148 



NA rURE 



[Dec. i6, i; 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Natiira! Hhtoiy, its Rise and Progress in Britain, as 

 developed by the Life and Labours of Leading 

 Naturalists. By Alleyne Nicholson, M.D., D.Sc'., 

 Regius Professor of Natural History in the University 

 of Aberdeen. British Science-Biographies. (London 

 and Edinburgh : W. and R. Chambers, 1886.) 

 This little octavo volume of about 300 pages is a readable 

 book, and accurate in its information as far as it goes. But, 

 besides being sketchy — which is no doubt a fault inci- 

 dental to the form of the series — it is strangely ill- 

 balanced. In the first place, the author has travelled 

 beyond the limits of his title by giving biographical 

 sketches of Aristotle, Linnaeus, Lamarck, and Cuvier — 

 together constituting more than a third of the whole 

 number of " British Science-Biographies " with which 

 they are intermingled. In the next place, as regards the 

 " British Science-Biographies " which are given, there is 

 no proportion observable between the relative magnitudes 

 of these British biologists and the amount of notice which 

 is respectively bestowed. Running the eye over the table 

 of contents, we find that separate chapters are devoted to 

 eleven " leading naturalists " of this country. These, of 

 course, must be understood by his general readers, for 

 whom the book is designed, as representing what, in the 

 author's opinion, are the eleven greatest names in the 

 records of British biology. Yet six of these names are 

 Sir Hans Sloane, Gilbert White, Alexander Wilson, 

 William Swainson, Edward Forbes, and Robert Cham- 

 bers ! To take only the first and last of these names, 

 surely when a whole chapter, with a portrait, is devoted 

 to Sir Hans Sloane, it is remarkable that no mention at 

 all should be made of Sir Joseph Banks ; or that, when 

 another whole chapter is assigned to Robert Chambers, 

 we should nowhere encounter the name of Robert Brown. 

 It appears to us that when a Professor of Natural History 

 undertakes to popularise his science, his aim should be to 

 place before what this writer calls " unprofessional 

 readers " a true conception of the merit that attaches to 

 solid work in science, as distinguished from the celebrity 

 that belongs to a graceful writer or to an interesting 

 personal character. He should endeavour to raise the 

 popular mind to a just appreciation of naturalists : he 

 should not pander to the aheady accomplished popularity 

 of authors. Now, if this has been the aim of Prof. 

 Nicholson — and in his preface he says as much — in our 

 opinion he has shot wide of his mark. But, as before 

 observed, if his object has been to produce a readable 

 assemblage of short biographies, calculated to suit the 

 popular taste, we should say he has every reason to be 

 satisfied with the result. 



The Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of 

 England. Part II., 1886. (John Murray, Albemarle 

 Street.) 

 The current number of this Journal furnishes an excellent 

 illustration of the wide limits of agricultural science, and 

 the varied knowledge required of its professors. There 

 is perhaps no art or occupation which so directly requires 

 elucidation from so many sciences ; hence the varied 

 nature of the bill of fare provided by the Journal Com- 

 mittee of the Royal Agricultural Society. In proof of 

 this assertion we may take the contents of the entire 

 volume for 1886, the second part of which lies before us. 

 Pathology is treated of in papers upon foot-and-mouth 

 disease ; Pasteur and his work ; lung parasites, by the 

 late T. Spencer Cobbold, M.D. ; and abortion in cows. 

 Anatomy and physiology are the topics in Prof Brown's 

 paper upon organs of the animal body, their forms and 

 uses. Chemistry and botany are amply represented in 

 reports by Mr. Carruthers and Ur. J. Augustus Voelckcr. 

 Entomology in the form of papers on the recent appear- 

 ance of the Hessian fly is the theme of Miss E. A. 



Ormerod. Social science is illustrated by Mr. H. M. 

 Jenkins's report upon farming and agricultural training 

 in reformatory and industrial schools, and engineering in 

 the report of the Judges on the Exhibition of Implements 

 at Norwich. 



The more immediately agricultural information is 

 embodied in many interesting papers, among which may 

 be mentioned continued reports upon field and feeding 

 experiments at Woburn ; experiments on ensilage con- 

 ducted at Crawley Mill Farm, Woburn ; report on the 

 prize-farm competitions in Norfolk and Suffolk, 1886 ; the 

 report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Norwich ; and 

 lessons from the winter of 18S5-86. 



The number issued during the past month also con- 

 tains the examination papers on agricultural education 

 set during the present year, and much statistical informa- 

 tion useful to agriculturists. With such a large mass ot 

 material at hand, it is by no means easy to compress 

 remarks into the Hmits of a short notice. The names of 

 the authors of the various contributions is a guarantee of 

 their value, and any person who desires to keep pace with 

 scientific agriculture, whether actually engaged in agri- 

 cultural pursuits or not, will do well to peruse these 

 pages. The most interesting papers, and those containing 

 the newest information on subjects of vital interest to us, 

 are as follows: — (i) An inquiry into several outbreaks of 

 abortion in cows, by C. J. B. Johnson, L.R.C.P., who 

 traces most of the cases to the presence of ergot {Clari- 

 ce ps purpurea) in grass and hay. (2) Report on ensilage 

 experiments, in which the results are less favourable to 

 this innovation upon old-fashioned practice than some of 

 the apostles of the movement could wish. Silage isfound 

 inferior to homely, honest hay and roots. It is true that 

 silage made from green oats showed a distinct superiority, 

 but the question still remains open whether these promising 

 young oats, sacrificed while in the green stage, might not 

 have developed into still greater value had they been 

 allowed to bloom and fructify and bear their thirty, sixty, 

 or perchance a hundred-fold. Promoters of ensilage have 

 little to congratulate themselves on in this result of strict 

 inquiry and accurate tests brought to bear upon their 

 hobby. No doubt they will be equal to the occasion. 

 The prize-farm competition is, as usual, interesting, but 

 it is a matter of regret that, in such a noted county as 

 Norfolk for farming, the best-known agriculturists, whose 

 farming has been the admiration of their countrymen for 

 generations, should apparently have held aloof from the 

 competition. The first prize was awarded to a suburban 

 farm close to Norwich, and but little can be learnt 

 from management carried on under quite exceptional 

 circumstances. It is also a pity that the able officials 

 of the Royal Agricultural Society do not insist upon 

 a greater uniformity in the reports of their judges in 

 the matter of statistics. For purposes of comparison it 

 would be well if some tabular statement could be made 

 out, as for example as to the amount paid in rent, in 

 labour, feeding-stuffs, and trade expenses ; also as to the 

 gross and net produce per acre in each case ; the yield of 

 corn in bushels, and of roots in tons ; the uses made of 

 straw ; the amount of work expected per day from horses 

 and men ; the hours of labour ; the rate of payment for 

 day and for task work, &c. The reader looks in vain for 

 any such comparisons. Statements regarding them he 

 finds in respect of this or that farm, but any plan by 

 which he may compare or note extremes and means he 

 looks for in vain. Considering the many years in which 

 prizes for the best-managed farms have been given, it is 

 a matter for wonder that it is simply impossible to con- 

 struct any comparative statement as to points of manage- 

 ment in the numerous farms inspected and reported upon. 

 Lastly, we must notice Mr. H. M. Jenkins's report on the 

 cultivation of tobacco in the north-west of Europe, a 

 fairly hopeful paper as to the introduction of this cultiva- 

 tion into England. It would ill become the able secre- 



