298 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[December 1, 1897. 



handsome book to the Countess of Warwick : " In token of 

 her kindly friendship, these scenes of idyllic life in Warwick- 

 shire — the work of my hand with my heart in it — are, by 

 her permission, very gratefully inscribed." It certainly 

 was not intended that man should live perpetually in four- 

 walled structures ; still, the majority of the human race 

 dawdle most of their time away under such artificial 

 conditions. We have here a series of sketches which will 

 please many a lover of country life. The scenes are 

 depicted by the author direct from nature, and are located 

 in Warwickshire. There are six sketches containing many 

 interesting bits of information, and written in homely 

 language, mingled with the colloquial phrasing of Shake- 

 speare's country. The author is a keen observer of human 

 nature, but he is all at sea when writing of birds. He 

 describes the characteristic flight and action of a kestrel 

 hawk, but he calls the bird a " sparrowhawk." As a whole, 

 the book presents a good idea of humble life in Warwick- 

 shire, and will be appreciated by those who care for this 

 sort of literature. 



The Vertehnite Shleton. By S. H. Heynolds, M.A., 

 F.R.S. Illustrated. (Cambridge University Press.) The 

 title of this book is hardly comprehensive enough for the 

 matter contained, a somewhat larger field being covered by 

 including some animals which are not strictly vertebrates. 

 As the author says, in a short preface, the plan adopted 

 is to give an account of the general skeletal characters of 

 each group and of its several subdivisions, to describe in 

 detail the skeleton of one or more selected types, and to 

 treat the skeleton as developed in the group organ by 

 organ. Perhaps an improvement might have been effected 

 by putting the chapters in diiJerent order, as their sequence 

 is not that best suited for the instruction of a beginner ; 

 but this is a minor matter which is amply compensated 

 for by the able treatment of the subject. The illustrations 

 are fairly numerous and in all cases well and carefully 

 selected. Many are drawings taken from photographs of 

 specimens in the British Museum and Cambridge Uni- 

 versity Museum of Zoology. The book is one that can 

 profitably be used by students of the subject. 



Lesson'^ in Elementary Bioh»/i/. By T. Jeft'ery Parker. 

 (Macmillan \' Co.) Illustrated. 10s. Cd. A good deal of 

 controversy has occasionally arisen as to the way in 

 which biology should be taught. Some, like the late 

 J'rof. Huxley, advocate starting with the higher animals 

 and proceeding downwards ; others— and they are in the 

 majority — advise the student to commence with the lower 

 animals and go step by step up the biological ladder. In 

 the book before us the author commences with the lower 

 organisms first, a plan which, at any rate, commends 

 itself to us. Of course, there are substantial reasons for 

 and against pursuing a course of biology on either of these 

 different lines ; but when one looks thoughtfully into the 

 matter, it seems most natural to pass from the simpler to 

 more complex, or what is known as synthetical biology. 

 Never forgetting the valley of the shadow of the coming 

 examination, it is always a matter of primary importance 

 to find the path of least resistance in preparing class books 

 of this kind. Some new matter has been added to this 

 — the third — edition, and also some forty additional illus- 

 trations. Prof. Parker's book is essentially a laboratory 

 guide, and all the drawings, exceedingly good of their 

 kind, are structural views, not pictures, of the subjects 

 treated. Both zoology and botany are included, and 

 representatives of each chief division arc thoroughly 

 investigated individually and comparatively. 



Tiihlis fill- F(iciUt<(tiii(i Coiiiinttdtiim nf Stiir-Co}nt<(}its as 

 Arranged by E. J. Stone, M.A., F.R.S., Modified and 

 Revised by H. H. Turner, M.A., B.Sc. (Frowde.) 2s. 



The original supply of copies of Mr. Stone's well-known 

 tables having been exhausted, Prof. Turner, who was then 

 giving his attention to the question of shortening the process 

 of calculating " star corrections," came to the conclusion 

 that a re-issue of Mr. Stone's tables — the excellence of 

 which has been abundantly established by experience — 

 would meet the case if the tables were shortened by 

 confining them to three places of decimals instead of five. 

 It has been found that in actual use this gives all needful 

 accuracy, whilst the rapidity with which the work can be 

 carried out is much increased. The tables are clearly 

 printed and neatly arranged, and the book is rendered 

 more complete by an appendix giving the day numbers of 

 the X,iutic,il Ahi>ii,„ic for 1897, 1898, and ls99, modified 

 for use with them. 



Diseases of Phmfs iudwed hij Cryptogamic Parasites. By 

 Dr. Karl Freiherr von Tubeuf. FiUglish Edition by William 

 G. Smith, B.Sc, Ph.D. Illustrated. (Longmans, Green, 

 & Co.) This book, although an addition to an already 

 large mass of similar literature, undoubtedly fills a pressing 

 want. It is devoted not merely to a description of the 

 various pathogenic fungi, slime fungi, bacteria, and algre 

 which are parasitic on the higher plants, but also enters 

 into the wider field where parasites and saprophytes are, 

 as the result of environment, scarcely to be distinguished 

 from each other. The book has also considerable com- 

 mercial value, as, in addition to the purely scientific interest 

 in the subject, it will be of use to those who are engaged 

 in the cultivation of plants, for it indicates the best methods 

 by which the parasites can be destroyed, or prevented from 

 developing, without injury to their host. The work is 

 furnished with many excellent illustrations, largely photo- 

 graphic, which are almost exclusively the work of the 

 author, taken from living objects. It is evidently not 

 intended to replace existing systematic works on the same 

 subject, but is rather an addition to them. The references 

 given are up to date, and will therefore be found serviceable. 



An Illu.strated Mmittal of Britisli Birds. By Howard 

 Saunders, F.L.S., F.Z.S. Second Edition. Illustrated. 

 Part I., price Is. (Gurney & Jackson.) We heartily 

 welcome the first part of the new edition of Mr. Saunders' 

 manual. It is now about eight years since the first edition 

 of this exceedingly useful work was published. Many rare 

 birds have been recorded for the British Islands during 

 the last eight years, and it will be the author's task to 

 incorporate all authenticated and valuable records in this 

 new edition, which is to be thoroughly revised and brought 

 up to date. The first part (the book will be complete in 

 twenty monthly parts) is excellent in every way. The 

 same classification as in the former edition will be adopted 

 in the present one, and for this we are thankful, since we 

 shall be able to refer to the book without using the index. 

 The description of each species is limited to two pages as 

 before, and the same illustrations, with the exception of 

 about thirty new ones, will be used. To those who are 

 unacquainted with the first edition of the manual, we 

 would say that it gives all the essential information on 

 British birds in the smallest possible space, and that it is 

 absolutely reliable. A\'e hope to refer to the work again 

 when further parts have been published. 



Elements of Deserijitiee Astronomy. By Herbert A. Howe, 

 A.M.,Sc.D. (New York: Silver,Burdett,& Co.) Illustrated. 

 7s. Cd. This work, described by its author as a text-boolc, is 

 admirably adapted for the use of students who know a 

 little algebra and plane geometry. Prof. Howe deals with 

 the usual subjects with great clearness and some freshness 

 of style. A most valuable feature of the book is the 

 admirable series of questions which are placed at the end 

 of each chapter— questions which the student will not be 



