Decembkb 1, 1899.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



279 



at Hampstead. The membership already numbers over 

 eighty, and a reflecting telescope of ten and a half inch 

 mirror, the gift of Colonel Heberden, has been erected 

 for the use of the members in a small observatory on the 

 East Heath. Mr. B. W. Martin, of 7, Holly Place, 

 Hampstead, is the honorary secretary. 



j^otuts of ISoolts. 



• 



The International Gengraphy. By Seventy Authors. Edited 

 by Hugh Robert !MiH, D.sc. Illustrated. (George Xewnes.) l.os. 

 Many books are now published on every branch of scientific 

 knowledge, but it is rarely that a volume appears having 

 characteristics which place it distinctly in advance of others of 

 the same class. Such a volume is, however, now available for 

 the student of geography in the work before us ; no impartial 

 critic, familiar with geographical literature, will hesitate to ex- 

 press this conviction. In his position as Librarian to the Royal 

 Geographical Society, Dr. Mill has exceptional opportunities 

 of knowing trustworthy authorities on the geography of any 

 part of the world, and on the subjects of earth structure 

 affecting the physical environment of man. The admirable dis- 

 crimination he has used may be seen by a glance at the list of 

 contributors to the present volume. With one or two exceptions 

 it may be said that every page of the one thousand and fifty two 

 which make up the descriptive portion of the book is the work 

 of a leading geographer, distinguished above others for the 

 special knowledge he possesses of the subject with which he 

 deals. The list of contributors is so long that it cannot be 

 enumerated here, but the value of the foregoing remark will 

 perhaps be better appreciated when we say that Dr. Downing, 

 the chief of the Nautical Almanac, deals with mathematical 

 geography, Prof. J. Arthur Thomson with the distribution of 

 living creatures, Prof. Grenville Cole with Ireland, Sir John 

 Murray with the oceans, the Right Hon. J. Bryce with the 

 South African Republic, and Dr. Xansen with the Arctic Regions, 

 to mention only six of the seventy authors. Dr. Mill has not 

 only edited the volume, but has written a number of the sections 

 and has translated several of the chapters by foreign contri- 

 butors. He has evidently spared no pains in designing the 

 work and securing uniformity of treatment, and has succeeded 

 to a degi'ee which would almost have seemed impossible to any- 

 one familiar with editorial difficulties. The illustrations are 

 not of a pictorial character, being sketch maps and diagrams to 

 assist the reader to understand the special features described in 

 the adjacent text. In this respect, as in others, the editor has 

 acted wisely, for if an attempt had been made to combine atlas, 

 picture book and text book, the resulting work would certainly 

 have been unsatisfactory. To indicate the scientific scope of 

 the volume, we may add that Dr. Mill defines geography as 

 " the exact and organized knowledge of the distribution of 

 phenomena on the surface of the earth, culminating in the 

 explanation of the interaction of man with his terrestrial en- 

 vironment." Geography only becomes a science when this broad 

 conception orit is taken ; and the present volume will help to 

 educate the public to recognize that principle. But putting 

 aside educative influences, we confidently state that the work is 

 a unique contribution to geographical literature, and if a library 

 had to be limited to a single work on geography, this ought to 

 be the selected book. 



An lUuiitrated Manual of British Birds. By Howard Saunders, 

 P.L.S., F.Z.S., etc. Second edition. (Gurney & Jackson.) 

 Illustrated, "ils. This book, which has been issued in monthly 

 parts, to which we have alreadj' drawn attention, is now com- 

 pleted. In this second edition of the well-known ''Manual" 

 ^Ir. Saunders' task has been to sift a mass of evidence regarding 

 a number of birds claimed to be new to the British list 

 since the first edition was published ten years ago. Of 

 these seventeen have been accorded places, thus bringing the 

 total up to three hundred and eighty-four. Besides tlois the 

 whole of the book has been brought up to date, which has 

 entailed a great deal of rewriting — an exceedingly difficult task 

 when the description of each species is limited to two pages. 

 Another new feature in the book is the re-drawing of many of 

 the figures. This was a much-needed reform, and Mr. G. E. 

 Lodge has done his work on the whole well, many of the 



drawings being most beautiful, but in some cases, and notably 

 in the figure of the Caspian Plover on page 637, we are sorry 

 to note a marked falling off from the painstaking and accurate 

 detail which are generally such a characteristic of Mr. 

