NATURE 



[November 3, 1904 



interesting fancies. We may illustrate these points by 

 reference to the author's interpretation of the child's 

 attitude towards water. Human infants, we are told 

 in one passage, have an untaught horror of water, and 

 man must learn to swim. This is part of the evidence 

 that there are " psychic vestiges in man which are 

 suggestive of former arboreal life." Again, we learn 

 that " children are phyletically older than women, and 

 after the first shock and fright most of them take the 

 greatest delight in water." This, among other pheno- 

 mena, may be interpreted as a " pelagic vestige." Do 

 we need arboreal or pelagic vestiges to account for the 

 fact that, while some children dislike water at first 

 and others delight in it, most of them in the end find 

 it an excellent plaything? W. G. S. 



A NATURALIST ON THE EAST COAST. 

 Notes of an East Coast Naturalist. By .Arthur H. 

 Patterson. Illustrated in colour by F. Southgate. 

 Pp. xiv+304. (London: Methuen and Co., n.d.) 

 Price 6s. 



THE author of these notes, who has been in the 

 habit of spending his spare time in a house-boat 

 moored on Breydon Water and other East Anglian 

 lagoons, has naturally enjoyed opportunities of making 

 observations which are given to few people ; for 

 Breydon is a locality probably more famous than any 

 other in the annals of British ornithology as a place 

 where rare birds are in the habit of "dropping in." 

 Moreover, as all field naturalists know, early morning 

 and nightfall, ay, even night itself, are the times when 

 the good things of their lives come to them. Hence 

 the advantage of living on the field. In the latter part 

 of the quarter of a century which these notes cover the 

 author discarded the gun in favour of the field-glass, 

 and could thus give undivided attention to observation 

 without being distracted by the hopes and fears 

 attendant on the wildfowler's efforts to obtain " a 

 shot." 



Brevdon is a verv carefully protected breeding area. 

 A watcher has been stationed there for several years 

 during the close season ; but it will perhaps be dis- 

 appointing (although we hope it may prove instructive) 

 to ardent' advocates of county council " orders " to 

 find that Mr. Patterson writes, " I must, however, 

 state that since stricter preservation has obtained, not 

 nearlv so many birds are to be seen on Breydon." 

 It is impossible to deny the fact that no amount of 

 preservation will bring back the breeding birds which 

 left us with the spread of population and buildings, and 

 the alterations in the system of agriculture. The 

 spoonbills come and go in safet)', but the late date at 

 which they arrive shows that nesting is not the object 

 of their visits. As a former east coast naturalist, re- 

 markable for his common-sense views of such subjects, 

 wrote \'ears ago, " Unless England becomes dis- 

 peopled and uncultivated, nothing can ever bring back 

 in numbers or variety the wealth of the ancient avi- 

 fauna." But for all that the naturalist still " has his 

 delights" on Breydon; as, for instance, on May 15, 

 1893, when the author, paddling up stream, saw on 

 the " lumps " still uncovered by water " a congrega- 

 NO. 1827, VOL. 71 



tion of no less than eighteen Black Terns, more than 

 fifty Turnstones, several Common and Arctic Terns, 

 a number of Dunlins, Grey Plovers, Whimbrel and 

 Godwits, and not least worthy of a glance, three 

 Spoonbills." 



To one who is learned in the fishes of our 

 seas, ready access to Yarmouth Market, and an 

 extensive acquaintance among the fishermen have 

 been a great advantage, and many a rare fish 

 has the author rescued from oblivion and added 

 to the east coast catalogue of fishes. Not the least 

 valuable part of the book is that containing the fish 

 notes, although the bulk of the volume deals with 

 birds, their migrations and habits. Among the 

 various interesting scraps of information here collected 

 we find a record of the value of birds and the prices 

 realised by the wildfowler and at the sales of noted 

 collections ; accounts of wildfowl brought into the 

 market in hard winters, and incidents related by old- 

 time wildfowlers, whose habits and customs, as well 

 as their recollections of the hard winters and wildfowl 

 of the " old days," are most amusing. Whales, crabs, 

 lobsters, toads, insects, and rats all find a place in 

 these very readable notes. Indeed, some of the most 

 valuable paragraphs relate to the old English black 

 rat, now extinct in most parts of the country, but so 

 abundant in the malthouses and sail lofts of Yarmouth 

 that Mr. Patterson can write of " a plague of Black 

 Rats." This and many other of the records are well 

 worth preserving as of permanent value, and the 

 author is quite justified in thinking that some value 

 may attach to these notes and observations " owing 

 to their dealing with a period during which great 

 changes have taken place in the habitat of the local 

 fauna. " 



The twelve plates of bird-life reproduced in colours 

 are among the most pleasing things of the kind we 

 have seen, and these alone make the book one which 

 all field naturalists will like to put on their shelves. 



O. V. A. 



CHEMICAL ANALYSIS FOR BEGINNERS. 



Tables for Qualitative Chemical Analysis. By Prof. 



A. Liversidge, M.A.. LL.D., F.R.S. (London : 



Maemillan and Co., Ltd., 1904.) Price 4s. 6d. net. 



THE introductory chapter of Prof. Liversidge 's 

 book makes it clear that it is only when 

 analytical methods are used intelligently that the time 

 devoted to qualitative analysis is well spent, and to 

 that end the student must have some preliminary 

 training in other kinds of simple practical work (not 

 described in the book), and be frequently supervised, 

 lectured to, and examined as his work progresses. 



All this is very right and proper, and quite as it 

 should be, but leaving out the excellent counsel of 

 perfection set forth in the introduction, the book is 

 very much like other books on this subject. That 

 is to say, it describes a series of qualitative tests in 

 which inorganic and organic bases and acids, rare 

 metals, and alkaloids are treated individually, and 

 then collectively in tables after the old-established 

 manner and with the old-established purpose. 



