284 
NATURE 
[ Aug. 10, 1871 

grass, fir, or other social plants. But even in the tropics 
the virgin forest, beautiful as it is, is without doubt much 
less beautiful, both in form and colour, than it might be 
made. Without doubt also,a mere clearing, after a few 
years, is a more beautiful place than the forest, because by 
it distance is given, and you are enabled to see the sky, 
and the forest itself beside ; because new plants, and some 
of them very handsome ones, are introduced by cultiva- 
tion, or spring up in the rastrago ; and lastly, but not 
least, because the forest on the edge of the clearing is able 
to feather down to the ground, and change what is at first 
a bare tangle of stems and boughs into a softly rounded 
bank of verdure and flowers. When in some future 
civilisation, the art which has produced, not merely a 
Dropmore or a Chatsworth, but an average English shrub- 
bery or park, is brought to bear on tropic vegetation, then 
Nature, always willing to obey when conquered by fair 
means, will produce such effects of form and colour around 
tropic estates and cities as we cannot fancy for ourselves.” 
Much information is given as to the races that now 
people the West Indies, Negroes, Coolies, and Chinese. 
The Coolies are very well spoken of, and the system of 
immigration is said to work well and to be beneficial to all 
concerned. The contrast between the different races in 
manners, character,and appearance appears to have struck 
our author very much, and many clever sketches illustrate 
his descriptions. In the cuts which we here reproduce, 
the three widely different races, Negroes, Coolies, and 
Chinese are very characteristically represented. There 
are also some excellent illustrations of tropical scenery 
and productions, that representing “A Tropic Beach” 
being one of the best, and the cut of the “ Little Ant- 
eater” being also excellent. 
We must point out one fault in the book, a fault which 
nature-loving travellers often fall into, too free use of the 
local names of natural objects, which, though made 
familiar to themselves by daily repetition, are a great 
annoyance to the reader, who cannot possibly learn their 
meaning during the perusal of the book. Towards the 
end of the second volume, for example, we find these 
lines :—‘‘ Below were Mamure, Roseau, Timit, Aroumas, 
and Talumas (Caza), mixed with Myrtles and Melastoms, 
then the copper Bois Mulatre among the Cocorite and 
Jagua palms.” All these names, with a hundred others, 
have been carefully referred to their respective species in 
foot-notes in earlier portions of the volumes, but that 
does not help either the botanist or the general reader to 
remember such a string of new and uncouth words. 
Local names should, we think, be used only for a very few 
of the most abundant and characteristic species, whose 
mention will be so frequent as to impress them upon the 
readers memory. For the others, English equivalents 
should be used where they exist ; and for the majority, 
the family, generic, or specific names, which will convey 
some distinct impression to the naturalist, and will enable 
even the general reader to obtain information by con- 
sulting a dictionary of natural history or an encyclopedia. 
To conclude, the book is beautifully got up ; it conveys 
much information on the society, politics, and natural 
history of one of the most luxuriant and interesting of the 
West Indian Islands, and cannot fail to be read with both 
pleasure and profit by every lover of nature. 
A. ROW, 

OUR BOOK SHELF 
Notes of a Course of Nine Lectures on Light. By John 
Tyndall, LL.D., F.R.S. (London: Longmans and Co., 
1871.) 
THE contents of this little volume fully justify the author 
in his prefatory remarks, and the intelligent student or 
teacher will find very great benefit by a perusal of these 
“ Notes.” Every statement is extremely clear, and the ex- 
periments hinted at are all extremely good. Such a pub- 
lication is exceedingly well adapted to a certain class of 
minds, of which the latent powers are better brought out 
by hinting at solutions than by detailed explanations. 
The skeleton is brought before them, and they are called 
upon to clothe it for themselves. In fact, if physical 
science is to be used in order to educate and train as well 
as toinform the mind, we cannot dispense with a set of 
notes of this description. The author has dealt very fully 
with his subject, and he has not been deterred, when the 
occasion required, from stepping beyond the physical 
region into the physiological. Thus we have some very 
good remarks upon brightness, as well as upon the eye 
and its peculiarities with respect to light. On the other 
hand, he has not permitted himself to enter largely on 
the subject of dark rays, but has confined himself to those 
which affect the eye. A perusal of these Notes will benefit 
all who wish to become acquainted with the laws of light, 
and even if they sat down to sucha task, having a previous 
acquaintance with every statement, they will rise with 
benefit ; for a branch of knowledge, like a landscape, is 
never fully understood until it is regarded under different 
atmospheres and from different points of view. ae 
Transactions of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Chemical Society, 
Vol I. (1868-1871.) 
THE Newcastle-upon-Tyne Chemical Society has been 
established for nearly three years ; during this period the 
Society has been very prosperous, both as regards the 
number of its members and the importance of the papers 
read at its monthly meetings. The members were fortu- 
nate enough to secure the services of Mr. Lowthian Bell 
as their first president, and of several experienced gentle- 
men as members of the committee, a fact which must 
have contributed materially to their success. The papers 
which have been read before the Society since its com- 
mencement, relate, as might be expected, principally to 
technical chemistry and analysis, Amongst them we find 
Mond “ On the Recovery of Sulphur from Alkali Waste,” 
followed by an interesting discussion. Dr. Lunge has 
contributed several valuable papers to the volume ; they 
are chiefly abstracts of the more important analytical 
methods published on the Continent. The papers on the 
analysis of technical products constitute the principal part 
of the book, the number of those on original subjects 
being very small. The inaugural address by Mr. Bell 
contains an interesting historical sketch of the various 
chemical manufactures on the banks of the Tyne, showing 
how rapidly they have grown, until they have now reached 
an enormous magnitude. _ There is also a paper by Mr. 
Clapham on the commencement of the manufacture of 
soda on the Tyne, which contains a sketch of the diffi- 
culties that had to be overcome by the founders of this 
industry. Among the other papers may be mentioned 
several by Dr. Wright, and one by Mr. Swan, describing 
an improved form of anemometer. ASE, 
Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Club for i 
(Hereford, 1871.) 
THIS volume is equal in interest and value to its prede- 
cessors, and still more varied in the nature of its contents. 
All branches of natural history are pursued with ardour 
by the Woolhope Naturalists, and good scientific work is 
done in the various sections. Zoology furnishes papers 


