October, 1913. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



399 



I am inclined to think that Dr. Hubbard has fallen into the 

 error of identifying reason with selfishness. Pure reason is 

 motiveless; it is an organon which any desire may utilise to 

 gain its ends ; and for this reason Dr. Hubbard's enumeration 

 of the methods of organic progress seems hardly satisfactory. 

 Nor is there any reason why Socialism should result in a falling 

 birth-rate; the instinct to propagate one's species (to look at 

 the question from a purely selfish standpoint) is, on the whole, 

 sufficiently strong to counteract the desire for ease and 

 comfort ; and whilst one can thoroughly agree with Dr. 

 Hubbard's appreciation of the method of religious motive it 

 is difficult to see how any system of political economy could be 

 constructed on this basis. The State can compel its members 

 to obey laws constructed by the aid of reason for their own 

 benefit ; it cannot compel them to be religious, though much 

 can be done by means of education. The theoretical portion 

 of Dr. Hubbard's book is followed by an historical section in 

 which his views are illustrated by reference mainly to the 

 Roman and Chinese civilisations. The account of the latter is 

 particularly interesting and suggestive. 



H. S. REDGROVE. 



SPORT. 



The Tarn — the Lake. — By C. J. Holmes. 

 8i-in.X5i-in. 



48 pages. 



(Philip Lee Warner. Price 2/6 net.) 



" The Tarn — the Lake " appears to be a prettily written and 

 imaginative treatise on fishing, but after the first two chapters 

 Mr. Holmes switches the giddy and bewildered reader on to 

 the Italian Renaissance, and proceeds to discourse on 

 " Shoes and Ships and Sealing-wax." Not that his observations 

 on these and kindred subjects are wholly lacking in suggestivc- 

 ness, but it is such a far cry from reminiscences of his youth- 

 ful experiences with minnows, and he takes so much for 

 granted, and he asks so many questions and never waits for 

 an answer. But eventually he deduces to his own satisfaction the 

 conclusion that degeneracy overtakes men and fish alike, when 

 all the natural incentives to healthy exertion are too carefully 

 removed. 



E. S. G. 



ZOOLOGY. 



An Introduction to Zoology. — By Rosalie Lulham, B.Sc. 

 457 pages. 6 plates. 328 figures. 7-2-in. X 5-in. 



(Macmillan & Co. Price 7/6.) 



Miss Lulham has such a reputation in connection with 

 Nature Study work that one would expect any book that she 

 might write to be interesting and original. We are not 

 disappointed with the present volume, and it is evident that 

 much of the information included is culled from the writer's own 

 observations. If the classifications given are not always those 

 which have been based on recent researches it may be that 

 the author has in mind those who wish to classify things more 

 particularly in the field. For instance, the dragon flies with 

 no complete metamorphoses are still placed in the order 

 Neuroptera with such forms as the lace-wing fly, where there 

 is a resting stage. The reason suggested can, however, hardly 

 explain why the Testacellidae, which contains the worm-eating 

 slugs, the most highly modified of all land mollusca, is not put at 

 the head of the Stylommatophora, and from the description 

 also it is not evident that forms with well-developed shells are 

 placed in the family. Any little points of this kind are, how- 

 ever, over and again made up for by the practical notes given 

 at the end of each chapter, and we may mention specially 

 those on ants and the keeping of ants' nests. There are also 

 many useful hints and references given of the greatest value 

 to young students. In fact, the book is intended to take 

 the place of ordinary notes for those whose teachers spend 

 most of the time at their disposal, as should be done, in 

 practical work. w M w 



The Peregrine Falcon at the Eyrie. — By Francis 

 Heatherley, F.R.C.S. 78pages. 30 illustrations. 11-in.by 



8-in. 



(" Country Life." Price 5/- net.) 



Mr. Francis Heatherley is a bird-lover with a knowledge of 

 photography who during three seasons has carefully watched 

 the eyrie of the peregrine falcon, and the book under 

 consideration contains the records of his own and his friends' 

 observations. The author says that what little experience he 

 has had of the official ornithologist makes him anxious not to 

 be confounded with the latter, as the present mania for bird 

 and egg collecting is deplorable, considering the difficulties it 

 places in the way of study when so much remains to be 

 learnt of the habits of living birds. Mr. Heatherley has 

 also no exaggerated veneration for the printed word which he 

 too often finds is copied from one text-book to another in de- 

 fault of original observations, and in the case of the peregrines, 

 his only working hypothesis was that the falcon is bigger than 

 the tiercel. 



Among the chief points of interest brought out are the time 

 of incubation and the way in which, after a few days, the 

 falcon handed over to her mate the actual*work of feeding the 

 young and looking after them while she spent her time in 

 hunting and bringing the quarry to him. On one occasion the 

 hen bird absented herself for a considerable time, and Mr. 

 Heatherley is doubtful whether she did this voluntarily, owing 

 to the constant presence of strangers, or whether she had been 

 shot, and the tiercel managed to secure the services of another 

 falcon. It would be interesting to know whether, if he had 

 been left to himself, the male bird would in the end have been 

 driven to hunt to appease his hunger, and that he would after- 

 wards have fed the young. It appears that the prey that was 

 brought to the nest for the latter was plucked or not according 

 to the time which the falcon had at her disposal. What she 

 brought for the tiercel's own consumption was usually skinned. 

 The young ones paid more attention to the warning note of 

 their father than that of their mother, and it is curious that 

 when they began to take their food with less alacrity the 

 tiercel encouraged them by giving a sharp yap. 



Mr. Heatherley has come to the conclusion that the 

 difference in size between the nestlings is a sexual one, and 

 .not dependent upon the fact that incubation starts with the 

 first laid egg. Mr. C. J. King, who visited the eyrie in 1913, 

 found that of the three eggs one was larger than the others 

 and weighed fifty-eight grains more, while the difference 

 between the two small eggs was not more than a grain. Of 

 the peregrine language the author only learnt three phrases, 

 but he says that the use of a hiding contrivance greatly 

 enlarges one's appreciation of bird language — a rich field 

 for investigation. " In raising himself from the wild, man 

 has cut himself off from much knowledge of the ways of 

 his poor relations, knowledge some of which even our 

 immediate ancestors retained ; for instance, the use of the 

 great grey shike as sentinel by the Dutch trappers of passage 

 hawks, a use of a bird's characteristic implying an intimate 

 knowledge few museum authorities would care to claim. 

 Modern bird-photography and nature study are, however, 

 again lifting the veil." 



In concluding his very original and interesting book, which 

 we recommend most heartily to all lovers of birds, Mr. 

 Heatherley gives some details with regard to his photo- 

 graphic work. He uses a lens with a fifteen-inch focus 

 because he sees no sense in going to the trouble of getting 

 the camera within six feet of a shy bird and then being 

 content with an image the size of a postage stamp. With 

 Kearton, he believes in developing some, at any rate, of his 

 exposures at the end of the day. He has three shutters 

 to his camera : (1) a time and instantaneous one fastened on to 

 the front, (2) a silent studio shutter which he can fix on by 

 taking out the back of the camera, and (3) the most expensive 

 and the least useful — a focal plane shutter at the back. He 

 uses a blackened brass cylindrical hood to screw on the lens in 

 front so as to project two or three inches, which proves useful 

 against sun and rain. He finds a rucksack the most con- 

 venient means for transporting apparatus, and the safest, 



