542 



NATURE 



[October 2, 1890 



birds, and the fourth to the internal characters, or, as they 

 are generally called, the anatomy of birds. These two 

 essays form in fact the most important part of the volume, 

 and occupy more than half its pages. Both of them are 

 well drawn up, the various characters are described in 

 plain and simple language, and the structures are illus- 

 trated by a large number of woodcuts introduced into the 

 text. That Dr. Coues's statements are absolutely free from 

 error we by no means affirm. Zoological science is pro- 

 gressing rapidly nowadays, and since these essays were 

 written, five or six years ago, discoveries have been made 

 that should have caused a modification of some of them 

 as they now stand. But Dr. Coues is generally well up 

 to the level of modern science, and seems to be ac- 

 quainted with most recent views of experts on most 

 points. On the whole, we know of no volume likely to be 

 more useful to the student who wishes to become ac- 

 quainted with birds, alike in the field and in the cabinet, 

 than Dr. Coues's " Hand-book," and we are of opinion 

 that the publishers have done a good deed in reprinting it 

 for the use of British ornithologists. N o other manual that 

 we are acquainted with exactly takes its place, or con- 

 tains such a well-arranged mass of useful and generally 

 correct information on this subject. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Swanage : its History, Resources, S^c. (London : William 



Henry Everett and Son, 1890.) 

 Seaside guide-books are generally the production of 

 some local tradesman, but the rising town of Swanage 

 has issued one by no less than eight authors and an editor. 

 Nothing but exceptional care could knit such a work into 

 harmony, yet of editing there is no trace but the name. 

 Though a full chapter by such an authority as Horace B. 

 Woodward is devoted to geology, its interest is allowed 

 to be forestalled earlier in the book by writers who are 

 in apparent ignorance of the coming chapter, and who 

 make no reference to it. 



The book contains no itineraries, no suggestions as to 

 how and in what time places of interest can best be 

 reached ; no guide as to hotels and lodgings, or tariffs for 

 carriages and boats ; no hints as to sea and river fishing ; 

 nothing of the birds ; not a word on marine zoology. In 

 place of these there are an introduction and conclusion, 

 presumably editorial, worthy of a tenth-rate society paper, 

 the latter containing a table of distances by a literary 

 scaramouch. In this extraordinarily facetious table, Cowes 

 is given as distant 27J miles by water and 6i by /and/ 

 the Needles are 19^ miles nearer by land than Bourne- 

 mouth ; Parkstone and Poole, though well-nigh suburbs 

 of Bournemouth, are no less than 24 miles nearer by land 

 to Swanage ; Bournemouth itself is said to be 34 miles 

 distant, while everyone knows it is only 25 miles by rail ; 

 Southampton is actually less distant than Christchurch, and 

 so on. With such editing we are not surprised to find 

 the same place figuring as Branksea in the letterpress 

 and Brownsea on the map. 



It is impossible seriously to criticize the anonymous 

 portions of such a book, except to say that the archaeolo- 

 gical information is evidently by an accomplished an- 

 tiquary. It is a pity that his solid contributions are 

 interwoven with adulatory remarks, perhaps by the 

 editorial gentleman, which must be distasteful to Mr. 

 George Burt, who, owning some 150 to 200 acres of 

 the best building land " already laid out and ready for 

 erecting residences," no doubt finds his account in what 

 he does. 



NO. 1092, VOL. 42] 



Of the specialist chapters, that relating to hygiene, by 

 Dr. L. Forbes Winslow, is the longest, and we should 

 have thought 27 pages more than ample to tell us that, 

 being almost on a promontory on the south coast, and 

 well sheltered from the north-east by a high range of 

 downs, the climate of Swanage is mild, equable, and 

 bracing, and with good water and drainage should be 

 particularly healthy. Visitors should be warned, on the 

 other hand, that the air is strong, and that the Purbeck 

 Hill at the back is bleak and bare of trees, and being 

 riddled with stone quarries presents a forbidding aspect. 



The chapter on geology is of course excellent, and, had 

 it been illustrated with a few sections and figures of fossils, 

 would be sure to induce visitors with time on their hands 

 to take the subject up. We cannot think, however, that 

 the Wealden has the enormous thickness of over a third 

 of a mile so close to its western limit, and rather believe 

 that the same beds occur over and over again in a series 

 of truncated folds. The author, like others who know 

 the section, does not endorse the views of Prof. Judd on 

 the so-called Punfield Beds. The section deserves notice 

 as the only British locality for a gigantic Paludina, and 

 all the beds up to the chalk are fossiliferous, and deserve 

 more careful investigation than they have received. On 

 the other side of the massive chalk barrier, the Lower Bag- 

 shot beds, though only 70 feet thick at Alum Bay, occupy 

 about half a mile of the shore at high angles, and are as 

 obviously plicated as the Wealden. They are so entirely 

 grassed over, except at Redend Point, that nothing can 

 be known of them, but inland masses of Middle Bagshot 

 are present in the folds. The beds are very fossiliferous 

 in places, but the pipe-clays have had such a squeezing, 

 that the leaves are miniature geological models of 

 faults and slickensides, and readily fall to pieces. The 

 vegetation is much more characteristic of swamp life than 

 at Alum Bay, the prevailing fossils being a large fan 

 palm, reeds, and a tropical Chrysodium massed together, 

 and more rarely leaves of Aralia primigenia, Quercus 

 lottchitis, Acer and Salix, and occasional shells of Unio and 

 elytra of insects. The poverty of the flora is in contrast 

 with the enormous wealth of that of the Bournemouth 

 beds just across Poole Harbour. 



Of the admirable and careful lists of plants by Mr. J. C. 

 Mansel-Pleydell, and of insects by Messrs. Herbert Goss 

 and Eustace Banks, we have nothing to say except to 

 lament that the book is so unworthy of them. Of course 

 there is no index, and the illustrations are commonplace 

 process plates, in which Mr. Burt's house and his big 

 refreshment-room on the hill, perhaps the future Casino, 

 figure prominently. Really interesting bits like the tower 

 of the old church, or romantic scenes like the Pinnacles or 

 Old Harry, are omitted. J. S. G. 



Graphic Lessons in Physical and Astronomical Geography. 



By Joseph H. Cowham, F.G.S. (London : Westminster 



School Book Depot, 1890.) 

 The method of teaching adopted in this work justifies 

 itself for the subjects with which it deals. The lessons 

 have been prepared to cover certain courses of instruction, 

 among them being the Standard Code, pupil teachers' 

 course of geography during the four years of their training, 

 scholarship examinations preparatory to entrance into a 

 training college, and for the entire course of physical 

 geography laid down in the certificate syllabus for first 

 and second year's students in training colleges. 



The main features of the work lie in its arrangement, 

 the note-like style adopted in the great variety of simple 

 sketches and blackboard illustrations which demonstrate 

 well the innumerable points for which they are required. 

 Each item of matter is surrounded by abundant informa- 

 tion, and teaching hints in the form of notes are given here 

 and there for the benefit of those using this book. 



The end of each section contains a short summarj' of 

 the preceding subject matter, and concludes with questions 



