August 1, 1895.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



185 



Practical Microscopy. By George E. Davis, F.R.M.S., 

 F.I.C. Pp. im. (W. H. Allen & Co.) This is the third 

 edition of what is essentially a practical work, very little 

 space being given to the theory of microscopy, it is a 

 work which will enable the microscopist to thoroughly 

 understand the capabilities of the instrument he uses, and 

 initiate him into the operations carried out by means of 

 accessories to it. All branches of microscopical work are 

 dealt with, and if the student follows out the instructions, 

 he will acquire expertness in manipulation and the ability 

 to observe. 



A First Book of Electricity and Mai/nctism. By W. 

 Perren Maycock, M.I.E.E. Pp. 233. Second Edition. 

 (Whittaker'& Co.) Young and ill-educated beginners of 

 the study of electricity and magnetism will find this volume 

 a suitable and really elementary text-book. The simplest 

 language is employed throughout ; nevertheless, the student 

 who has gone carefully through the book will have acquired 

 a sound fciowledge of the subjects dealt with. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



yatiire versus yafin-al Selec/ior, : an Essay on Organic Evolution. 

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The Cetl — outlines of General Anatomy and Physiology. By 

 D.-. Osoar Hertwig. Translated by il. Campbell, and edited by Henry 

 Jobnstone Campbell. (Swan Sonnenschein.) Illustrated. i2s. 



Architecture for General Readers. By H. Heathcote Statham. 

 (Chapman & Hall.) Illustrated. 



The Structure and Life of Birds. By F. W. Headley. (Mac- 

 millan.) Illustrated. 7s. 6d. 



A Chapter on Birds. Rare British Visitors. By R. Bowdler 

 Sharpe. (S. P. C. K.) Illustrated. Ss. 6d. 



The Natural History of Aquatic Insects. By Prof. L. C. Miall. 

 (Macmillan.) Illustrated. 68. 



An Introduction to Chemical Crystallography. By Andreas Fuck. 

 Translated and edited by \V. J. Pope. (Oxford : The Clarendon 

 Press.) 5s. 



The Climates of the Geological Past, and their relation to the 

 Evolution of the Sun. By Eug. Dubois. (Swan Sonnenschein.) 3s. 6d. 



Allen's Naturalist's Lihrarif ; a Wand-book to the Game Birds. 

 Vol. I. By W. R. OgiMe-Grant. (W. H. Allen.) Illustrated. 6s. 



A Thousand Anstcers to a Thousand Questions. (Geo. Newnes.) 

 2s. 6d. 



.istrononiers and their Observatories. By Lucy Taylor ; with a 

 preface by W. Thynne LjTin. (Partridge.) Is. 6d. 



An Analysis of Astronomical Motion. By Henry Pratt, II. D. 

 (Xorman & Son.) 



Chemists and their Wonders. By F. M. Holmes. (Partridge.) 

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T/ie Stoi-y of the Plants. By Grant Allen. (Geo. Newnes.) 

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Garden Flowers and Plants ; a Primer for Amateurs. By J. 

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Microbes and Disease Demons. By Ed. Berdoe. (Swan Sonnen- 

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A Sutnmer Holiday in Holland. By Chantrey Churchill. (H. 

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The Study of Atmospheric Currents by the aidof Large Telescopes. 

 By A. E. Douglass. Reprinted from the Meteorological Journal, 

 March, 1895. 



A DAY ON A SCOTCH MOOR. 



By Harry F. Witherby. 



TO most people and to sportsmen specially a moor is 

 better known, either by description or personal 

 experience, in the autumn when the heather is 

 blooming and the grouse arc flying than in the 

 spring. From a naturalist's point of view, however, 

 a Scotch moor is much more interesting about the middle 

 of May than on the 12th of August. 



It is my intention in this paper to describe what was 

 seen by myself and three companions on a certain 20th of 

 May spent on a Scotch moor. 



Making an early start in brilliant simshine, we walked 

 steadily along a dusty, uphill road for about seven miles, 

 until the moor was reached. The only object of interest 

 passed on the road was a gigantic pigeon house, and as 

 these houses are now becoming rather scarce, it may be 

 worth while to make a digression here, and say something 

 concerning the one we saw. It was about fifteen feet square 

 and twenty-five feet high, looking like a house without 

 windows. The roof was built in the form of a flight of 

 steps, in the " risers " of which holes were cut for the pigeons 

 to go in and out. Inside the house, shelves were arranged 

 on which the pigeons nest. The house, which belonged to 

 " the Laird," could accommodate several himdred pairs of 

 pigeons ; but I was told that it was by no means the 

 largest in the district. The pigeons kept in these large 

 houses are not as a rule fed, but obtain their living from 

 the neighbouring farms. Many pages might be written 

 upon the construction of these houses, where they are to 

 be found, and the old laws relating to them, but space 

 forbids. 



At length the edge of the moor appeared in sight ; but 

 before it could be reached it was necessary to cross a deep 

 and exceedingly narrow glen, down the centre of which 

 there flowed a little stream, or burn, as the Scotsman 

 calls it. Although the sides of the glen were very 

 steep, they were thickly covered with trees and under- 

 growth. Once across the glen, we were on the moor, 

 but the stream proved a serious obstacle to at least one 

 of our party. Its sides were steep and overgrown with 

 nettles, and to both stream and nettles our friend fell a 

 victim. 



On the other side of the burn we all lay down in the 

 heather, and after enjoying a quarter of an hour's 





Nest and Eggs of the Ked Grouse. 



rest, we walked on and soon arrived at a shepherd's 

 cottage, the owner of which was known to some of our 

 party. 



As I was anxious to obtain a photograph of a grouse ^ 

 on the nest, the shepherd led us to one, but although the 

 bird allowed me to approach within five feet of her as she 

 sat on the nest among the heather, the result was in no 

 way satisfactory. 



' Bed Grouse (Lagopws scoficus). 



