March 30, 1 905 J 



NATURE 



513 



be heartily congratulated on his work, which is 

 interesting and readable from start to finish; while 

 the illustrations, reproduced from his own photo- 

 graphs, are in most cases exquisite, as our readers 

 may see for themselves from the two examples 

 furnished herewith. Although he appears to have 

 little or nothing new to record, Mr. Ward is evidently 

 a careful and accurate observer, with the faculty of 

 recording his facts in language that " can be under- 

 standed of the people." 



With the exception of one chapter on the hydra and 

 a second on the " tongues " of molluscs, Mr. Ward's 

 work is restricted lo insects and plants. In his open- 

 ing chapter he details the fascinating life-history of 

 the orange-tip butterfly, showing how its coloration 

 harmonises with the plants it frequents, and how the 

 beautiful green mottling on the hind wings is pro- 

 duced by the blending of dots of black and yellow. 

 .'\s an example of the author's skill in microscopic 

 photography, we reproduce from this chapter his en- 

 larged figure of the ^^^ of the butterfly in question. 



Another chapter we have read with special interest 

 is the one on the gorse, in which the author points 

 out how this plant retains evidence of its relationship 

 to the clovers in the form of its seed-leaves ; while hi 

 also suggests that the broom may be regarded as in 

 some degree representing a plant in course of evolu- 

 tion to the gorse type, but that its career to this 

 goal has been checked by the fact of its having a 

 bitter taste, which renders its leaves, unlike those of 

 the gorse, uneatable by cattle, so that a protective 

 panoply of spines is superfluous. As a specimen of 

 the author's exquisite photographs of plants, we re- 

 produce the one showing the broom in blossom. Of 

 the other chapters dealing with plants, one is devoted 

 to their hairs and scales, in the course of which the 

 author expresses his belief that he has brought to 

 notice a hitherto undescribed type (in the Auricula); 

 a second chapter is accorded to the sensitive plant, a 

 third to the flowers of woodland trees, a fourth to 

 plant-battles, and a fifth to plants that catch flies. 



Reverting to the zoological series, it may be 

 mentioned that the devotion of two chapters to the 

 biographies of a couple of nearly allied species of 

 hawk-moth is perhaps an ill-judged arrangement, as 

 giving too much importance to one group. Be this 

 as it may, the chapter entitled " Living Files and 

 Rasps," in which are described and figured the lingual 

 ribbons of a number of species of gastropods, can 

 scarcely fail to be generally interesting, although it 

 would have been better had the author in every case 

 particularised the genus and species to which his 

 specimens pertain, instead of merely labelling them 

 " snails." In the chapter on mosquitoes and gnats 

 the author does his best to clear up the popular mis- 

 conception with regard to these insects, and shows 

 how the female, so far as mankind is concerned, is 

 the source of all harm and evil. 



While, as already stated, it is somewhat marred by 

 errors and inelegances of style, the book as a whole 

 may be pronounced decidedly interesting and 

 attractive, and free from all cant and faddism. 



R. L. 



GERMAN EDUCATIONAL EXHIBITS AT ST. 

 LOUIS. 



'T^HE German educational exhibit at St. Louis was, 

 •* as is usual with German exhibits, remarkably 

 complete, and to enhance its value a series of 

 descriptive catalogues was issued. Among the science 

 catalogues were three on scientific instruments, 

 chemistry, and medicine respectively which have 

 special interest for readers of Nature. They are all on 

 the same plan, and include a general introduction ex- 

 NO. 184.8, VOL. 71 



planatory of the scope of the work, and a detailed 

 account of the apparatus, &c., exhibited. They served 

 a twofold purpose, that of informing visitors to the ex- 

 hibition as to what there was to see, and also that of 

 bringing together an account of the best products of 

 German workmanship in the respective subjects of 

 the catalogue. 



In the catalogue of scientific instruments the intro- 

 ductory description is very full and of real use ; 

 special reference is made to novel instruments. Dr. 

 Lindeck, of the Reichsanstalt, who edited the 

 catalogue of the German exhibit in Paris in 1900, is 

 responsible for this, while Dr. Kriiss had charge of 

 the section. 



The description of the instruments which follows is 

 arranged alphabetically according to the names of 

 the exhibitors. The system of classification with cross 

 references is somewhat less complete than that 

 adopted in the 1900 catalogue, but by aid of the intro- 

 duction it is easily possible to find any given kind of 

 apparatus. A glance through the catalogue is 

 sufficient to show its utility, and it is to be hoped that 

 the support given to the proposed optical convention 

 and exhibition in May next will be sufficient to justify 

 the committee in issuing a catalogue of English 

 optical goods which will serve the same purpose. 



The chemical section at the exhibition contained a 

 reading-room and library, and in this an interesting 

 collection of alchemistic work was shown. Besides 

 these most of the important modern German works 

 on chemistry were to be found on the shelves. Two 

 very interesting exhibits were the alchemistic labora- 

 tory, containing partly original apparatus, partly 

 copies of old examples from the museum in 

 Nuremberg, and the Liebig laboratory, a faithful 

 copy of the well-known laboratory at Giessen. The 

 rest of the exhibition illustrated modern chemical 

 apparatus, methods and preparations. 



The object of the medical exhibit is said to have been 

 " to show how the German universities deal with the 

 subject of medical instruction," and this was attained by 

 judiciously grouping the articles shown, and by care- 

 fully selecting the apparatus. Naturally, various 

 methods are adopted in the different branches; thus, 

 in the department of internal medicine a complete 

 clinical lecture on the diagnosis and therapeutics of 

 tuberculosis is included, the objects required for 

 demonstrating it being exhibited. 



Among the apparatus, the microscopes and projec- 

 tion apparatus of Karl Zeiss occupy a prominent place. 



It is noteworthy that among the infectious diseases 

 and disease germs tuberculosis comes first. 



The catalogue contains a full list of the exhibits 

 with some account of the principal among them, and 

 it is clear that great pains have been taken to secure 

 that the primary object of the exhibition should be 

 carried out. 



The three catalogues, in their completeness and 

 orderly arrangement, are examples of the German plan 

 of carrying the teaching and method of science into 

 everyday life. 



NOTES. 



The council of the Linnean Society has appointed a com- 

 mittee to consider the question of zoological nomenclature. 



Prof. Lancereaux has been elected president for 1905 

 of the Soci^t^ Internationale de la Tuberculose. 



The Canadian Government has decided to place a 

 Marconi wireless telegraph station on Sable Island. The 

 station will come into operation by August i next. 



M. Paul Labb6 has been appointed general secretary of 

 the Paris Society of Commercial Geography in success an 

 to the late Ch. Gauthiot. 



