February, 1903.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



39 



provide a means of keeping a balloon inflated for six weeks, but 

 even then the balloon would be at the mercy of the wind. Mr. 

 Bacon devotes an interesting chapter to Andree and his voyages, 

 and in connection with it suggests that in any future attempt 

 to reach the Pole by balloon, wireless telegraphy should be used 

 to maintain communication with the base. Many observation.s 

 attract attention in reading the book, ftlaisher and Coxwell's 

 noteworthy ascents are described and the results summarised. 

 We also find accounts of the work of the French aeronauts, 

 experiments with ai'roplanes, and modern airships of various 

 kinds. The book is, indeed, a fair and sufficiently full record 

 of the attempts which have been made to navigate the air : and 

 it will be read with interest both on account of the element of 

 adventure in it and for the information it contains. 



"The CoM.\fON Spiders of the U.vitkd States." By 

 James H. Emerton. Pp. -225. Illustrated. (Ginn & Co. 1902.) 

 (5s. (jd. net. — Though spiders are not regarded by many people 

 as interesting creatures to study, yet the webs of web-spinning 

 species are sufficient to show to everyone that spiders will repay 

 all the attention given to them. In addition to the family of 

 spiders which make webs to catch insects, there is the family of 

 hunting spiders, which pounce upon their prey from various 

 hiding-places. Mr. Emerton gives a description of the spiders 

 of the United States, with a figure of each species placed as 

 near as possible to the description. The book thus provides a 

 means of identifying spiders, and the numerous beautiful 

 reproductions of photographs of the webs and egg cocoons of 

 various species will be of further assistance in this connection. 

 In an introduction the author describes the parts and 

 characteristics of spiders, and gives useful guidance to the 

 naturalist. It would have added to the interest of general 

 readers if a short account could have been given of instinctive 

 habits and intelligent actions of spiders, such as anyone can 

 easily see, but the book does not on this account lose any of the 

 value it possesses as a guide for the use of students. 



" A Text-book of Pii vsics." By Prof. J. H. Poynting, f.k.s., 

 and Prof. J. M. Thomson, f.r.s. " Properties of Matter." 

 Pp. 228. Illustrated. (Griffin & Co. l'J02.) 10s. Od.— It is 

 scarcely necessary to say that students of physics cannot f.ail to 

 derive benefit from reading this book. The authors are leaders 

 in the field of physical inquiry, and their work reflects faith- 

 fully the prominent characteristics of methods, and significance 

 of results, in the ground covered. The volume deals with the 

 fundamental properties of matter which must be understood 

 bsfore much progress can be made in the study of physics. 

 A similar volume on the science of Sound has already been 

 published, and others are to follow dealing with Heat, Light, 

 Magnetism, and Electricity, so that the complete series will 

 provide students with a treatise in which all the main depart- 

 ments of physics will be surveyed. In the present volume, the 

 authors deal with weight, mass, gravitation, and those properties 

 of matter which relate chiefly to change of form, such as elas- 

 ticity, fluid viscosity, surface tension, diffusion, and solution. 

 The book is characterised by thoroughness, and by the attention 

 given to recent results of permanent value. Traditional ideas 

 as to the order and nature of the subjects to be dealt with in 

 commencing the study of physics — exemplified in the books of 

 Ganot and Deschanel — have not been permitted to control the 

 character of the contents. Early experiments and results have 

 only been used when necessary to illustrate particular points, 

 and discrimination has been exercised in the selection of 

 material from the numerous researches of recent years. The 

 treatment of gravitation is most instructive, and the same may 

 be said of capillarity. Here and there, students not well 

 equipped with mathematical knowledge will find a little diffi- 

 culty in following the argument, but most of the book is well 

 within the range of every serious student of physics. But 

 though the authors have been successful in their treatment of 

 their subjects, they can scarely be congratulated upon many of 

 the figures, which are frequently too large and often spoil the 

 appearance of the page. We refer to such illustrations as 

 Figs. 2:!, 73, 74, 81, 8;i, 'J ), 91, 92, and 134. Figs. 27 and 28 

 are too indistinct to bo of any value, and ought to have been 

 omitted if they cannot be made to show up better than they do 

 upon the paper used. Attention to minor matters such as 

 these would have added to the attractiveness of the book. 



"Tin: Heavias at a Gi.am k, I'.iO."..'' — We arc glad to see 

 the seventh annual issue of Mr. .Vrthnr Mee's useful little 



astronomical calendar. He has improved it, in our opinion, by 

 printing it on a smaller card, and on both sides of the card, and 

 by the introduction of a couple of star charts. The smaller ma)) 

 represents the northern heavens as seen from Great Britain, and 

 the larger one the southern. There is also a little key-map to 

 the principal lunar formations. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Prohlems in Astruphi/sics. By Agnes M. Clerkc. (A. & C. Black ) 

 Illustrated. 203. net. 



