0(5 



KNOWLEDGE 



[March 2, 1896. 



flifl'nsibility than in angor at tho inadequate accounts he 

 gives of tho work of some of the old aatroiiomera — our 

 depreciation ceases. Tlio book is not for tho serious student 

 of astronomical history, but for those who rea<l astronomy 

 /loiir jKissi'i- Ic tfiitiix. It contains an abundance of chatty 

 information concerning the characters and surroundings 

 of many famous astronomers, those wlioae lives are 

 sketched being Ptolemy, Copernicus, Tycho P.rahe, 

 (iaiileo, Kepler, Newton, Flamsteed, llalley, llradiey, the 

 two llerscbels, Laiilate, Jh-inkley, the Marl of llosse, Airy, 

 Hamilton, Le \'crrier, and A<lams. Numerous illustrations 

 of these astronomers and their observatories adorn the 

 pages of the book and add to its interest. 



Iii/mimlri'. I'-y Prof. P. G. Tait, Sec. R.B.E. (A. & C. 

 Black.) 7s. Od. It is generally ea.sy to recogniiie the 

 products of a master-mind, and even if this work had been 

 published without the author's name upon the title-page 

 the originality and force of the contents would at once 

 command attention. Only a worker in the foremost ranks 

 of physicists could expound the science of matter and 

 motion in the manner of this volume. In the main the 

 volume is a reprint of the article, " Mechanics," contributed 

 by Prof. Tait to the " l\ncyclop;edia Britaunica ; " but parts 

 dealing with attraction, liydrostaties, hydrokinetics, etc., 

 have been added to the original to complete the structure 

 of the work. Those who know Thomson (now Lord 

 Kelvin) andTait's " Treatise on Natural Philosophy " will 

 have an idea of the character of the present volume. Only 

 students of mathematical mind can fully appreciate the 

 force of the reasoning and the fundamental nature of the 

 problems and theorems considered herein ; but they 

 will admire the development of the arguments as much as 

 a poetic naturalist does the opening of a flower. A work 

 by Prof. Tait needs no commendation to such students ; 

 all we need say to them is that the author's well-known 

 views concerning the misuse of the word "force" find 

 expression in a few sections. 



The Natural Ilinturi/ of " EristdlisTenn.v," or the JJroiii-ily, 

 ByG.B.Buckton,F.R.S. (Macmillan .t Co.) Illustrated. 

 5s. The author gives a description of the habits and 

 anatomy of the drone-fly which, will be serviceable to young 

 entomologists, and may result in increased attention being 

 given to the genus to which it belongs. The essay is 

 almost entirely confined to the natural history of Kristnlix 

 tvnax and K. a fhustn nun— hoth common in many parts of 

 England. The classification, life-history, morphology, 

 physiology, histology, and development, distribution, and 

 myths connected with l\iistalis are described in separate 

 sections, and the whole is elucidated by nine plates. 

 Entomologists will be glad to have this handy account of 

 an interesting insect. 



Pcin-(r7H>sti(is)ii. By Noel Winter. (The Transatlantic 

 Publishing Co.) Upon a train of reasoning which we 

 cannot attempt to analyse, the author establishes the 

 theory that completeness of knowledge is attainable, and be 

 names his doctrine " Pan-Gnosticism." The aims of the 

 book are thus very high, and though to us many portions 

 read like tiresome platitudes, probably there are abstract 

 philosophers who will derive satisfaction from an examma- 

 tion of the propositions advanced. 



An Andlijsix of Astronomical Motion. By H. Pratt, M.D. 

 (G. Norman & Son.) Illustrated. Dr. Pratt's theory, so 

 far as we can understand it, is that the sun we see is in 

 revolution around another sun, which in turn revolves 

 around a third sun, and this travels around a fourth body, 

 designated the central sun. Probably no one but ttie 

 author believes in this quaternary solar system, and we 

 have no desire to deny him the recreation he finds in 

 exercising his ingenuity upon it. The book may be safely 



left to run its course. Astronomers have only to glance at 

 a few pages to discover the fallacy of the conclusions 

 drawn, and the unnecessary assumptions made to explain 

 simple celestial motions ; while readers who are not familiar 

 with the mechanism of the heavens will find the bonk quite 

 beyond their comprehension. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



A y„fiirnli.'<f in Mi,l-Afrlrn. By G. F. Scott. Elliot, M.A., 

 F.L.S., K.R.G.S. (Imics&Co.) Illustrated. lOs. 



