Bibliograpliical Notices. 295 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



I Go A-Wall-wr/. Through the WocJs. With Illustrations by 

 Charles Reid. London : T. N. Foulis, 1907. 2s. 6d. 



This book, which bears the above barbarous title, justities its exist- 

 ence only through its illusti'ations, which are really beautiful. The 

 text, which is merelj" a compilation of scraps from various second- 

 rate writers, is puerile. W. P. P. 



Nature in School. — Xo. 2. Edited by Boris Weinberg, Priv. Doc. 

 St. Petersburg Univ. (Published by I. D. Sitin, Petrovka, Moscow.) 



The ax^pearance of this monthly journal is an interesting sign of the 

 great activity of late years among the Russians with regard to 

 scientific pursuits. We are aware that capable and industrious 

 observers have travelled in regions scarcely known by name, and 

 undergone innumerable difficulties and hardships in order to enrich 

 the annals of exploration and research. Since the days of the great 

 Prjevalsky, for example, colleagues and followers have re-trodden 

 his paths, opened up new ground, and published their records. But 

 while some have worked in the desert and on the seas those at home 

 have not been idle, as the numerous university and society 

 transactions and proceedings abundantly testify. The journal 

 before us is devoted to the encouragement of the study of physics, 

 chemistry, and natural history in middle and elementary schools. 



In the natural history section, Mr. N. M, Knipoviteh, a well-known 

 authority on marine conditions, continues his examination of the 

 Caspian Sea basin, lleferring to plankton, a subject hitherto little 

 studied, his definition is worth reproducing : — 



What is this plankton ? A rain of corpses, incessantly falling from above 

 in pro]>ortion to the death-rate among the animal and vegetable organisms 

 inhabiting in abundance the upper strata of our basin. This rain of corpses 

 does not present any peculiarity exclusively belonging to the Caspian Sea. In 

 any considerable extent of salt and fresh water on the terrestrial sphere the 

 same phenomenon occurs. 



Among the Caspian plankton have been found Chiridotea entomon 

 and Cardium edule, which belong to northern seas and lakes. Next 

 Mr. Xnipovitch discusses the herring-fisheries of the Volga and 

 Caspian, and urges that care should be taken by fishing communities 

 to avoid exhaustion and waste of the Volga sources of the important 

 herring industry. Passing to geology, the author traces the changes 

 which have taken place since the Sarmatian Sea extended from 

 the foot of the Alps to Tian-shan, and concludes : " the Caspian Sea 

 may be considered an example of a basin with anomalous i)hysico- 

 geographical and biological conditions.'' Mr. V. Polovtsov deals with 



