in sueeessinii as ni-iginating 

 species.- Ne s"lnr iiltr^i •■ ,■■ j'idnuL, and (Hir anther has 



this small volume wortliy of perusal by the philosophical 

 naturalist. 



Wild Life in Canam and Ganjam. By Gordon S. 

 PORBES. (London: Swan Sonnenschein i Co. 188.3.)— 

 In a modest and unassuming way, and without the 

 slightest effort to bo fine or flowery, Mr. Forbes gives us 

 his experiences gained as magistrate and collector succes- 

 .sively in Canara and Ganjam, taking mainly the form of 

 hunting adventures. His hunting stories differ in no 

 material respect from those of the multitude of Indian 

 shikaris who have given their adventures to the world, 

 but incidentally he furni.shes, pleasantly enough, informa- 

 tion as to certain districts and their inhabitants witli 

 which the ordinary English reader is far from being 

 familiar. The illustrations, executed in some form of 

 chromography, show skies, seas, and lakes so blue, grass 

 and trees so green, and sunsets of such unparalleled 

 brilliance, as would almost have made Turner tear liis 

 hair with envy. 



Programme of Tecknoloqical Exam imil i^'i/ •:. >'.>,-/.■/( 

 1885-86. City and Guilds 'of London Inst it utc fnr the 

 Advancement of Technical Education. (London : rh'csliaiu 

 College.)— So far as we have been able to test this 

 Syllabus, the course of study prescribed, and the character 

 of the examinations iiroposed to be held in the various sub- 

 jects to the teaching of which the Institute is devoted, 

 would seem to be well chosen and most efficient. It is 

 much to be hoped that the percentage of rejected 

 candidates will be very much in defect of what it has 

 been in the case of the examinations so far conducted by 

 the Institute since its formation. 



Uandhooh of Practical Telegraphy. By R. S. Cullf.v. 

 Eighth Edition. (London : Longmans, Green, & Co. 

 1885.)— The fact that this work has reached its eighth 

 edition is proof positive of its general utility and excel- 

 lence. The new edition, as compared with the preceding 

 one, is almost a new book, a large portion of it having 

 been re-written, in order to bring the handbook up to 

 date. The recent improvements in quadruples and fast- 

 speed automatic apparatus are ably dealt with ; indeed, 

 to get as near as jiossible to the existing state of affairs, 

 the author, who long since was compelled by his ad- 

 vanced age to sever himself from actual work, has secured 

 the invaluable aid of Messrs. Graves, Precce, and Chap- 

 man. Although the book still remains to be written 

 wliich shall teach the telegraphist all he ought to know. 



Mr. Culley's effort is far and away superior to anything 

 else in the market, so far at least as the Briiisb operator 

 is concerned. 



Mamial of Tdegraplg. By W. Williams, Superinten- 

 dent of the Indian Government Telegraphs. (London : 

 Longmans, Green, k Co. 1885.)-— The great difference 

 between this and the work previously noticed, affords 

 considerable evidence of the extent of the field which 

 will have to be covered by the author who succeeds in 

 embracing the whole subject of telegraphy in a single 

 work. The volume under notice has been written by 

 order of the Director-General of Telegraphs in India, 

 and is based on the substance of tlic papers on technical 

 subjects set by the author at the General Examinations 

 of the Indian Telegraph Department. These .subjects 

 embrace a general descrij)tion of the various instruments, 

 batteries, and circuits which the telegraph official may 

 be called upon to deal with ; faults which may be met 

 with, and their remedy ; testing, and the electrical 

 lihciainicna, wliicli interfere with communication- The 

 work aflerds a means ef self-education, and forms a text- 

 book of ready reference. A study of the manual cannot 

 fail to reveal to the reader something of the different 

 considerations under which telegraphy is carried on in 

 India as compared with England. Wo should have been 

 pleased to see a few more illustrations; but, all things 

 taken into consideration, the work is a highly creditable 

 one, and worthy of study by every one interested in the 



J,i the Watchfs of the Nlqht. Poems (in eighteen 

 volumes). By Mrs.' Hor.ACE 'Dobell. Vols. 7 and 8. 

 (Loudon : Remington & Co. 1885.)— If Mrs. Dobell has 

 sometimes been dismal and depressing in previous volumes 

 of this series (and .she has on occa.sion been very dismal 

 indeed) — in those before us she is really and truly "like 

 Niobe, all tears." Her verse trickles smoothly along, but 

 in her endeavour to be pathctie she simply becomes 

 lachrymose — a very difl'crt ni thin- indeed. 



The Strange Story vf /:-'./. »/.^ A^■., by Miss H. H. 

 COODE. (London: Grittitli, b'arran, Okeden, and Welsh). 

 — Sensational as are the three stories of which Miss 

 Coode's little book is made up, they never degenerate 

 into vulgarity, nor into the mere blood-and-murder type 

 of narrative, 'which but too often forms the modem sub- 

 stitute for the quieter and more decorous novel of oxa 

 fathers. In the second tale, " The Necromancer's Hand," 

 a weird idea is very cleverly worked out, and the end is 

 decidedly " creepy." Readers in search of a sensation 

 might do much worse than invest the modest price of 

 Miss Coode's brochure in its purchase. 



"VVe liave aNo on on^ table TA- .r.-irnal of Botany, del 

 etTrr, /' ~~ :' '! V : Y' Medical Press and 



Circuit , / : , / ^ \ '■'■,, The Tricyclist, 



Whcli:. , / ' /:,'-, :'■; L'Keho (with 



two ]K^,:^- .le\,.!, .1 e. '■ ■. r , , Z'; ■/. 7" A,;,erican 



Natu,-.:i ,11 ■ ' " ef matter 



of inti I ; : ; ' ' I'ligland 



Gossij^ (contains a cidumn of " > , ' ■ 



Monthly (Rangoon), The Little < 



Leeds Mercury, William Weshi 



a7td Scientific Booh Circular, 'I . !'■ -, , 



the lioyal 'lAver Friendly Society, and Lirr .j- .s'e,',- 



Catalogue. 



It is estimated that the number of passenpors carried by all the 

 railroads in all p.arts of the world hi 1i(82 wa.s 2,-100.«W,()00. or an 

 average of 6,500,000 a day. 



