CURRGEN CoLIPERATURE. 
BOOK REVIEWS. 
The sea beach. 
WE FANCY that there is a demand for a popular account of the seaweeds. 
It is not so important that the names and classification should be given, for 
such may be found in several well-written manuals and texts. What is prob- 
ably most desired is a simple account of the life habits, and in part the life 
histories of such forms as are prominent in the tide pools, on rocky shores, 
in marshes, and in flats, and those that are washed up from the deeper waters 
after storms. A book by Augusta Foote Arnold’ attempts to satisfy the 
thirst for seaside lore, and this review will discuss some points in her treat- 
ment of the marine algae. They are given only 50 pages in a book some 
500 pages long, the remainder of the work dealing with the marine inverte- 
brates, so it would be unjust to judge The sea-beach at ebb tide as a whole by 
the criticisms presented here. 
It is hard to understand precisely the attitude of this author as regards 
the relation of popular science to technical science, or to put matters some- 
what differently, the balance between the charm of natural history and the 
detail of a fully developed science. There is a little of both in this book, 
the science badly mutilated and sometimes incorrect, the natural history quite 
lacking the delicate fanciful touches that demand an imagination and yet 
must be tempered by many years of intimate contact with nature and by 
knowledge of scientific exactness and respect for it 
There is a brief account of the life habits, aeitcitvueiaii: and uses of algae, 
and some statements about naming and classification which would lead the 
reader to suppose that especial emphasis would be laid upon these depart- 
ments. And this is the case, for most of the space is devoted to the descrip- 
tion and illustration of genera and species. These are apparently arranged 
after the system of a standard text, much abridged of course, the outline 
being presented at the beginning of each group. These synopses can be 
nothing but a mere dictionary-like table of names, for the account does not 
pretend to give the morphological characters of the groups. There are no 
keys, no microscopical examination is required, and for identificaticn the 
reader (presumably beginner) must depend chiefly upon the figures. What 
* ARNOLD, AUGUSTA Foors: The sea-beach at ebb-tide. A guide to the study 
of the seaweeds and the lower animal life found between tide-marks. Small 8vo. 
pp. xiit+490. figs. 600+. New York: The Century Co., 1901 
222 [SEPTEMBER 