 Lodge's drawings. Although there are a great number of new 

 figures there are still many old ones which should never have 

 found a place in the second edition. Of these bad drawings 

 we would especially draw attention to the figures of the 

 Long-eared Owl (p. 293), the Sparrow Hawk (p. 333), and the 

 Arctic Tern (p. 649). One of the most valuable portions of the 

 book is the comprehensive account of the geographical distribu- 

 tion of each species. This feature makes the book of great 

 use to the traveller. In a few cases the author might have given 

 us a few words more, as for in.stance in the case of the Common 

 Sandpiper, concerning the distribution of which north of the 

 Arctic Circle he tells us nothing. The statement on p. lO'J that 

 the Lesser Redpoll is unknown on the Continent to the north 

 of the Baltic is difticult to understand in conjunction with a 

 statement made by Mr. Harvie-Brown in the Ibis for 1873, 

 p. 64. Mr. Harvie-Brown, in writing of the birds of the 

 Archangel, said that the Lesser Redpoll was " perhaps the most 

 abundant bird in the Archangel district .... breeding plenti- 

 fully in the gardens in the town." Mr. Saunders has no space 

 to tell us much of the habits of birds, but the essential points 

 are introduced. In this connection we should like to draw his 

 attention to two small points. On p. 560 he says of the oyster- 

 catcher that " on rocky coasts each pair inhabits a certain 

 district." This is not according to our experience. On the 

 west coasts of Scotland and Ireland we have found a great many 

 breeding in close proximity on small rocky islands, the " nests " 

 in some cases being within a few yards of each other. It is 

 mentioned that the Sandpipers often perch on trees and posts, 

 but it is not mentioned that the whimbrel, godwit and others do 

 so, although with them the habit seems just as usual. In con- 

 clusion, we may point out that to write such a book as this on 

 British birds is no mean task, and as the best proof of how 

 accurate and full of information it is we may say that the first 

 edition became quite indispensable to every British ornithologist. 

 We are quite certain that this second edition will become 

 equally so, and we heartily recommend everyone interested in 

 birds who does not know the book to immediately procure it. 



The Process Year Book fnr 1899. Edited by W. Gamble. 

 (Penrose & Co.) 



Photogratns of the Year 1899. Compiled by the Editors of 

 Tlie PhotO(/ram', assisted by A. C. R. Carter. 3s. net. (Dawbarn 

 & Ward.) ■ 



That each of the two books before ns is so excellent, both in 

 its examples of photograms and its reproduction of them, 

 relieves the obtrusive fact that the year 1899 has not given us 

 much that is new in photographj'. We can safelj' say that we 

 have not seen more beautiful illustrations than some of those 

 contained in these two annuals. The superiority of colour over 

 black and white is manifested in the '' Process Year Book," which 

 contains several very successful tinted illustrations, a green tint, 

 for instance, lending a distinct charm to some rustic scenes. On 

 the other hand, the three-colour work shown is very poor 

 indeed — no advance on that of former years. On the whole 

 " The Process Year Book '' is a wonderful production, and the 

 numerous articles on all manner of process work are very 

 profitable re.ading. Xo one will regret that " Photograms of 

 the Year'' is double the size of the four previous issues, for 

 hardly an unworthy photogram has been admitted. The 

 articles are fragmentary, but good, and the criticisms pains- 

 taking. The use of a substitute for "Art printing paper" lias 

 had the unfortunate eflrect of destroying pure high-Ughts in the 

 majority of the illustrations, a result much to be deplored in a 

 book of this kind. 



Tlie Soluhle Ferments and Fermentation. By J. Reynolds 

 Green, sc.D., F.R.s. (Cambridge University Press.) I'Js. No 

 more instructive example of the gradual growth of modern views 

 on scientific questions is to be found than that provided by the 

 repeated modification of theories put forward to explain the 

 various problems connected with the phenomena of fermentation. 

 As the results of researches have shown that explanations pre- 

 viously accepted were inadequate to account for all phenomena, 

 the old theories were either discarded or reformulated. In 

 early times fermentation meant any process accompanied by a 

 copious evolution of gas, and some old writers went so far as to 



