184. 



KNOWLEDGE, 



[AnouBT, 1902. 



Kook, Titinii-e, Thrushes aud Starlitips. Sonic of Mr. 

 TegctuK'it'r's remarks caustHl us some surprise and not a 

 little sorrow, but perhaps we have taken them too 

 seriously. We fc^el certain that his remarks concerning; 

 the value of liirds as insect destroyers are not 8up])ortcd 

 liy fact, and are calculated to do some harm — perhaps 

 much harm. 



Abrupt Variation in Indian BrRos. — Mr. Frank 

 Finn, ui the JunriMf of the AKintic Suciety of Bfnijal, 

 Vol. LXXI., part II., 11H)2, contributes some interesting 

 observations on albinistic variations. The most noteworthy 

 of these are furnished by the Ruil {Pavoncella pwjnax). 

 In a considerable number oi specimens, mostly males, Mr. 

 Finn finds the winter ])lumage characterized by a white 

 head, aud wliile uiottliui,'s in the body plumage. Since 

 this variation occurs only in old birds, Mr. Finn is inclined 

 to regard it as a species of senile albinism. Some strong 

 and vigorous birds, however, also apjjcar in this wliite- 

 mottled and white-headed guise, and in consequence the 

 author seems to change his view of the significance of the 

 variation, and to hold that it is a well-marked and 

 definable form, liable to recur again and again. Such 

 recurrent aberrations, he thinks, it is desirable to 

 distinguish by a sub-specific name, proposing therefor 

 Pavoncella pugnax lecoprora. Important, and in every way 

 worthy of record such variations certainly are, but we 

 venture to doubt whether the bestowal of specific names 

 on such forms is justified. 



White-fronted Goose Nesting in Captivity. -Mr. F. W. Frohawk, 

 in a letter to the Field, July Sth, reoords perhaps the only authen- 

 ticated instance of this bird breeding in confinement. The pair of 

 birds wliich hare achieved this fame belonged to Mr. J. S. Green, of 

 Blackheath. Five eggs were laid, but of these only one has hatched 

 out. It is to be hoped that the gosling will reach maturity. 



Rheas Breeding in Captiriti/. — Major FothergUl, in the Avicttltural 

 Magazine for May, records some extremely interesting facts about 

 the nesting liabits of the Rheas in his possession. We are much 

 tempted to quote therefrom, but space forbids. 



Noteioorthy additions at the Zoological GarJens. — We draw the 

 attention of our readers to the fact that three specimens of Darwin's 

 Khci,six ruddy Flamingoes, and a Great Bii'd of Panulise fParadisea 

 npodaj have recently been added to the Society's collection. All are 

 m good health, and well worth a visit. 



All contributions to the column, either in the way of notes 

 or pholograjihs, should he forwarded to W. P. Pyckaft, at the 

 Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, S, W. 



#0tiCC 8 of B oofeg. 



"Experimental Chemistry." By Dr. L. C. Newell. 

 Pp. XV. and 410. (London: D. C. Heath.) Illustrated. 5s. 

 Text-books of chemistry are so numerous that a new one is apt 

 to be regarded with the same mixed feelings which the father 

 of a large family receives the news of the advent of another 

 little stranger. But to pursue the analogy, though there is 

 a strong family likeness between the various volumes, each 



Eossesses some peculiar characteristics, which may or may not 

 e desirable. The most original feature of Dr. Newell's book 

 is due to the combination of the inductive and deductive 

 methods of teaching. The book contains an enlightened course 

 of practical work as well as a descriptive account of chemical 

 principles and philosophy. It is thus a laboratory manual and 

 a text-book combined ; and we know of few books in which 

 the combination is more successfully performed. Usually the 

 experiments described in class-room books are suitable only for 

 the purpose of lecture demonstration, but in the present volume 

 they are of the simple character required for individual work 

 in the laboratory. There are, in addition, practical exercLses 

 bearing ui)on the laboratory work, problems on the calculation 

 of results from given data, and subjects for short descriptive 

 essays. The student who follows such a course of manual and 

 mental work as Dr. Newell provides will derive permanent 

 benefit from it, and the teacher who uses the book will find his 

 work inspired as well as facilitated. The only objection to the 

 wide adoption of the book in this country is the American 

 orthography in such words as ''meter," "liter," "color," &c. 



