2>i4 



KNOWLEDGE 



[October 1, 1890. 



show an extensive corona with curving polar rays symme- 

 trical with respect to the sun's axis and of the usual 

 sun-spot minimum type. 



Mr. J^urnham has sent a packet of most interesting 

 photographs taken by him in and around Cayenne. We 

 hope on some future occasion to reproduce some more of 

 them for the benefit of readers of Knowledge. 



Notices of Boofes. 



Tlir PhiUmijiliii of ('lutldni/. By W. Mattieu Williams, 

 F.R.A.S., F.C.'S.' (Thomas Lawrie ; London, 1890.) 

 This little book, like T/u' C/ieiiiisti-i/ <if Cdnhrri/ by the same 

 author, discusses in a fresh and original manner the 

 philosophy of many common-place things. It gives an 

 excellent accomit of several of the useful discoveries of 

 that remarkable philosopher, Benjamin Thompson, who 

 commenced life as a poor American schoolmaster, became 

 Colonel Thompson of the British Army, Sir Benjamin 

 Thompson tlie British Diplomatist, and ultimately Count 

 Rumford, Privy Counsellor and Commander-in-Chief of 

 the Bavarian Army. Like his compatriot Benjamin 

 Franklin, ho was a born experimenter, and had a keen 

 desire to make his science practically useful to mankind. 

 Mr. Mattieu Williams is not a mere theorizer. He has 

 made practical experiments with regard to most of his 

 hygienic theories, some of which he describes in a very 

 amusing manner. He is entirely independent of Mrs. 

 Grundy, and has little sympathy with those weaker 

 hrethren who study appearances. He recommends for 

 men's shirts a loose cotton fabric, known to ladies and 

 ■drapers as " oatmeal cloth." It thickens and becomes 

 looser and more open in texture when washed. Starch is 

 an abomination to him, as it deprives the shirt of its power 

 of holding the air and keeps in the perspiration. But 

 Mr. Williams' book must be read to be understood. It 

 contains too much to attempt to give a summary of it. 

 He has experimented with regard to the best type for 

 reading without tiring the eyes, and in his preface gives 

 the same page printed in ordinary thin-faced type, and in 

 the thick Clairndon which he recommends. The thick- 

 faced letters have the appearance of being larger, and it 

 is not until you count the letters and note that the matter 

 runs on the same, line for line, that you recognise that 

 the only difference is in the thickness of the parts of the 

 letters. The comparative luxury of reading a book printed 

 in large type is generally costly, as the matter covers more 

 paper in proportion to the size of the letters, but the thick- 

 faced letters recommended by Mr. Williams save the eyes 

 without adding any additional cost to printing a given 

 quantity of matter. 



M'ild Xdtuir iron lii/ Kimbirss. By Mrs. Brightwen. 

 (T. Fisher Unwin ; London, 1890.) Mrs. Brightwen's 

 interesting reminiscences of animals and their ways, which 

 have been published fi'om time to time in the Aninuil 

 World, have already made her known as a true lover and 

 student of nature, and her book is likely to stimulate many 

 readers to make experiment in the friendly association 

 "with, and close observation of, wild animals which Mrs. 

 Brightwen describes with such evident pleasure. She says 

 in her preface: " I often wished I could convey to others a 

 little of the happiness I have enjoyed all through my life 

 in the study of Natural History. During twenty years of 

 variable health, the companionship of the animal world 

 has been my constant solace and delight. ... In the 

 following chapters I shall try to tell my readers in a simple 

 •way about the many pleasant friendships I have had w^ith 



animals, birds, and insects. ... I use the word friendships 

 advisedly, because truly to know and enjoy the society of a 

 pet creature you must make it feel that you are, or wish 

 to be, its friend, one to whom it can always look for food, 

 shelter and solace ; it must be at ease and at home with 

 you before its instincts and curious ways will be shown. . . . 

 I have always strongly maintained that the love of animated 

 nature should bo fostered far more than it usually is, espe- 

 cially in the minds of the young, and that we lose an im- 

 mense amount of enjoyment by passing through life, as so 

 many do, without a spark of interest in the marvellous 

 world of nature." Here is a story of a young jay reared by 

 Mrs. Brightwen : " In its babyhood my jay was much like 

 other young things of its kind, always clamouring for 

 food, and seeming to care for little else ; but as he grew 

 up he attached himself to me w'ith a wonderful strength 

 of affection which entirely reversed the order of things, for 

 whenever I came into the room he was restless and un- 

 happy until I came near enough for him to feed me. 

 He would look carefully into his food-trough, and at last 

 select what he thought the most tempting morsel, and 

 then put it through the bars of his cage into my mouth. 

 He would sometimes feed other people, but as a rule he 

 disliked strangers ; and I have known him even take 

 water in his beak and squirt it at those who displeased 

 him." On the whole, a jay is not a very desirable pet ; he 

 is restless in a cage, and too large to be quite convenient 

 when loose in a room. Again, his great timidity is a 

 drawback. Amongst the other animals with whom 

 friendships were made were squirrels, mice, moles, snails, 

 spiders, an Egyptian scarab-beetle. No more suitable book 

 could be selected as a present for children in whom one 

 desires to foster a love for animals. The hints with regard 

 to the training of pets, and the choice of food for them, are 

 excellent. 



Xaturc <nul Woodcnift. By .Tohn Watson. (Walter 

 Smith & Innes.) In his earlier volumes, Mr. Watson has 

 already made his readers familiar with many scenes from 

 the wild life of the feathery and furry inhabitants of 

 Cumbria ; in the present he gives further details in a 

 similar happy vein, and we gladly recognise in it the same 

 accuracy of observation, vividness of portraiture and fresh- 

 ness of style that imparted such a charm to his previous 

 works. He is still the enthusiastic naturalist as well as 

 sportsman, and his book breathes rather of the fresh open 

 air of momitain and dale, forest and field, than of the 

 close and stifling atmosphere of the study. As if to com- 

 plete the picture of life in the land of fells and dales, he 

 has added some exceedingly interesting sketches of the 

 manners and customs of the dalesfolk, and the life they 

 lived a generation or two ago, while they were still in their 

 rural simplicity, and before they had succumbed to the 

 influences of modern civilisation. No better historian 

 could they have had than one so thoroughly acquainted 

 with their present condition and the natural influences 

 which have moulded their destiny. 



I nt rod net ion to Fri'sh-Wiitcr Alf/a. By M. C. Cooke, 

 M.A., LL.D. (Kegan, Paul, French, Triibner & Co.) 

 This cheap and compendious exposition of British Fresh- 

 water Alg;e, from the pen of so able an expositor as Dr. 

 Cooke, will be a great boon to amateur microscopists. The 

 pretty filaments of Spiroi/i/ni, with their coiled bands of 

 green chlorophyll, the revohdng globes of Volio.r, and the 

 graceful tufts of Batnuliospirinum, are always popular 

 objects, and many a young microscopist has felt a desire 

 to know something of the group to which these and a 

 hundred other beautiful forms belong, but has been de- 

 terred from following up the study by the want of a suit- 