Annual Report of the Jioard of Jlei/entx of the Smitlisonian 

 Inxtiliilion. ( VViishiiigton : (iovenimeiit Priiitin^; Otiicp.) 



JCroliitCon and Man'.i }*faee in Nature, By II. Caldorwood, IjL.D., 

 F.K.S.R. (Mui'iiiilliui.) Ilhistrtttcd. lOs. 



Manual of Lit/io/oi/i/. Ji.y E. II. Williams. (New York: Wiley 

 & Sons.) 



Healin/] and I'eniilatinij Iiuildi.n,r/.i. By R. C. Carpenter, M.S , 

 C.E. Fittli Edition. (New York : Wiley & Sons.) Illustrated. 



The Prexenf. limlvtion of Man. By Or. Archdall Keid. (C'lmiv 

 man &. Hall ) Ts. 6d. 



.ipplied Maipietixm. By .1. A. Kingdon, B.A. (II. Alabaster, 

 G-atelionse, & Co.) Illustrated. 78. Od. 



liii Tantfled I'aths. By II. Mead Briggs. (Warne & Co.) Illus- 

 (rated, s's. Gd. 



Minerals, and How to Study Them. By E. S. Dana. (New York : 

 Wiley & Sons.) UluMrated. 



Insed Life. V.\ F. V. Theobald, M.A., F.E.S. (Metliuen.) 

 Illustnited. " 28. Gd. 



lioads and Pavement.i in France. By A. P. Rockwell. (New 

 York : Wiley k Sons.) Illustrated. 



The Journal of Malacoloni/. Vol. IV. (DuhiT.) Illustrated. 

 Cloth, .')s. Gd. 



nemarkahle Cometx. By W. T. Lynn, B.A., F.E.A.S. Fourtli 

 Edition. (Stanford.) Gd. 



Matricvtalion Directory. (University Correspondence College 

 Press.) l.s. 



Annnaire pour V An 1896, (Brussels: Institut Nationale de 

 Geographic.) 



The li'orld'.i Two Metal and Four Other Currency Intermediaries. 

 By .1. H. Norman. (EiRnghara Wilson.) 



Submarine Teh-qraphi/. Bv J. Bell and S. Wilson. (Electriciti/.) 

 Is. 6d. 



2'Ae Influence of Literature on Architecture. By A. T. Bolton, 

 Royal Institute of British Architects. 



PROTECTIVE RESEMBLANCE IN BIRDS. 



By Harry F. Witherby. 



PROTECTIVE resemblance, by whatever form of 

 life it is exemplified, is a well-worn subject ; but 

 it is a subject of continual and lasting interest to 

 those who love the beautiful in nature, and it is 

 one of which, if our eyes are opened, we are every 

 day seeing examples. 



In the present article it is proposed merely to deal with 

 a few instances of protective resemblance in birds, their 

 nests and eggs, and not to touch on the theories which 

 surround the subject, and which have been so often ably 

 expounded. It is hardly necessary to explain the term 

 " protective resemblance," but to the uninitiated we may 

 say that it is the more or less complete likeness, in 

 colouring or form or both, which a creature or object bears 

 to its surroundings, thus often escaping detection. 



In the accompanying full-page plate, which is an en- 

 larged reproduction of a photograph taken by Mr. Geo. 

 Burn Murdoch, of Doune, Perthshire, we have a beautiful 

 example of a living creature so nearly in nature resembling 

 its surroundings that it is difficult even for the practised 

 eye to detect it. In the photograph the outline of the 

 woodcock is, of course, more clearly defined than in nature ; 

 but even in the plate it is difficult to distinguish the bird 

 if one stands some distance away. Now this protective 

 colouring is admirably fitted to the needs of the woodcock, 

 both in winter and summer. It is nocturnal in habit, and 