"Mammalia" (Cambridge Natural History, Vol. X.l By 

 F. E. Beddard. (London : Macmillan i^ Co., Ltd.) Pp. xii. 

 and CiO.'). Tllustnited. ITs. - In this volume Mr. Beddard has 

 undoubtedly made an important contribution to the history of 

 mammals, hi.s text-liook Ijeing the only one which can be said to 

 be up to date and to contain notices of the many important 

 types— both recent and fossil — discovered during the last few 

 years. Since the author is an anatomist rather than a systema- 

 tist, it would be natural to expect that his work should deal 

 with the subject more from the morphological than from the 

 taxonomic aspect, and a glance at the volume will show that 

 this is really the case. Of special imjiortance and interest is 

 the large amount of space devoted to the characters and struc- 

 ture of the brain in the different groups, since this is a subject 

 the author has made specially his own, while it is also one to 

 which but scant attention is generally paid in works of this 

 nature. Another feature worthy of the liighest praise is the 

 importance accorded to extinct types, es])ecially since Mr. 

 Beddard is not himself a patoontologist. His morphological 

 studies of the group have, however, evidently led him t<j conclude 

 that it is quite impossible to arrive at any true conception of 

 the relations of the existing forms without taking into con- 

 sideration their extinct forerunners. In this part of his sutjject 

 the author is fortunate in having received much valuable assist- 

 ance from such a competent authority as Prof. H. F. Osborn, of 

 New York. We have said that Mr. Beddard is not primarily a 

 systematist, nevertheless he is thoroughly up to date, if not 

 indeed in advance of some of his contemporaries, in dividing 

 mammals into two (instead of three) primary groups, namely, 

 into those which lay eggs and those which give birth to living 

 young. In this he is undoubtedly right. Naturally, a large 

 (perhaps disi>roportioiiately large) amount of space is allotted 

 to the Cetacea, which have for some years attracted much of 

 the author's attention. In the systematic treatment of some of 

 the other orders, notably the Ungulata, there are, unfortunately, 

 a con.siderable number of errors and misstatements, which it may 

 be hoped will be remedied in a second edition. In most 

 respects, the work is well worthy of the author, and of the series 

 of which it forms a part. 



" Other Worlds : Their N.^ture, Possibilities, and 

 Habitability in the Light of the Latest Discoveries.'' 

 By Garrett P. Serviss. (London : Hirschfeld Bros., Limited, 

 13, Furnival Street, Holborn, E.C. l'J02.)— " The point of view 

 of this book is human interest in the other worlds around us."' 

 The subject has been often treated, frequently from the stand- 

 point of fiction, less often from that of fact, and Mr. Serviss 

 confines his imagination strictly to the possibilities permitted by 

 facts when discussing the interesting probabilities and theories 

 that have commanded wide popular attention. And we would 

 like to make mention here of the charm and lucidity of Mr. 

 Serviss's style ; so simple and clear is the expression of bis idea, 

 that we almost lose sight of the depth and science of matters he 

 treats of. On the road from one of our sister planets to another, 

 with his guide book in hand, the wayfaring man though a fool 

 may not err therein. His premisses for habitability may be 

 very briefly described as follows : When the earth cooled and 

 solidified out of the primeval nebula, there lay between the 

 huge inert globe of permanently combined elements below and 

 the equally unchanging realm of ether above, a thin shell (the 

 surface of the crust of the earth, the lower and denser strata of 

 the atmosphere, and the film of water that constitutes the oceans) 

 whereon took place ceaseless combinations and re-combinations 

 of chemical elements in unstable and temporary union, and in this 

 shell life appeared, and only in this shell do we know of life's 

 existence. Air and water furnish the means for the continual 

 transformations by which the bodies of plants aud animals are 

 built up and afterwards disintegrated, aud we are compelled to 

 regard such a shell as we have on the earth, and containing air 

 and water, or their analogues, as pre-requisites to the existence 

 on any planet of organic life ; and Mr. Serviss also includes the 

 active stimulus of sunshine. Judging by this standard, the only 

 habitable globes beside the earth are Venus and Mars ; Mercury 

 is in the last degree doubtfid as a fit place for habitation ; the 

 moon is certainly past use ; and the asteroids were never 

 habitable ; and Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are not 

 yet out of the builder's hands, so to S|ieak. Of the satellites of 

 these four outer planets we do not know enough to say oneway 

 or the other. The sun is not discussed ; its temperature has 



