RCV1EW5 



Life of Alfred Neivton. By A. F. R. Wollaston. i Vol., 8vo, 

 pp. 332 and 5 illustrations, John Murray, London. 

 1921 : i8s. net. 



Alfred Newton died on June 7th, 1907, and two years 

 later Mr. A. F. R. Wollaston, one of his old pupils, was 

 invited to write a " Life " of the Professor. The task of 

 searching through Newton's voluminous correspondence 

 proved to be a work of several months, and after that Mr. 

 Wollaston was unavoidably occupied in New Guinea for a 

 term of years. During his absence from England — and 

 later during the war when he gave his services to the Navy — 

 he made attempts to induce others to complete the " Life," 

 but without success. It so happens that I was one of those 

 who was thus approached in Mr. Wollaston 's absence, and the 

 whole of his manuscript was unreservedly handed over to 

 me in May 1919. A glance was enough to show me that this 

 was no rough sketch which I was called upon to work up but 

 that it was an unfinished picture to which only the original 

 artist could put the finishing touches. On Mr. Wollaston 's 

 release from his Naval duties in January 1920 I promptly 

 approached him on the subject, and, whether my persuasion 

 was, or was not, the final factor which induced him to resume 

 his labours, he agreed to complete the work which he had so 

 diligently undertaken. I mention these facts not only because 

 I congratulate myself for being in any way responsible for 

 Mr. Wollaston 's completion of the " Life," but also because 

 they show in what a peculiar position I now find myself 

 when called upon to review his work. 



The Life of Alfred Newton has been advertised as treating 

 " of such diverse matters as travels in Iceland and Spitsbergen, 

 Bird protection and migration, Anglo-Saxon derivation of 

 names, Gilbert White, the Great Auk, and Greek plays at 

 Cambridge," and this gives an idea of the varied nature of 

 the subjects dealt with. Sir Archibald Geikie, in the Preface 

 to the book, says that Mr. Wollaston " has been fortunate in 

 having had access to so large a number of the Professor's 

 letters and journals as to give the chapters not a little of the 

 character of an autobiography," and this may be taken as 

 an indication of the style of the composition. A happier 

 arrangement of the material at Mr. Wollaston 's disposal 

 could hardly be imagined and this makes it the more 



