OCTOBKB, 1901.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



233 



" AsTROsoMiscHEB Jahrksbebicht." Eiiitod bv Walter F. 

 W'isliceims. Vol. II. 1900. I'ublisheii with the aid of the 

 Astruiioniisclie Gcsillschaft. (Berlin : George Reiiner. 1901.) 

 Pp. xivi. and 655. — The se<wnd volume of this most useful 

 publication, which aims at giving a brief account of every 

 Bstronomicrtl book, article, or paper published in 1900. deserves 

 the higheist piiiise. Xo brancli of astronomy is neglected, and 

 e%ery work published iu a Kuropcan language soems to have been 

 included. The excellent cUu-isilic;ition of subjects, together with 

 an index of names, makes it easy for the reader to tind the 

 literature relating to ;uiy branch of the science in which he may 

 be interested, and the abstracts furnished give just enough 

 information to enable him to judge of the importance of any 

 particular contributions. Observations of comets and minor 

 planet.s are brought together in a convenient tabular form. The 

 presi'Dt collection of references and notes differs from those pro- 

 vided by our various journals inasmuch as all contributions to 

 the literature of astronomy, and not simply a selected few, receive 

 notice, and. moreover, the work is mucli handier for purpose-s of 

 reference. The editor, who appears to be himself responsiblo for 

 the greater p;irt of the volume, has done his work well and 

 impartially, and deserves the thanks of all who are interested in 

 the progress of astronomy. A copy of the book should tind a 

 place in every observatory and astronomical library. 



■■PlANT Studies. An Elementary Botany." By John M. 

 Coulter, .\.M., PH.D., Universitv of C'hiCii^o. (Kimpton.) Illus- 

 trated. 7s. 6d. net. — If the whole of the "nearly one hundred 

 volumes" of the Twentieth Century Text-Books wliich (as we arc 

 informed) it is intended to issue, are as interesting and beauti- 

 ftJly illustrated as the i>resent little book, we s-hall certainly 

 welcome their appearance. The work does not consist of al- 

 together original matter ; portions of the author's " I'laut 

 Relations " and of his " Plant Structures " have been worked up 

 and combiuod with new nuiterial ; the result is a highly re;ulable 

 school text-book of botany viewed from an ecological and mor- 

 phological standpoint, the letterpress simple and essentially 

 practiail, the illustrations numerous and instructive. Beginning 

 with the leaves, the light relation is considered first, and sub- 

 sequently their functions and structure. The remaining portions 

 of the plant having been similarly dealt with, the plant in 

 all its relations is considered, esfwcial attention being drawn 

 to the struggle for existence, and the question of food supj)ly. 

 This leads to the consideration (in four chapters) of plant 

 societies, a subject wisely elucidated by a wealth <if illus- 

 trations from nature. Thence we jiass to the great groups of 

 the plant world : these are treated in a bro;id general way, 

 suitable to the limitation of space which necessarily pertains 

 to a book of the kind. We cordially recommend Prof. Coulter's 

 " Plant Studies " to our readers. 



" Poisonous Plants is Field axd Garden." By Ki^v. 

 Professor G. Henslow, M.A., etc. (S.P.C.K.) 2s. 6d.— The 

 object of this little book is " to enumerate and describe such 

 of our common wild plants, ;is well as some frequently cultivated, 

 which are at all likely to prove harmful to our little ones ; 

 who are only too apt to put everything which appears attractive 

 into their mouths." But it is pointed out at once that many 

 cases of plant iX)isoning are due, not to the irresponsible acts 

 of children, but to the deliberate but mistaken action of adults ; 

 and to the latter the book is properly addressed. Following 

 some preliminary ready remedies for poisoning, we find a chapter 

 devoted to the structure of flowers and fruits, and another on 

 the principles of botanical cla.ssification and nomenclature, to 

 a.ssist the imbotanical reader in the understanding of what follows. 

 The remainder of the book is taken up with brief descriptions 

 of the commoner hurtful plants arranged in the natural order, with 

 a good deal of information concerning their poisonous properties, 

 not unmixed with lore from the old herbalists, and occasional 

 antidotes. Numerous casis of pjoisoning are described, forming 

 reading which is sufhcientlv terrifying ; and the prudent resolution 

 of the average reader will, we fancy, be to try no experiments, 

 and eat no vegetables but what he buys at his greengrocer's. 

