16 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[Januaby 1, 189G. 



majority of scientific men believe that natural selection is 

 the main agent in the transmutation of species. According 

 to this doctrine, the selecting power is the struggle for 

 existence, which secures the survival of the iittest to live 

 and transmit their species under any given environment. 

 Mr. Coe is among those who doubt that natural selection 

 has been the principal agent of organic evolution. " The 

 object of this work," he says, " is to show that natural 

 selection tlms dfiimil has no place m the world of nature ; 

 that if it did exist, other factors of evolution would anticipate 

 its action in the transmutation of species now going on ; 

 and last, but not least, that wo have no definite proof of 

 its action in the early stages of organic evolution." We 

 must say that Mr. Coe sums up the case in a remarkably 

 fair manner. He has evidently read practically everything 

 that has been written on tlie subject, has judiciously 

 weighed the evidence, and has found it wanting in some 

 respects. Whatever the apostles of natural selection may 

 think of his judgment, we are of the opinion that his 

 impartial criticisms deserve the fullest consideration. 



Hints on RejlecthKj and Uifrartimj Telcxcopes, and their 

 Accessories. iij W. Thornthwaite, F.R.A.S. Cth 

 Edition. (London : Home ^^ Thornthwaite.) Is. An 

 exceedingly useful little book for anyone possessing a 

 telescope or intending to purchase one. The " hints " 

 supplied are just of the character required, and are brief 

 but clear. That it should have attained a sixth edition 

 shows that it has already been much appreciated ; and as 

 it has been carefully revised in the present edition, and a 

 considerable amount of valuable matter added, particularly 

 with regard to the micrometer, the transit instrument, 

 and celestial photography, it should meet with a very 

 cordial reception from all astronomical amateurs. 



A Handliook to the Birds of Great Britain. By E. 

 Bowdler Sharpe, LL.D. Vols. I and II. (W. H. Allen.) 

 Illustrated. Cs. each. These volumes from the pen of the 

 editor of Allen's Naturalists' Library will, with two others 

 as yet unpublished, include a description of every bird 

 which has been found in Great Britain. Dr. Sharpe has 

 handled his subject in a masterly style, and the volumes 

 would be of still greater value were there not so many 

 standard works available — some more compact and others 

 more extensive — on the same subject. In the preface to 

 the second volume the author discusses at length the 

 much-vexed question of nomenclature. In this Dr. Sharpe 

 holds his own views,' which differ from many other writers'. 

 The sooner the whole question is finally settled by an 

 international conference the better it will be for everyone 

 concerned. A few of the coloured illustrations in these 

 volumes are very good, but most of them are exceedingly 

 poor. When originally issued with the first Naturalists' 

 Library they were, no doubt, the best obtainable ; but they 

 will not pass muster when compared with more recent 

 productions. 



The Planet Earth. By Richard A. Gregory, F.R.A.S. 

 (Macmillan & Co.) The object of Mr. Gregory's attractive- 

 looking little text-book is to present to students " the facts 

 relating to the earth's movements and place in the 

 universe " in a scientific manner. " Celestial phenomena 

 must be observed before the theories that explain them 

 can be properly understood," and Mr. Gregory hopes 

 that his book may " help to revive the observational 

 astronomy of pre-telescopic times." Such a programme 

 is a most excellent one, and to a certain extent Mr. 

 Gregory has carried it out with considerable success. His 

 style is lucid and pleasing, and the diagrams and illustra- 

 tions he supplies are clear and good. Yet we fear that he 

 comes short of his ideal. His first words are a reminis- 



cence of the unscientific method he condemns ; the state- 

 ment that " the earth is a speck in the infinite ocean of 

 space " precedes the observations on which this inference 

 is based ; indeed, they do not enter into the scope of the 

 book at all. The phases of Venus are instanced as a proof 

 of the Copernican system ; they, of course, only demon- 

 strate that Venus is a satellite of the sun, not of the earth — 

 a view held centuries before the telescope was invented. 

 It is not easy for the townsman born and bred to enter 

 into any appreciation of the " observational astronomy of 

 pre-telescopic times," he is too far removed from them, 

 and Mr. Gregory wiites like a townsman. As an attempt 

 to put the teaching of elementary astronomy on an obser- 

 vational, or, as Mr. Gregory would call it, a "scientific" 

 basis, or, indeed, as an attempt to improve on the methods 

 adopted in our best known text-books, we fear Mr. 

 Gregory's volume is a failure. As a brightly written little 

 manual on an important portion of the first of sciences it 

 is to be heartily recommended. 



A Text Bool; of the Principles of Physics. By Dr. Alfred 

 Daniell, M.A., &c. 3rd Edition. (Macmillan.) Illus- 

 trated. 21s. Here we have a volume for the serious student 

 of physics ; not merely a useful compendium of physical 

 facts (like Ganot's " Physics," for instance), but a con- 

 nected account of the leading principles of modern physical 

 science, containing nothing but what should be known 

 and understood by all who profess and call themselves 

 physicists. To the lay mind the treatment may appear 

 too strict and mathematical at first sight, but a closer 

 inspection of the contents dissipates the apparent difficulty, 

 and shows that an elementary acquaintance with mathe- 

 matics is quite sufficient to comprehend all the prmciples 

 described. No preliminary knowledge of these principles 

 is assumed ; the descriptions are wonderfully clear, and 

 there is a gradual progression from the simpler to the 

 more complex parts of the subject. We have no hesitation 

 in saying that the author presents the modern aspect of 

 natural philosophy as it ought to be presented — that is, in 

 the light of dynamics and the law of the conservation of 

 energy. For this reason we cordially commend the work 

 to all who are able to assimilate and appreciate the truths 

 of physics. 



!-•-• 



SHORT NOTICES. 



Fhotograms of '95, compiled by the editors and staff of the 

 Photogram, is a pictorial and literary record of the best photographic 

 work of the year. The Tolume contains a number of excellent 

 reproductions of very beautifid photographs. 



A finely illustrated — botli in colour and in pen and ink — edition 

 of Shakespeare's Merrg Wives of Windsor has just been issued by 

 Messrs. Raphael Tuck & Sons. 



The Children's Shakespeare, also well illustrated, and published 

 bv the same firm, is a collection of abstracts from Shakespeare 

 re-written in the form of stories for children. 



Old Farm Fairies, by H. C. McCook (Hodder & Stoughton), was 

 written, the author tells us, some twenty years ago. Mr. McCook is 

 an authority on American spiders ; but in this book he throws science 

 aside, and tells, in a way that will interest every child, of the doings 

 of spiders, under the garb of "pixies." The book is profusely 

 illustrated with quaint pen-and-ink drawings, some of them being 

 the work of children. 



A Popular History of Animals, by Henry Scherren (Cassell), 

 ivi-itten for young people, aims at wakening an interest in the obser- 

 Tation of the habits of animals. The book, which is concisely and 

 clearly written, is free from all technicaUties, and, considering the 

 great number of subjects treated of, it is remarkably free from error. 

 The coloured plates and a large number of engrarings, although not 

 altogether good, admirably serve their purpose. 



Phiisiology, by A. Macalister. LL.U., M.D., F.E.S. (S.P.C.K.), 

 one of the series of Manuals of Elementary Science, presents, in a 

 condensed form, the elementary principles of the physiology of man. 

 It will be found of great value as a first book to the student of 

 physiology, besides being very useful to everyone as a book of 

 reference. 



