DECEMBER 20, 1906] 
INALT U REE 
177 
ot colouring into as small a space as possible, and 
afterwards elaborating the,more interesting details 
of habits and distribution. As in all Mr. Kearton’s 
books, the great attraction however, the 
tions, which are from photographs by himself and 
his brother; and in this volume, were we not afraid 
of libelling their earlier efforts, we should be tempted 
to say that the artists have surpassed themselves. Be 
this as it may, the charming illustrations in this 
volume would be hard to beat, as our readers may 
judge for themselves from the sample here repro- 
duced (Fig. 1), which was selected almost at random, 
as where all are excellent it is difficult to make a 
choice. A more attractive gift-book for young people 
fond of birds—as all of them should be, and probably 
are, when they have the proper opportunities—would 
be difficult to find. 
The third volume in the list 
title, less of a purely 
is, 
as 
is, 
as implied by its 
natural history than either of 
2.—Young Rooks. 
the two preceding ones, dealing largely with country. 
scenery and country life; the frontispiece depicts a 
beautiful scene from an old-fashioned English hamlet 
with thatched cottages, while other illustrations show 
no less exquisite glimpses of shore and river land- 
scape. Certain chapters, such as the one on the flight 
of the swift and another -on the song of the. sky eek 
are, however, vivid sketches of phases in the habits 
and life-history of birds possessing a peculiar. interest 
and charm of their own; and it is only lack of space 
that prevents our dwelling on these at some length. 
Both those mentioned are illustrated with photo- 
graphs of the species to which they are respectively 
devoted, and many readers will be specially interested 
in the author’s observations with regard to the noc- 
turnal flight of the swift. In saying that Mr. Tickner 
Edwardes’s little volume, although written on dif- 
ferent lines, vies in interest with Sir Herbert Max- 
well’s ‘‘ Memories of the Months ’’ we are bestowing 
a very high meed of praise. 
“1 Go A-Walking,”’? which is dated 1907, although 
it was previously issued in parts, and the first of these 
noted in our columns on its first appearance, is a 
series of brief illustrated biographies of certain 
selected birds and animals. These are, no doubt, 
excellent in their way, but the charm of the book lies 
in the illustrations; and since these are reproductions 
from photographs by Mr. C. Reid, of Wishaw, it 
would be waste of words to add anything in the way 
of commendation. A special feature of the work is 
NO: 1938, VOL. 
Cad 
1) 
From “I Go A-Walking.” 
illustra- | 
the number ot illustrations of groups of young birds, 
and that our readers may judge for themselves as to 
the excellence of these (and the illustrations generally) 
we reproduce, by the courtesy of the publisher, one 
showing a trio of young rooks. 
The fifth book on our ‘list is on a higher plane and 
of a type totally different from any of the others, 
dealing mainly with animal psychology, and revealing 
the thoughtful and speculative mind of the tale onted 
author. To do justice to Mr. Long’s ideas and 
theories in the space of a few lines is a manifest 
impossibility, and we must be content to refer to his 
belief that the lower animals ‘‘ possess a rudimentary 
mind,’’ and may therefore be accorded ‘‘ some small 
chance for immortality.” With these sentiments we 
have no cavil, but when we read the statement that 
‘“death to the animal is but a sleep, and the only 
thought in his head when he lies down for the last 
time is nature’s whisper that he will waken as usual 
when the right time comes,’’ we 
would ask the author how many 
wild animals die, so to speak, in 
their beds? With this brief notice 
we must leave (and commend) 
thoughtful work to the best atten- 
tion of earnest and _ thoughtful 
readers. 
Last, and likewise least, is the 
little volume on birds in Miss Chis- 
holm’s ‘‘Shown to the Children ”’ 
series. In works of this nature the 
necessity for abundant illustration 
over-rides all other considerations, 
and if in this instance quantity 
somewhat exceeds quality, it must 
be borne in mind that forty-eight 
full-page coloured plates form a 
very liberal allowance in a_half- 
crown book, and that the style of 
execution will probably pass muster 
among the readers of the book. 
If we except a few sentences, such 
as the statement that blackbirds eat snails, the letter- 
press appears in the main to be just what should be 
provided for very juvenile readers. 1S be 
THE TREATMENT OF CANCER 
T is an appropriate coincidence that the sensational 
statements made in the daily Press last week 
respecting the cure of cancer should have as their 
antidote the scientific discourse ‘‘ On the Treatment 
of Cancer by Modern Methods,’’ which was delivered 
at the Royal College of Surgeons, as the Bradshaw 
lecture, by Mr. Edmund Owen on December 12. In 
an article in the Pall Mall Gazette Dr. Saleeby went 
far as to assert that the conquest of cancer is 
within measurable distance, the means of cure being 
trypsin, a digestive ferment formed by the pancreas 
and passed in its secretion into the duodenum—the 
upper part of the small intestine. 
The use of trypsin as a cure for cancer seems to 
have suggested itself independently to two observers, 
Mr. J. Beard and Dr. Shaw-Mackenzie, the former 
apparently on embryological grounds, and the latter 
because of the comparative immunity of the small 
intestine from cancer. Thus, in 105,374 cases of 
cancer of the digestive tract, the small intestine was 
affected in only twenty.! Beard found that in mice, 
the subjects of experimental cancer (the Jensem 
Med. Tourn., 1966, i., p. 
sO 
1 Shaw-Mackenzie, Brit. 
715. 
7 
