190 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[August 2, 1897. 



The difference, however, of a few score miles in latitude 

 will not introduce any appreciable error in the reading of 

 so rough an instrument as a sundial is at best, — E. Walter 



Maunder.] 



* 



Notices of Boolts. 



> — 



A Dictionari/ of Birds. By Alfred Newton, assisted by 

 Hans Gadow ; with contributions by E. Lydekker, C. S. Kov, 

 and E. W. Shufeldt. (A. & C. Black.) SOs. net. Illustrated. 

 Prof. Newton is to be sincerely congratulated on bringing 

 this fine work (commenced in 1893) to a successful con- 

 clusion. From all the many hundreds of ornithological 

 ■works which have been published, this book stands clearly 

 differentiated, for it contains in alphabetical order a mass 



which seems to us to mar the whole. Every work of 

 importance is discussed in the text until we come to ^Ir. 

 Seebohm's " British Birds," which the author considers 

 worthy only of a scathing notice in a footnote. Better far 

 than this to have left the work of that able and enthusiastic 

 ornithologist unnoticed. The dictionary itself is all that 

 can be desired. It is teeming with information, and many 

 of the articles from the various contributors, and especially 

 those on anatomical subjects from Dr. Gadow, are of the 

 greatest value. Altogether, the book is one of the most 

 useful ornithological works ever pubUshed. 



The Xaturalist in Australia. By W. Sa^•ille-K€nt, 

 F.L.S., F.Z.S. (Chapman A- Hall ) Illustrated. i'3 8s. 

 In his preface to this sumptuous volume the author 

 says that he has endeavoured to " present to the 



(i-M-w" 







Stag's-Horn Coral Growth, Madi-epoi-a hehes, Great Barrier Keef, Queensland. 

 From " Tlie Naturalist iu Australia." 



ir. Sfu'iKc-Iifiif, Phofo. 



of reliable information on birds of every important genus 

 from every country, and also on all subjects which go 

 to make up the science of ornithology. In an able and 

 lengthy introduction to the work Prof. Newton reviews 

 from the days of Aristotle to the pi-esent time the 

 study of ornithology ; how it has always been a favourite 

 study ; how it has grown from a mere pastime to the 

 dignity of a science, the foundation of which, says the 

 author, was laid by Francis Willoughby and .John Eay. 

 From that time onward all the important ornithological 

 works, both at home and abroad, are freely discussed, as 

 are the various methods of classification ; and the intro- 

 duction concludes with grave doubts as to the validity of 

 any systematic arrangement of birds as yet put forth, but 

 with the certain hope that the " end, however distant, will 

 eventually arrive," and we shall have a perfect classification 

 of birds. There is one point in this scholarly introduction 



English reading public a few glimpses of the faunal and 

 floral products of that magnificent component of our 

 empire — the island-continent of Australia." In this object 

 Mr. Saville-Kent has been most successful. The volume 

 is by no means a systematic monograph, nor is it intended 

 to be ; but it deals most ably and fully, yet simply, with 

 a number of diversified forms of life that specially 

 attracted the author's attention during the twelve years 

 in which he was engaged in the Fisheries of the Australian 

 colonies. To show the general scope of the work we 

 cannot do better than to enumerate the chapter headings, 

 viz. ; Birds, Lizards, Tennites (White Ants), Houtmau's 

 Alrolpos, Fishes, Pearls and Pearl-Oysters, M.arine Mis- 

 cellanea, Insect Oddities and Vegetable Vagaries. The 

 subjects with which the author has dealt will thus 

 be seen to be both diversified and of great general 

 interest. Nor does the manner in which this matter is set 



