i-,S 



NATURE 



[August 4, iqio'*;! 



Mendel, and Aristofle help to keep the interest from 

 flagging-. 



The author states in his preface that the book exists 

 for the sake of the practical studies contained in it, 

 and certainly any student who works conscientiously 

 through these can hardly fail to acquire a very sound 

 knowledge of the problems of general biology, and if 

 his work in this direction is supplemented by an 

 equally thorough study of the more special aspects of 

 either zoology or botany his elementary biological 

 training will leave little to be desired. A. D. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Catalogue of British Hymenoptera of the Family 



Chakididae. By Claude Morley. Pp. vi + 74. 



(London : Printed by Order of the Trustees of the 



British Museum (Natural History); Longmans and 



Co., B. Quaritch, Dulau and Co., Ltd., 1910.) 



Price 2^- 6J. 

 Some years ago the Entomological Society of London 

 commenced a "General Catalogue of the Insects of the 

 British Isles," of which, however, only six parts were 

 published, between the years 1870' and 1876, as 

 follows :—Neuroptera, by R. McLachlan ; the 

 Ephemeridai, by Rev. .\. E. Eaton; Hymenoptera 

 Aculeata, by F. Smith; Hymenoptera: Chrysididag, 

 Ichneumonidae, Braconidse, and Evaniida; : by Rev. 

 T. A. Marshall ; Hymenoptera : Oxyura, by Rev. T. A. 

 Marshall; and Hemiptera Heteroptera, and Homop- 

 tera, by J. W. Douglas and J. Scott. No more ap- 

 peared ; and, of course, those already issued are now 

 somewhat out of date, especially those on parasitic 

 Hymenoptera, largely through the exertions of C. 

 Morley and F. Enock. Since then, however, the 

 Tenthredinidae, Siricidse, and Cynipidse have been 

 monographed by P. Cameron in four volumes issued 

 by the Ray Society; leaving only the Chalcididse, as 

 the last family of Hymenoptera of which we had no 

 recent compendium of the British species. 



The preparation of the present catalogue was under- 

 taken by Mr. Claude Morley, so well "known for his 

 work on the British Ichneumonids, and edited by Mr. 

 C. O. VVaterhouse. Though published by the Trustees 

 of the British Museum, it vs practically uniform with 

 the Entomological Society's catalogues already men- 

 tioned. 



There is little doubt that the order Hymenoptera is 

 the largest of all the seven great orders of insects, and 

 the Chalcidida, including a large number of small 

 species, almost all parasitic (a very few, however, are 

 believed to be plant-feeders), is by far the largest 

 family. Mr. Morley enumerates 1,^8 genera and 1424 

 species; and although many of them may probably 

 prove to be synonymous, these will probably be far 

 more than counterbalanced by fresh discoveries when 

 the family is at all adequately known. A gre:it number 

 of species were described by Walker, both in maga- 

 zines and in separate publications; and to work out his 

 species satisfactorily would be a work of many years. 

 But the best preparation for such an undertaking is a 

 carefully compiled and approximately complete refer- 

 ence catalogue, as the work before us appears to be. 

 How to Keep Hens for Profit. By C. S. Valentine. 



Pp. ix + 298. (New York: The' Macmillan Com- 

 pany; London: Macmill.-in and Co., Ltd., U)io.) 



Price 6s. 6d net. 

 This is a well illustrated volume of some three hun- 

 dred pages. A portion of the material, as the pref;ice 

 points out, has already appeared in the New York 

 Farmer. The bulk of the work, with the exception 

 of a chapter devoted to the Indian runner duck, deals 

 NO. 2127, VOL. 84] 



with the breeding and management of the ".American 

 hen." The reader will have gathered that the book 

 has been produced on the "other side," but there is 

 much that is of interest to our own countrymen. 

 Government aid, problems of improvement, and many 

 ainusing stories of the three-hundreil-egg hen, are all 

 dealt with, and now the development grant is in 

 sight several of the hints given might be well worthy 

 of consideration. 



The most instructive chapters for the \\ ould-be 

 poultry-keeper are those that deal with " Handling the 

 Chicks," "Expensive .'\ccidents," "Diseases," and 

 " Runner Ducks." The book is furnished with an 

 excellent index, and in many ways may be a useful 

 adjunct to the library of the man who keeps poultry 

 for utility purposes only in contradistinction to the 

 breeder of exhibition stock. 



The Prince and his Anis (Ciondolino). By Vamba 

 (Luigi Bertelli). Translated from the fourth Italian 

 edition by S. F. Woodruff, and edited by Vernon 

 L. Kellogg. Pp. x + 275. (New York:'H. Holt 

 and Co., igio.) Price 1.35 dollars net. 

 A FAIRY tale of three children, who wished to become 

 insects to escape doing their lessons. The two boys 

 wished to be an ant and a cricket, and the girl to be 

 a butterfly. The present volume relates the adven- 

 tures of the boy who became an ant, among different 

 species of ants, and afterwards among bees. .At the 

 end of the book he meets his sister as a caterpillar, 

 and another volume is promised giving her adven- 

 tures as a butterfly. The book is well illustrated, and 

 the account of insect life appears to be fairly accurate. 



The Thames. Described by G. E. Mitton. Pp. 56. 



Windsor Castle. Described by Edward Thomas., 



Pp. 56. Shakespeareland. Described by Walter 



Jerrold. Pp. 63. All pictured by Ernest Haslehurst. 



(London : Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1910.) Price 25. 



net each. 

 In noticing the first three volumes to be published 

 in this series, the opportunity was taken to praise 

 the beauty of the illustrations and the interest of the 

 text. The present additions are quite up to the 

 standard set in the earlier books. Though evidently 

 not intended to serve any serious educational purpose, 

 the volumes will form very acceptable gift books, and 

 will soon become popular in this capacity. 

 A Manual of Geometry. By W. D. Eggar. In two 



parts. Part i., pp. xiii + 160; part ii., pp. .x4-i78. 



(London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1910.) Price 2.S. 



each part. 

 Many teachers will welcome the re-issue in two parts 

 of Mr. Eggar's " Manual of Geometry." Part i. will 

 prove of particular value just now, since it covers the 

 work specified in the memorandum issued by the 

 Board of Education on the teaching of geometry to 

 beginners. It niav be said that the first part deals 

 with the subjects of Euclid, Book i., and the second 

 with those of Euclid, Books ii. to vi. 

 The South Devon and Dorset Coast. By Sidney 



Heath. Pp. xvi-l-445. (London : T. Fisher Unwin, 



19 10.) Price 6s. net. 

 The latest addition to Mr. Fisher L'nwin's "County 

 Coast Series " will form a delightful companion for 

 the visitor to the country lying between Poole on the 

 east and Plymouth on the west. Mr. Heath's miscel- 

 lany of historical, topographical, and archaological 

 details relating to Devonshire and F^orsetshire is as 

 informative as it is interesting, and the illustrations, 

 which number nearly sixty, make the volume very 

 attractive. There is little doubt that the book will 

 become a favourite with residents in the delightful 

 part of England with which it deals. 



