June 2, 1881] 



NATURE 



99 



Upper Thames, eastwards along the Kennet, southwards 

 to Salisbury, and westwards along the North Avon. The 

 rainfall of this region is now observed at twenty-eight 

 stations, and the daily amounts are printed in extenso, 

 and the eye readily notes the maximum monthly fall'at 

 each station, these being printed in thicker type. On 

 each monthly sheet the means of the previous ten years' 

 observations are given for the ten stations at which 

 observations have been made for the whole of that period. 

 The mean annual rainfall of these stations for the past 

 eleven years is 32"i4 inches, the monthly maximum being 

 3 '49 inches in October, and the minimum 1S2 inches in 

 March. As contrasted with the more strictly central 

 districts of England, the summer rainfall is relatively less, 

 and the autumnal and winter rainfalls greater ; and as con- 

 trasted with places more open to the Atlantic to west and 

 south-westward, the rainfall is relatively greater in summer 

 and less in winter. At seventeen stations observations have 

 been made for at least six years, at which, if the averages 

 be struck for the eleven year.;;, differentiating where neces- 

 sary, the largest mean rainfall is seen to be 40'32 inches 

 at Corsham, near the summit of the long ridge separating 

 the North Avon from its tributary Box Brook, and the 

 smallest 2976 inches at Pen Hill in the north on the high 

 ground between the Thames and its tributary the Cole ; 

 — the former being one of the heights most open to winds 

 from the Atlantic, and the latter one of the most shel- 

 tered heights from these winds. As regards annual 

 amount and variation with season and configuration of 

 surface, the rainfall of Wiltshire curiously resembles that 

 of Deeside, Aberdeenshire. An excellent map showing 

 the stations and their heights and the physical features of 

 the county accompanies the Report. 



Pheasants : their Natural History and Practical Manage- 

 ment. By W. B. Tegetmeier, F.Z.S. Second Edition, 

 greatly enlarged. (London: 77/c' /VVA/ Office, 1S81.) 

 Mr. Tegetmeier is so well known as an authority upon 

 pigeons and poultry of all kinds that everything which he 

 writes on the subject of these birds is sure to be received 

 with attention, and it is therefore scarcely a matter of sur- 

 prise that a second edition of his well-known " Pheasant " 

 book should have been called for. The work will be 

 found invaluable to any one projecting the cultivation of 

 pheasants either in the covert or in the aviary. After a 

 brief review of the habits of pheasants in a wild state, the 

 author gives ample infonnation as to their management 

 in preser\'es and in confinement, and also discusses the 

 much-vexed question of the gapes and other diseases to 

 which these birds are subject. The second portion of the 

 work is devoted to the natural history of the common 

 pheasant and its allies which are suitable for introduction 

 into our woods, and also treats of the more gaudily- 

 coloured Golden Pheasant, Monal, and other species 

 adapted for the aviary. Valuable experiences of the 

 rearing of these birds and their habits in confinement are 

 given by Mr. Tegetmeier, who seems to have spared no 

 pains to make his book interesting and instructive. The 

 illustrations have been executed on wood by the well- 

 known artist Mr. T. W. Wood, who has evidently studied 

 the birds in a state of nature ; and although the plumage 

 of the pheasant family does not lend itself readily to this 

 style of illustration, the attitudes of most of the birds are 

 happily rendered, while some of the figures representing 

 the "showing off" of the male birds are excellently 

 conceived. 



Nach Ecuador. Reisebilder. Von Joseph Kolberg, 



S.J. Zweite vermehrte Auflage, mit einem Titelbild, 



140 Holzschnitten und einer Karte von Ecuador. 

 (Freiburg-im-Breisgau : 1881.) 



The Archbishop of Quito proceeded to Rome in 1869 to 

 attend the meeting of the Vatican Council, and he bore 

 with him a commission from Don Garcia Moreno, Pre- 



sident of Ecuador, to obtain powers to establish a Poly- 

 technic School and College for the Republic. As a result 

 he sent to Quito, in 1870, two Germans and one Italian, 

 members of the Society of Jesus, who should lay the 

 foundation-stone of the establishment, and in 187 1 Joseph 

 Kolberg, the author of this quarto volume, followed. 

 The murder of President Moreno in August, 1875, gave 

 a death-blow to the new institution. During the five 

 years of his sojourn in the countiy Kolberg had been in 

 the habit of sending home notes of his various tours, 

 sketches of the manners and customs of the people he 

 met with, and this in a somewhat methodic manner, as 

 might be expected from a professor of the higher mathe- 

 matics. These notes and sketches were published from 

 time to time in a publication called Siinimcn aits Maria- 

 Loch, and they embraced among others an account of the 

 voyage out, of a visit to Chimborazo, and an account of 

 the catastrophe of Havra (1S68), and incidental to these 

 latter chapters the author introduces a theory of volcanic 

 eruptions which he evidently thinks the best fruit of his 

 visit to Quito. All these varied sketches and others on 

 the natural historj' and geography of the country were, at 

 the " request of friends," re-published in one handsome 

 illustrated quarto voluine, which was indeed to have been 

 dedicated to President Moreno, but is now dedicated to 

 his memory. The first edition was edited by the author's 

 friend, R. Cornelly, S.J., and was published in 1876. 

 The present edition, which has been corrected and en- 

 larged throughout, has been published under the author's 

 own superintendence. Some of the wood engravings arc 

 new and interesting ; others, such as those representing the 

 flying-fish and the Coral Island, have well served their 

 generation. 



Second Report of the United States Entomological Com- 

 mission for the Years 1878 and 1.879. With Maps and 

 Illustrations. 8vo, pp. 322, and Eight Appendices, pp. 

 74. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880.) 

 This Report of the three Commissioners (Prof. Riley, 

 Dr. Packard, and Dr. Thomas) appointed to investigate 

 the ravages of the " Rocky Mountain'' and other locusts 

 forms a handsome volume, got up in the exhaustive and 

 elaborate manner so marked in all the U.S. Government 

 publications. It is exceedingly difficult to give an ade- 

 quate notice in a short space, on account of the varied 

 nature of the subjects touched upon. Our readers will 

 gather from this remark that " Economic Entomology " in 

 the proper sense of the term by no means occupies the 

 entire volume, nor is it entirely confined to the "Rocky 

 Mountain " pest in particular. A large portion is occu- 

 pied by an elaborate investigation of the habits of migra- 

 tory locusts in all parts of the world, gathered from a 

 host of publications, some of them of ancient date. The 

 connection of meteorological influences with the migra- 

 tions and development of North American locusts is 

 fully examined. Chapters IX. to XI. treat on the 

 anatomy of the locust, and form valuable contri- 

 butions to the anatomy of insects in general, such 

 as one would scarcely expect to find in a report of 

 this nature; of these Chapters IX. and XI. are by Dr. 

 Packard, and treat of the air-sacs and brain respectively : 

 X. is by Mr. Minot, on general histology: these are illus- 

 trated by excellent plates. The "economic'" chapters 

 are more especially by Messrs. Riley and Thomas, and go 

 exhaustively into the question, more especially as to 

 attacking the insect in its breeding-places, experience 

 proving that war waged against the migratory swarms is 

 comparatively useless ; in connection with this, sugges- 

 tions of a very broad nature are made. The Government 

 is advised to encourage settlement of waste lands and the 

 making of railroads conducing thereto, to induce broad 

 schemes for irrigation, to guard the present timber, and 

 encourage the planting of forests, to effect judicious 

 burning in the breeding-grounds, covering about 400,000 



