December 2, 1909] 



NA TURE 



by their judgment and ability to select good stock, 

 secondly, by judicious inbreeding, and, thirdly, by 

 ruthlessly discarding unsatisfactory animals. 



We have no hesitation in recommending this book 

 to all who are theoretically or practically interested in 

 the subject of breeding. 



GEOGRAPHICAL MANUALS AND GUIDES. 

 (i) .4 General Geography of the World. By H. E. 



Evans. Pp. xii + 43g. (London: Blackie and Son, 



Ltd., 1909.) Price 3X. 6d. 

 (2) The Oxford Geographies. (Oxford: Clarendon 



Press, 1909.) (a) The Practical Geography. By 



J. F. Unstead. Part i, pp. 120; part ii, pp. 112; 



complete in one volume. Price 2S. 6d. (6) The 



Elementary Geography. By F. D. Herbertson. 



\'oI. i ; .4 First Physiography. Pp. 80. Price lod. 



Vol. iii ; Europe, excluding the British Isles. Pp. 



112. Price IS. 

 (j) Cambridge County Geographies. Norfolk. By 

 ~^\V. A. Dutt. Pp. viii+156. Suffolk. By W. A. 



Dutt. Pp. viii + 136. Hertfordshire. By R. 



Lydekker. Pp. ix+173. Wiltshire. By A. G. 



Bradley. Pp. .\i + 156. (Cambridge : L'niversity 



Press, 1909.) Price is. 6d. each. 



(4) By Road and River : a Descriptive Geography of 

 the British Isles. By E. M. Wilmot-Buxton. Pp. 

 viii +154. (London: Methuen and Co., 1909.) 

 Price 2S. 



(5) A Systematic Geography of the British Isles. By 

 G. W. Webb. Pp. viii + 94. (London: Methuen 

 and Co., 1909.) Price is. 



(6) Highways and Byways in Middlesex. By W. 

 Jerrold. Pp. xviii + 400. (London : Macmillan and 

 Co., Ltd., 1909.) Price 65. 



(7) Growls from Uganda. By Critolaos. Pp. 120. 

 (London : Elliott Stock, 1909.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 



(i) TF the student of geography can be taught to 

 -»- appreciate the value of a work of general re- 

 ference, strictly arranged on a systematic plan, Mr. 

 Evans' " General Geography " should meet with a 

 demand. But it is not difficult, on the other hand, to 

 imagine the school-child quailing before these serried 

 ranks of facts, figures, and names, baldly presented, 

 thrust forward by means of heavy-faced type, sum- 

 marised (where there is need) in tables. It is to be 

 hoped that no attempt is made, in these days, to teach 

 geography out of such a book alone ; but as a medium 

 for refreshing the memory on essential points before 

 an examination, it should be of great value. To en- 

 hance this value, a number of examination questions 

 are given. Another noteworthy feature is that the 

 index is made to serve as a guide to pronunciation, a 

 matter in which students (and, for the matter of that, 

 most other people) are commonly at fault owing to 

 the difficulty of obtaining guidance in it. 



(2) Mr. Unstead's "Practical Geography," as its 

 name suggests, is a guide to practical work in geo- 

 graphy. The guidance is provided by series of exer- 

 cises, each group of which is preceded by an intro- 

 ductory statement. There are two parts in this 

 volume. The first deals with map-reading, field work 

 (i.e. the study of local geographical features on the 

 NO. 2092, VOL. 82] 



spot), weather, and the British Isles. The second part 

 is for students somewhat more advanced; it deals with 

 map-making, weather changes, and their causes, the 

 form and movements of the earth, the principal 

 countries, and the comparative growth of population 

 and development of commerce in Great Britain and 

 other countries. Full directions are given for plotting 

 on maps or illustrating by diagrams the various 

 classes of geographical information, under the above 

 headings, which are capable of such treatment. The 

 exercises appear to be carefully thought out and sug- 

 gestive, and ought to interest every student who once 

 acquires an aptitude for them. 



It would be hard to keep the requirements of the 

 most elementary teaching more carefully in view 

 than Mrs. Herbertson has in the two volumes of 

 "The Elementary Geography" under notice. There 

 is certainly an art in writing from this point 

 of view. The two volumes are slight, but 

 must needs be so. Simplicity in language and 

 construction of sentences has been strictly adhered to. 

 In this series the extreme value of illustrations has 

 been realised, and some good photographs, selected 

 according to their relevance to points in the text, are 

 provided, with an explanatoin beneath each. A few 

 simple exercises are provided for each subject taken 

 up. These little volumes should supply a real need; 

 their use as an introduction to geography must be 

 manifest, in contrast with volumes of stock questions 

 and answers. 



(3) The four volumes of the "Cambridge County 

 Geographies " now under notice are by different hands 

 from those previously commented upon in these 

 columns. While they adhere strictly to the model laid 

 down for the whole series, the style is somewhat less 

 rigid than that of the earlier volumes, and this is un- 

 doubtedly an improvement. Line drawings have not 

 been used in the present volumes, and the photographs 

 call for particular commendation as being well chosen 

 and well reproduced. It may be repeated that the 

 series deser\-es every encouragement, and it is to be 

 hoped that it will be carried to completion in the same 

 good style as marks Mr. Dutt's works on the two 

 eastern shires, Mr. Lydekker's on Hertfordshire, and 

 Mr. Bradlev's on Wiltshire. The volumes are really 

 remarkable value for their price. 



(4) A school-book with the title "By Road and 

 River," suggests something of a novelty. And Mr. 

 Wilmot-Buxton 's treatment of geography as a school 

 subject is a decided departure from the ordinary lines. 

 For the most part, we like it very well, and so should 

 the children who learn from it. Premising that most 

 children have no great opportunity for learning geo- 

 graphv bv the very best method— travelling— the 

 author invites them to ''pretend to go on journeys 

 from place to place " by rail, road, or river. The re- 

 sult is instructive and entertaining, even if the author 

 occasionally goes rather far in colloquialism in order 

 to keep his style attractive. Moreover, the sketch- 

 maps and illustrations are quite above the average in 

 such books— the illustrations are particularly well 

 chosen. .\ few questions for exercise accompany each 

 chapter. 



