NATURE 



[May I, 1890 



Mr. Nicholson very justly remarks in a footnote to p. 

 43, that since the publication of the " Tentamen," much 

 has been done in the way of improvement in the classi- 

 fication of birds. In order to assist the student a few 

 references are added to recent publications. 



These do not seem to be very well chosen ; for ex- 

 ample, it is probably much better to arrange the Tur- 

 didas in two sub-families, as has been suggested later, 

 than to retain Sundevall's arrangement. But this seems 

 a very trifling matter in comparison with such serious 

 errors as we have referred to, about which there can be 

 no question, and which are left altogether unnoticed by 

 the translator. F. E. B. 



The Flowering Plint: as illustrating the First Principles 



of Botany. By J. R. Ainsworth Davis, B.A. (London : 

 Charles Grififin and Co., 1890.) 

 Different opinions may be held as to what constitutes 

 an elementary science text-book dealing with first prin- 

 ciples, and we are inclined to think that Mr. Davis has 

 given the work before us too modest a title. This little 

 book, of 160 pages, contains enough facts and "hard 

 words " to fill a small Encyclopaedia, although " no pre- 

 vious knowledge is assumed " ; and we fear that "any 

 beginner who limited his studies to this work would run 

 more danger of developing into a kind of Hving abridged 

 botanical dictionary than of mastering the first principles 

 of the science. 



The introduction, which deals with "the scope and 

 subdivisions of the subject," " differences between plants 

 and animals," and " differences between living and non- 

 living matter," is condensed into 5^ pages. The fol- 

 lowing 137 pages are devoted to morphological and 

 physiological botany ; these are succeeded by an ap- 

 pendix on practical work, in which directions for the 

 description of flowering plants, a summary of the various 

 classes and orders, and directions for the study of 

 anatomy, histology, and physiology, are condensed into 

 15 pages. One cannot help being struck by the author's 

 power of precis-\ir\'(\ng. 



We cannot, therefore, recommend Mr. Davis's book to 

 beginners, for whom a judicious selection of facts from 

 which main principles may be deduced is, in our opinion, 

 necessary. It is no easy task to write a book on " first 

 principles," and this can hardly be accomplished by any- 

 one who has not devoted much time to actual observation 

 in the subject in question. 



In his preface the author states that "no attempt has 

 been made to ' write up ' (or ' down ') to any syllabus ; " 

 but the title-page informs us that the book is " especially 

 adapted for the London Matriculation, South Kensing- 

 ton, and University Local Examinations in Elementary 

 Botany." This, we take it, explains the real object of 

 the work, which is also indicated by an appendix, con- 

 sisting of 153 questions selected from South Kensington 

 and London University examination papers. The appear- 

 ance of the present work is, in fact, a natural result of 

 our present system of examinations. 



Looked upon as a set of condensed notes, recapitulating 

 what has been learnt in lectures which (as doubtless many 

 at the present time have to be) are " specially adapted for 

 the requirements " of various examinations, the book may 

 certainly prove useful to many, and from this point of 

 view much might be said in its favour. Moreover, as no 

 specific types are taken, it will probably (for examining 

 bodies do fortunately change their "types" occasion- 

 ally) have a longer life than the author's " Text-book of 

 Biology." 



It is impossible here to criticize the work in detail, and 

 we will only call attention to the insufficient account of 

 growth contained in the introduction : such condensation 

 cannot but result in inaccuracy. 



Sixty figures are included in the text, most of which 

 are very well known ; some half-dozen are original, but 

 most of these might have been omitted with advantage. 



Cycles of Drought atid Good Seasons in South Africa. By 

 D. E. Hutchins, Conservator of Forests, Knysna. With 

 Cyclical Diagrams. Pp.137. (London: William Wesley 

 and Son, 1889.) 



Mr. Hutchins's little book consists of two lectures (subse- 

 quently amplified) which were delivered at King William's 

 Town and Grahamstown in 1886 and 1887. Their subject- 

 matter is fairly indicated in the title, and the author's 

 views are succinctly set forth in the opening words of his 

 second lecture : — " We know that the climate of South 

 Africa varies in cycles, that the climates of other countries 

 similarly placed, such as Australia, South America, and 

 India, also vary in cycles. This cycHcal variation is 

 probably due to more causes than one." 



Of these cycles, one only, that of the sun-spot period, is 

 already familiar to meteorologists. The others are — a 

 cycle of 9 or 10 years, or, more accurately, 9*43 years as a 

 mean, which Mr. Hutchins terms the " storm cycle," and 

 appears to have been suggested to him by the rainfall • 

 register of Cape Town Observatory, extending over 48 

 years ; and one of 12 or 13 years, which he terms the 

 "cyclical mitigation" of the droughts which otherwise 

 prevail in the intervals of the maxima of the two previous 

 cycles. The physical cause of this last is not indicated. 

 Allowing for an occasional delay of a year in the occur- 

 rence of the sun-spot rainfall maximum, the vicissitudes of 

 the Cape Town Observatory rainfall are thus fairly reduced 

 to rule. For other stations some modifications are found 

 necessary, and it appears that at certain inland stations 

 and on the east coast a wet year occurs two or three 

 years after that of maximum sun-spots, which Mr. Hutchins 

 terms the "lag rain " of sun-spot maximum. In the register 

 of the Karoo rainfall we also notice a year of " irregular 

 mitigation," and another year of high rainfall not reducible 

 to any cycle, but which is not so annotated. 



Perhaps, indeed, we are wrong in assuming that some 

 of the above cycles are new and unfamiliar, since Mr. H. 

 C. Russell, in a paper communicated to the Royal Society 

 of Sydney in 1876, tells us that cycles of 2, 3, 5 or 6, 6 

 or 7, 9, 10, II, 12, 13, 17, 19, 30, and 56 years, have been 

 advocated as regulating the rainfall of different places, 

 and we might, of our own knowledge, add others to the 

 list. But with the exception of the sun-spot cycle, all of 

 them seem to be evolved from the rainfall statistics dealt 

 with in each case, and to have no other physical meaning. 

 It does not seem to have occurred to Mr. Hutchins 

 that, however ingenious as an arithmetical exercise, such 

 analyses of a series of statistics have no more claim to rank 

 as physical inquiry than the solving of acrostic puzzles. 

 He has evidently no misgiving on this head, and is cer- 

 tainly not open to the reproof conveyed in Montrose's 

 well-known lines. He does not fear the fate of his system 

 too much to put it to the touch of a definite and detailed 

 forecast ; and under its guidance he has constructed tables 

 showing year by year the occurrence of drought or of 

 average or excessive rain, in some cases for the next half- 

 century. Those therefore who may live to the year 1938 

 will be in a position to form a definitive judgment on the 

 merits of the system. H. F. B. 



Science in Plai7i Language. By William Durham, 



F.R.S.E. (Edinburgh: A. and C. Black, 1890.) 

 Mr. Durham thinks that there are many intelligent 

 persons who have not time, and may not have the in- 

 clination, to read regular scientific works, but who would 

 be glad to know the general results of scientific investiga- 

 tion if these results could be set forth in plain language 

 without too much detail. For this class he has written 

 the present volume, which consists of articles that were 

 originally printed in the Scotsman. The subjects are 

 divided into four groups — natural selection, protoplasm, 

 colour, and movement. Under " Natural Selection " 

 there are essays on the origin of species, evolution, thje 

 evolution of man, the origin of man's higher nature, the 