Annual Eeport of the Smithsonian Inxtitution, 1001. (Washington : 

 Government Printing Ollice ) 



History of Hindu Chemistry. By Praphulla Chandra Bay, D.SC. 

 (William's & Norgate.) 12s. 6d. net. 



lUont Pelee and the Tragedy of Martinique. By Angelo 

 Heilpriu. (Lippincott.) Illustrated. 1.53. net. 



Modern Microscopy, By M. I. Cross and Martin J. Cole. 

 (Bailliere, Tindall & Cox.) Illustrated.- 4s. net. 



Theoretical Organic Chemistry. By Julius B. Cohen, ph.d. 

 (Maomillan.) Illustrated. 63. 



Preservation of Fishing Nets. By J. T. Cunningham, M.A. 

 (Black.) I3. net. 



Volcanic Studies. By Tempest Anderson, M.D., B.sc, dc. 

 (Murray.) 2I3. net. 



Simple Experiments in Magnetism and Electricity. By A. K. 

 Munby, M.A., F.c.s. (Macmillan.) Is. 6d. 



Lope de Vega and the Spanish Drama. By James Fitzraaurice- 

 Kelly. (Cxowans & Gray.) Is. net. 



Photo Era. Christmas, 1902. 15 cents. 



Astronomical Ohservttoni of Harvard College, Annual Eeport, 

 V.)02. By Edward C. Pickering. (Cambridge, Mass. : The University.) 



Thornton- Pickard Abridged Catalogue. 



Sanitation, Personal and Public. By J. P. Sandlands, M.A., i.c D. 

 (Elliot Stock.) 23. Od. net. 



Open-Air Studies in Geology. By Grenville A. J. Cole, u.k.i.a., 

 p G.s. (Chas. Griffin, ) Illustrated. " 85. 6d. 



Hazell's Annual for l:)i>B. 



Britisi) #vntti)olog;tcal Notes. 



Condiii-ted hij Harky F. Witherby, f.z..s., m.b.o.u. 



On the Occurrence of Phylloscopiis viridaniis, Blyth, and other 

 interestintj Birds at Scottish Liqht Stations, By Wm. Eagle 

 Clarke. {Annals of Scott. Nat. Hist., January, 1903, pp. 22-26.)— 

 Mr. Clarke here gives details of the capture at Scottish lighthouses of 

 a Greenish Willo»-Warbler (see Kxowlpdge, December, 1902, 

 p. 278), Lesser Wliitethroat, Black-tailed Godwit, and Sooty Shear- 

 water. 



The Sooty Shearwater (Pujffinus griseus (Qmel)^ in the Firth of 

 Forth. By William Evans, f.k.s.e. (A,inalsof Scott. Nat. Hist., 

 January, 1903, pp. 20-28.) — Mr. Evans is strongly disposed, from 

 personal observation, to consider the Sooty Shearwater a regular, or 

 all but regular, autumn visitant to the Firth of Forth. The only 

 known breeding places of this bird are in the New Zealand group of 

 islands, and Mr. Evans' conclusion of its regular appearance off our 

 coasts points to a regular migration of an almost incredible extent. 



Olossy Ibis in Roxburghshire and in Islay. (.Innals of Scott. 

 Nat. Htst., pp. 49, 50.)— Mr. Archibald Steel records that an im- 

 mature specimen of this bird was shot on the Tweed on November 

 17th last, while Mr. Charles Kirk records that a similar specimen 

 was shot on Islay on October 30th last. The bird has seldom been 

 recorded from Scotland. 



Nesting of the Hawfinch in Breconthire. (Zoologist, December, 

 1902, p. 4i5.) — It has been noted for some years that the Uawfiuch 

 is increasing its range westward. In 1890 it was discovered to be 

 breeding in Brecousbire, and Mr. E. A. Swainson considers that it is 

 increasing in that county. Last year he found a nest in the west of 

 Breconshire, a point which ho considers as poisibly the most westerly 

 at which the Hawfinch has been known to breed. 



Melaaistic Variety of the Water Rail. {Zoologist, December, 

 1902, p. 407.) — Messrs. Williams Si Son, of Dublin, note that a 

 Water Rail, shot near Dublin on November 13th, was entirely black, 

 with the exception of the barred feathers on the sides and the under 

 tail coverts, which were dull white. The beak aud feet were also 

 black, and the eyes dark brown. 



Bullfinch in Shetland. (Zoologist, December, 1902, p. 468.)— Mr. 

 T. Edmonston Saxby records that he obtaine<l a female Bullliuch in 

 Shetlanil on November 8th. Tlii3 is, it appears, only the second 

 aullienticated instance of this bird's appearance in Shetland. 