 The illustrations, which aie numerous, arc mainlv drawn from 

 Bentham's "' Handbook of the British Flora " ; wliile conveying 

 a general idea of the ])lant.s de.scrib<!d, they would be, but little 

 ti.se in a.ssisting the non-scientific reader to distinguish poisonous 

 from non-poisonous si)ecies. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



TreatUe on Zoology. Edited by E. R. Lankcstcr, ma., IX.D., 

 P-B.s. Part IV. The Platyhelmia, Slesozoa, and Xeiiiertini By 

 W. Blaxland Beuham, D.sc. (lond), m.a. (oxuS.). (Black.) Illus- 

 trated. 15s. net. 



Uae-Inheritanee. By Walter Kidd, ii.D., E./.s. (Black.) Illu.-- 

 trated. 23. 6d. net. 



Praciical Mathemijtics for Seifinners. By Eriink Cnstlc, .M.I.M.K. 

 (Macmillan.) 28. tid. 



Plane Qeomeirioal Drawing. By \i. C. Fawilry, M.A. (Spon.) 

 Cs. net. 



Land and Fresh ll'afer S/iell.t. By .1. W, Williiiins, M.u.c.s. (kno.), 

 E.I.8., E.U.M.S. (Swan Sonnenscliein li Co.) Illustrated. Is. 



Clinical Pathologg and Practical Morhid lli.itologii. By T. 

 Stnuigeways I'igg, M.A. (Slrangeways & Sons:) Ss. net. 



The Oxford and Cambridge History of England. By Roscoo 

 Mongan, b.a. (Gill.) Illustrated, is. 



Coicper's "Expostulation." With JCotes by F. Knight Crackncll, 

 M.A. (Gill.) Is. 



Notes on Agricultural Analg.<!es. By T. S. Dyimind, i'.i,c., and 

 F. Hughes. (Chelmsford; County Teelinical Laboratories) 



The Erolution of Sex. By Prof. Patrick Oedilcs and Prul'. J. 

 Arthur Thouisoii. (Scott.) Illustrated. 6s. 



Metal Working Tools and their t^ses. By Pereival Marshall, 

 A.I.M.K. (Uuwbarn & Ward,) 6d. net. 



Picture and Frame Restoring. By Thomas Bolus, f.c.a., IM.C. 

 (l)awharn & Ward.) 6d. net 



Ilistom of English Literature. By A. Haniilton Thompson, n.A. 

 (Murray.') 7s. tki 



Meteorological Observations, I'.IOO. Vol. XV'll. (Rousdou Ob- 

 servatory, Devon.) 



Essay on the Protection of Sritish liirds. By H. S. Uavciijjort. 

 (Melton Mowbray : J. W. Warner, " The Library.") tjd. 



Agathos. By Samuel Wilberl'orce, D. I). (Ward, Lock.) 6d. 



Remarkable Eclipses. By W. T. Lynu. (Sampson, Low.) 6d. 



Smil/isonian [nstittttion. Publications of the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology. 17, Parts I and II , IS, Part 1. (Wasliin^;ton : Govern- 

 ment Printing Otiice.) 



Annals of the Asl rophysical Obsercatory of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. Vol. I. (Wasliingtoii: Government Printing Olllce.) 



Pair of Celestial Globes. (Philip & Son.) 38. 



Directory. Part II. For LTse in Schools and Classes in conned ion 

 with the Boaitl of Education. (Eyre & Sjiotliswoode.) 3d. 



Vim- Culture, as Exemplified at the Paris Exhibition. By Sir 

 James Blytli, Bart. 



Photographic Apparatus, An Abridged Catalogue of, su]ti)lied l)y 

 Sanders & Crowluirst, 71, Shaftesbury Avenue. 



BRITISH 



/ 



/£:v. 



fc-.v 



ORNiTHOLOGrCAC; 



Conducted by Harry F. Witherbt, f.z.b., m.b.o.u. 



" PiiOTO-TKAi'PiNG " BiRD.s. — " Photo-trappltig " is a 

 term invented by Mr. R. B. Lodge, the well-known bird 

 pltotographcr, to describe a method which ho has lately 

 devised to cause birds to photograpli themselves. 

 Mr. Lodge describes his method in the ZaoUxjiat (Aug., 

 1901, pp. 290-293). Briefly, it consists of hiding a 

 camera focussed and all ready for exposure near a nest 

 or other point on which a sliy bird is likely to alight. 

 A dry-cell battoiy is hidden with the camera, wires 

 connect the battery and the shutter with a specially 

 designed switch. When the bird treads upon the switch 

 the plate is immediately exposed. Iti Mr. Lodge's first 

 ex23erimonts with the machine a peewit sat upon the 

 switch . for two hours and exhausted tlie battery, but 



