356 
Je 
NATORE 
[Fed. 3, 1870 
detail, and in this way we get most of the families of mam- 
malia, birds, insects, and arachnida legitimately illustrated, | 
whilst by stret ga point here and there, even the classes 
of reptiles, -s, and mollusca are more or less repre- 
sented. LU f vermes we find a good account of the 
curious natt listory of the Entozoa. Either as a 
practical guid r the cultivator, or as a first book in | 
the study of general zoology, Dr. Giebel’s volume will be | 
found of great value, and we can only repeat our expres- | 
sion of regret that we have nothing like it in our own 
language. 
History of Meteors and of the Grand Phenomena of 
Nature. By J. Rambosson. (London and Edin- 
burgh : Williams and Norgate.) 
NOTHING is more sublime, or more engrossing, or at 
times more awful than the phenomena of Nature on the 
large scale ; and yet nothing is more prosaic than most 
of the treatises on meteorology. 
Those terrible statisticians with their columns of figures 
have certainly succeeded marvellously in creating a distaste 
for the study of the greater natural phenomena. A 
cyclone at sea is one of the most glorious and awful 
sights that can be imagined, yet in the pages of meteoro- 
logical journals it becomes a barometric difference of an 
inch and a half, a wind equal to 12, and a sea disturb- 
ance equal to 9. 
But M. Rambosson, with that talent for elucidation 
which so many Frenchmen and so few Englishmen 
possess, has spared neither trouble nor expense in order 
to produce a thoroughly popular and, at the same time, 
thoroughly scientific description of the grander class of 
natural phenomena. 
THE AURORA BOREALIS 
Being himself a traveller as well as a man of science, 
his descriptions and illustrations are particularly good ; 
and no student can read the book without retaining a 
vivid impression of the aspects of Nature in her wilder 
moments. Some of the illustrations remind one of 
Gustave Doré ; that of a hurricane on land and sea, Fig. 
3, is particularly good; so is that of a hurricane in the 
desert, Fig. 33 ; also his pictures of lightning, Figs. 62, 63, 
64; on the other hand, some few illustrations might pos- 
sibly be dispensed with. 
It has often occurred to us that while the student of 
chemistry and of physics is made acquainted in the 
laboratory with the forces with which he reasons, so the 
student of meteorology should, if possible, like the author 
of this book, be brought face to face with the grander 
class of natural phenomena ; failing which, a well illus- 
trated book, like that of M. Rambosson, is an admirable 
substitute for the personal experience which few can 
have. B.S. 
Our Own Birds. A Familiar Natural History of the Birds 
of the United States. By W.J. Baily. Revised and 
edited by G. D. Cope, Cor. Sec. Acad. Nat. Sci. With 
illustrations, after Audubon. (London: Triibner). 
ALTHOUGH the object of this work is not to treat orni- 
thology scientifically, but rather to present the subject in 
a pleasing manner to the young, Mr. Cope’s name on 
the title-page is a guarantee of its scientific accuracy ; and 
although the birds of the United States are mainly dealt 
with, the volume will doubtless be welcome to many young 
naturalists in this country, for the habits and interesting 
peculiarities of each bird are fully dwelt upon. Some of 
the illustrations are admirable. 
