October 6, 1904] 



NA TURE 



551 



Pnrts iii. and iv., which deal respectively with road 

 makintj and bridges, form vol. ii. ; here again the parts 

 have been subdivided into sections. The various 

 problems and practical operations are dealt with in a 

 very explicit and satisfactory manner. In this volume, 

 as well as in the others, many useful figures and illus- 

 trations are given which supplement and enhance the 

 value of the text. Parts v. to viii. are included in the 

 third and last volume of the manual. As the author 

 points out, this volume deals with those subjects which 

 are of special interest to the forest manager. In deal- 

 ing with the transport of timber, the author has given 

 a complete account of the different methods of trans- 

 port by roads, slides, forest tramways, wire-rope ways, 

 and water. Each method has its own particular 

 advantage, according to circumstances, which vary 

 from place to place, but, with this volume as a guide, 

 the forester need have no difficulty in selecting the 

 method best suited to his own local conditions. 



.As the title indicates, the manual is intended for 

 the use of forest officers in India, to whom it cannot 

 fail to be of the greatest service and value. Great care 

 has been taken to make the work as accurate and up 

 to date as possible, and with this end in view the 

 author sent proofs of the different parts of the manual 

 to the Inspector-General of Forests to the Government 

 of India and all conservators of forests for circulation 

 among such forest officers as they might select for the 

 purpose of recording any suggestions which they had 

 to make ; hence before publication the book was 

 subjected to a thorough, practical, and critical examin- 

 ation, which renders it a standard authority and trust- 

 worthy source of reference. 



While not replacing any of the standard works on 

 civil engineering, the manual fills a big gap in the 

 literature, and it is written in such a way that even 

 those who have not had a special training in engineer- 

 ing may understand and appreciate its use. This work 

 merits, and will no doubt attain, a wide circulation 

 outside India. .As a work of reference it should be in 

 the hands of all whose profession brings them in con- 

 tact with such engineering operations as do not require 

 the skill of a highly trained e.xpert. 



There is a marked absence of technical terms, and 

 where the use of these is unavoidable the author 

 takes good care to make their meaning thoroughly 

 clear. The illustrations form a very valuable feature 

 of the manual, and greatly increase its practical utility. 

 In most cases a detailed description has been appended, 

 so that each figure may be clearly understood without 

 .•my further reference to the text. The majority of 

 these illustrations were drawn specially for the manual, 

 a fact which adds much to their value. For the few 

 illustrations which have been borrowed from other 

 sources ample acknowledgment is made. 



It will thus be seen that the manual embraces a wide 

 range of subjects, all of which are pretty intimately 

 associated with forestry. The third volume is of 

 special interest to the forest manager, while vols. i. 

 and ii. cannot fail to be also of great utility and value 

 to those concerned in agriculture, horticulture, and 

 planting in all their branches. 



It has been the endeavour of the author, as he in- 

 NO. 1823, VOL. 70] 



forms us in the preface, to make the manual a book 

 of reference for the practical man as well as a text- 

 book for the use of students. With this end in view, 

 the information given on ei^ch subject has been made 

 as complete and compact in itself as possible, thus 

 obviating the necessity of cross references. In adapt- 

 ing the work to serve this double purpose, the author 

 has exhibited a great amount of skill in the selection, 

 treatment, and arrangement of the information given 

 under the various headings. 



NATURAL HISTORY OF COMMON 

 ANIMALS. 

 The Natural History of Some Common Animals. 

 (Cambridge Biological Series.) By Oswald H. 

 Latter. Pp. x + 331. (Cambridge : University 

 Press.) Price 5s. net. 



THIS is an excellent book, written by a man who 

 is equally in his element whether he writes as 

 an outdoor naturalist or as a laboratory student. This 

 combination is by no means a common one, and it is 

 just the combination that is wanted for a book of this 

 kind. 



The common animals chosen are earthworms and 

 leeches, the crayfish, the cockroach and its allies, 

 dragonflies, wasps, the fresh-water mussel, snails and 

 slugs, frogs, toads and newts, and some common 

 internal parasites of domestic animals. The treat- 

 ment of the " earthworm " is first rate. Its structure 

 is well described, and always as the structure of a live 

 animal, the function of each part being never lost sight 

 of. For instance, the use of the setae in locomotion 

 is made clear, and the simple experiment of putting 

 the earthworm on a polished horizontal surface is 

 suggested. The familiar phenomenon of earthworms 

 appearing on the surface of the soil after heavy rain 

 is explained, and, no less successfully, what is less 

 familiar, their method of coping with bacteria. 



The " crayfish " seems to be the least successful of 

 the papers. Only twenty-two pages are allowed to it, 

 and of these five and a half are devoted to a discussion 

 of the function of the otocysts. There is no lack of 

 interest in the five and a half pages, but much that 

 has been omitted might have claimed precedence. 

 There is little about the appendages, from the 

 swimmerets to the eye-stalks — a field rich in interest to 

 the evolutionist. When the work of the scaphognathlte 

 is described, a parenthetic explanation, not easy to 

 understand without previous knowledge, of what the 

 scaphognathlte is has to be inserted. 



With insects Mr. Latter is thoroughly at home. He 

 has made a great many observations of his own, and 

 he has read the literature of his subject, so that he is 

 able to give the best of what has been discovered. 

 The result of reading his account of the wasp and 

 its mode of life is that one wishes to read more. He 

 has much to say about its sting, its " homing " faculty, 

 its parasites. He enters equally into the life of the 

 fresh-water mussel and its young glochidia sticking 

 to fish and trailing after them. In the maw of a 

 fresh-water mussel were found, among other things, 

 a number of rotifers, a very interesting fact, especially 



