5o8 



NA TURE 



[April 3, 1902 



The number of explanatory geological sections has 

 been considerably increased, and the same is true of the 

 figures of fossils. The volume is, indeed, admirably 

 illustrated. It is an important and welcome addition to 

 the list of English treatises which are especially designed 

 for the use of the student of stratigraphical geology, and 

 one which we can most confidently recommend, not only 

 to students, but to all who desire a trustworthy representa- 

 tion of the present state of our knowledge of British 

 stratigraphy. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Birds' Nests, an Introduction to the Science oj Caliology 



By Charles Dixon. Pp. xiv -(- 285 ; 1 lustrated 



(London : G. Richards.) Price 6.f. net. 

 Ik we may judge from a statement on p. 7, Mr. Dixon 

 is of opinion that stone-throwing is a proper and suitable 

 practice for the tenants of glass houses. For since he 

 classes Darwin as a " compiler," he can scarcely have 

 the presumption to exclude himself from the same 

 category! As a matter of fact, Mr. Dixon's works are 

 to a great extent compilations from the writings or 

 observations of others, and the present volume appears 

 to be no exception to the rule. 



That popular works of the class of those for which Mr. 

 Dixon is responsible must almost necessarily contain a 

 large percentage of copied matter we are fully prepared 

 to admit, but when the author of such works sees fit to 

 refer in contemptuous terms to one of the master minds 

 of the last century he must not be surprised if critics 

 treat his own productions and methods with scant 

 courtesy. 



In the volume before us, Mr. Dixon claims to have 

 opened up a practically new branch of ornithology, 

 which he designates, very unnecessarily, as " caliology." 

 He further states that no work has been entirely devoted 

 to this subject for the last seventy years. In this it may 

 be taken for granted that he is correct, although it would 

 be a mistake to suppose that other writers have not 

 devoted a considerable amount of attention to the sub- 

 ject. Indeed this is evident from the work itself, in 

 which the author quotes the views of Dr. \. R. Wallace, 

 Dr. E. Goeldi and other eminent zoologists. Mr. Dixon 

 has the knack of putting what he has to tell in an agree- 

 able and attractive manner before the public, and had 

 he not gone out of his way to cast a slur on the reputa- 

 tion of a great man we should have been more inclined 

 to bestow a modicum of praise on his efforts than we 

 feel justified in doing as matters now stand. 



The plan of the work is to describe the nest-building 

 of birds in a progressive manner, commencing with those 

 species the nests of which are of the simplest type(or rather 

 with those which make no nests at all), and gradually 

 passing on to those, such as the tailor-birds and hang- 

 nests, which construct nurseries of the most elaborate 

 type. Mr. Dixon is one of those who believe that the 

 nest-building instinct is not inherited and that birds 

 learn to build by practice and instruction. He considers 

 this belief to be strengthened by the case of a nest 

 (which he figures) built by a pair of chaffinches taken 

 to New Zealand before their first nesting season. The 

 nest built by them in the antipodes is of a very abnormal 

 type ; but is it certain that this may not be accounted 

 for by difference of environment and material? Another 

 plate, in which the bird is depicted in a very remarkable 

 posture, shows the eggs of a greenshank in the deserted 

 nest of a fieldfare. We may say in conclusion that 

 those who have never previously studied birds' nests with 

 attention will find much to interest them in Mr. Dixon's 

 latest volume. R. L. 



NO. 1692, VOL. 65] 



Lancashire Sea- Fisheries Memoir. No. 2, Fish and 

 Fisheries of the Irish Sea. By W. A. Herdman, D..Sc., 

 F.R.S., and Robert A. Dawson. Pp. 98. (Liverpool ; 

 Philip.) Price ^s. net. 

 In the second of the Lancashire Sea-Fisheries Memoirs, 

 Prof. Herdman and .Mr. Dawson summarise, for the use 

 more especially of the members of the Lancashire and 

 Western Sea-Fisheries District Committee to whom the 

 volume is dedicated, the more important results bearing 

 upon practical fishery questions which have been ob- 

 tained from the scientific researches carried on during 

 recent years in the Irish Sea. The information given is 

 for the most part not new to the scientific student, as it 

 has already been made known through the various reports 

 of the Liverpool Biological Society. 



The work commences with a useful account by Prof. 

 Herdman of the physical and biological conditions which 

 are found in the Irish .Sea, more especially in that part 

 of It which lies between the Isle of Alan and the Lanca- 

 i shire Coast. This account includes some interesting 

 information, supplied by Mr. Clement Reid, on the 

 geological features of the bottom deposits obtained from 

 different parts of the area under consideration. 



After a brief description of the invertebrate fauna, a 

 complete list of the fishes of the district is given, with 

 details of the geographical and local distribution of each 

 species. It is to be regretted that more information as 

 to the habits and life-histories of the various fishes is not 

 supplied in this portion of the work, as such information 

 would have rendered it both more interesting and more 

 useful to those for whom it is intended. 



The memoir concludes with a chapter by Mr. Dawson 

 on the constitution and work of the Lancashire and 

 Western Sea-Fisheries Committee and two appendices, 

 one containing the bye-laws of the Committee and the 

 other some detailed results of various experimental hauls 

 of the trawl. 



Plant Structures. By John M. Coulter, A.M., Ph.D. 

 Pp. vii + 348. (London : Hirschfeld Brothers, Ltd., 

 1901.) Price 6j. net. 

 Former books by the professor of botany in the 

 University of Chicago have been characterised by a 

 concise and rational elucidation of the subjects treated, 

 and this applies also to the book under discussion. In 

 " Plant Relations," a first book on botany. Prof Coulter 

 dealt mainly with ecological factors. " Plant Structures " 

 gives a brief outline of the various great groups of the 

 plant kingdom. The life-histories of common or impor- 

 tant types are used to illustrate the gradual transition 

 from the lowest algal plants to the complex, highly modi- 

 fied group of spermaphyta, and also to introduce the 

 student to the widely varying structures and methods of 

 reproduction which obtain among plants. The types 

 chosen are, for the most part, similar to those found in 

 other elementary text-books ; a new ascomycetous type 

 is furnished by Microsphaera, a mildew which occurs on 

 lilac leaves. In addition, many other interesting examples 

 are quoted and, to a great extent, illustrated ; in fact, 

 there is an almost superabundant wealth of illustration. . 

 It cannot be said that the author has struck any 

 original vein, but the strength of the book lies in clear 

 and sound representation of facts, and in logical sequence 

 of argument ; also, where it is appropriate, the result of 

 recent work has been embodied, as, for instance, the 

 occurrence of sperms in the Cycads, and chalazogamic 

 fertilisation in the Dicotyledons, for which original illus- 

 trations are given. The author is especially happy in 

 his treatment of the .A.ngiosperms as he traces the various 

 evolutionary series of floral modifications. There are two 

 points in which there will not be general agreement with 

 the author ; the term " spore " is not confined to sexual 

 reproduction, but the result of fusion of ovum and sperm 

 is also defined as a spore ; again, how can the spelling 

 of Edogonium be made to accord with its derivation ? 



