October 1, 1890.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



235 



able handbook within his means. To such Dr. Cooke's 

 " Introduction " will prove of great ser\'ice, and may be 

 expected to become an incentive to the systematic study of 

 these familiar but little understood plants. After some 

 preliminary remarks on the collection and preservation of 

 specimens, and on the methods of cell-increase in general, 

 the marvellous facts of polymorphism are touched upon ; 

 the young beginner is thus taught at the outset the very 

 needful lesson that he is not to imagine that difterence of 

 form necessarily involves cUtt'erence of species, seeing that 

 a species may appear, for example, at one period in its 

 career in the form of isolated cells, at another as long 

 threads, and again as broad fronds. The author then 

 hurries on to the most essential part of his subject, that of 

 reproduction. The extraordinary variety which the AlgiE 

 exhibit in the performance of this function constitutes one 

 of the most fascinating elements in their study, and in 

 consequence a great deal of space is here devoted to this 

 complex and all-important theme. A sound foundation is 

 thus laid in the only possible way for the thorough com- 

 prehension of the various green threads, cells, and other 

 organisms that are of such constant occurrence in dippings 

 from pond, ditch, and stream. The value of many species 

 is exceedingly doubtful, and by no other means can their 

 validity be tested than by the working out of life histories ; 

 hence the group aftbrds endless scope for profitable, though 

 at the same time difficult and laborious investigation, and 

 the present manual will form an excellent introduction to 

 larger treatises for all who care to undertake the study. 

 The latter half of the book consists of a classification of 

 all the British Fresh-water Algie except the Desmids and 

 Diatoms, with brief descriptions of the families, genera, 

 and species. About 430 so-called species are thus enume- 

 rated, and as these are included in no less than 116 

 genera, the collector's labours in the identification of his 

 miscellaneous " takes " would have been somewhat les- 

 sened if the author could have seen his way to the con- 

 struction of a series of analytical tables as an aid in the 

 discrimination of generic characteristics. Thirteen neatly- 

 executed plates give an idea of the principal forms to be 

 met with, and illustrate the details of about a quarter of 

 the indigenous species. 



Strrn/ Feathers from Maiii/ llird.f. By Charles Dixon. 

 (W. H. Allen & Co.) Another addition to the already 

 voluminous literature inspired by that perennial source of 

 fascination and delight — bird-life. No " creatures that on 

 earth do dwell " excercise such a powerful charm over 

 lovers of nature as the feathered tribes, and yet, though the 

 tale of their loves and sports and gambols and wars has 

 been told again and again, each new observer finds some- 

 thing fresh to relate, and gives abundant evidence that the 

 secrets of nature are practically inexliaustible. These 

 "Leaves from a Naturalist's Note-]5ook " are a ease in 

 point. Amidst a good deal that is old, Mr. Dixon gives us 

 much that is new, and even the old is pleasantly and 

 freshly told. He begins by instructing his readers how to 

 get into " nature's confidence," but it strikes us that this 

 is not an art that can be taught. If a man has not an 

 inborn sympathy with nature, he is not likely to be able to 

 enter into its confidence by any rules of art ; as with the 

 true poet, the outdoor naturalist is born, not nuide. None 

 the less, the unobservant arc likely to increase their 

 chances of interesting peeps into the domestic life of wild 

 birds by due attention to Mr. Dixon's liints. The author's 

 pictures are not all drawn from the homely surroundings 

 of hedgerow, wood, and field ; more lonely and less acces- 

 sible situations are also laid under tribute. An early 

 morning visit to the dreary waste of the shores of the 



Wash furnishes material for an interesting description of 

 the curious method of bird-catching there adopted ; long 

 stretches of wide-meshed netting are supporteil on stakes 

 driven upright into the ground, and the birds in their 

 nightly migrations become entangled in the meshes and 

 detained till the owner of the nets goes his usual round at 

 dawn to see what the night has brought him. An invasion 

 of the nurseries of the sea-birds on the Fame Islands, and 

 a season of sport in Algeria, both reveal many a quaint 

 and pleasant picture of domestic economy and every-day life 

 in birdland, and an instructive chapter full of remarkable 

 details gives much information on the subjects of moulting 

 and seasonal variations of plumage. We are glad to read 

 another protest against the enormous and indiscriminate 

 slaughter of birds for the purposes of feminine adornment, 

 although we regretfully confess our fear that sueli pro- 

 tests will be of little avail against the imperious calls of 

 fashion. Half-a-dozen dainty illustrations by Whymper 

 lend their aid in making this book a desirable addition to 

 the library of every true disciple of nature. 



Handbook of Field and General Ornitliolofn/ : a Manual 

 of the Strnctnri' and Claxsitication of Birds. By Elliot 

 CouEs. 8vo., pp. 343, Illustrated. (London : IMacmUlan 

 & Co.) All ornithologists who really desire to know some- 

 thing more about bu'ds than the number, proportions, and 

 colour of their feathers, the relative length and form of 

 their beaks, and the structure of their feet and claws, will 

 give a hearty welcome to the volume before us, which at- 

 tempts to treat ornithology in a strictly scientific and 

 thorough manner, and thus to raise it to the level of other 

 branches of zoological science. 



As we are informed in the publisher's preface, the work 

 is an abridgment of the author's Ju\t/ to Xortli American 

 Birds, which has for many years held a high position in 

 the United States, the English edition containing such 

 portions of the original work as are of more than local 

 interest. The volume is illustrated by numerous figures 

 in the text (some of which we are enabled, by the courtesy 

 of the publishers, to reproduce), most of them apparently 

 executed by one of the numerous typographical processes 

 now coming so extensively into use. We regret, however, 

 to see that some of these illustrations — more especially 

 those on pp. 222 and 300 — are so coarsely executed as to 

 be repulsive to the artistic eye, and thus detract from the 

 general smart appearance of the volume. The letterpress 

 appears singularly free ft-om misprints, although we may 

 remark, m passing, the author does not appear to have 

 been al)le to make up his mind whether to adopt the 

 common spelling anelii/losis, or the correct anhj/losis. 



The first eighty-se\en pages of tlie volume are devoted 

 to the collecting and preservation of birds, and the care 

 necessary to be bestowed on a collection when made. 

 All this is, no doubt, excellently well thought out, although 

 not of sufficient general interest to require further notice 

 here. 



The second part coimuences with a general definition of 

 birds, and a very brief sketch of some of the ostoological 

 features of the more important extuict types. In mention- 

 ing the close relationship of birds to reptiles (p. 95), the 

 author is careful to observe that those reptiles which make 

 the nearest approach to the avian type are the Dinosaurs, 

 and not the Pterodactyles. The second section of this 

 part, which is headed " Principles and Practice of Classifi- 

 cation," contains some admirable observations on classifi- 

 cation in general, and also on the importance of a 

 classification being based on soiuid morphological prin- 

 ciples. It likewise utters a word of warning as to the 

 impossibility of taking any one single character as the 



