82 
NATURE 
[Marcu 28, 1912 
will hope, when he eagerly opens a book dealing 
with the Himalayas, to catch some echo of the 
music of their melting snows and of their * 
notes wild’’—the scream of the marmot, or the 
his shikari, and being followed by grumbling 
_orderlies, and congratulating himself that the rifle 
“wood- | 
joyful noise of the Dipper (Cinclus) heard above | 
the turmoil of its native waters. He will hope 
for a few glimpses of their forest-clad buttresses, 
here aflame with rhododendron or with wild-rose, 
there dripping with orchid and lichen and moss; 
now standing out sharp as a two-edged sword, 
now engulfed in rolling billows of mist. He will 
hope to catch some reflection of the magic light of 
their blue and purple valleys. 
The sportsman, on the other hand, will expect 
a good contour map of the country, some remarks 
on ways and means, on times and seasons, on 
weapons and kit, on shikaris and guides, and on 
a multitude of little things, like the effects of a 
rarefied atmosphere upon wind, eye, and judg- 
ment. 
But in these Jottings of a Sportsman-Naturalist 
what the naturalist will find are some very 
ordinary descriptions of some of the larger mam- 
mals that live on the Himalayan slopes, served 
up along with accounts of certain open-air 
manceuvres by the author. Each animal is brought 
upon the stage, usually with some stereotyped 
introduction, such as ‘““Have you ever had a 
chance of critically examining a large male serow 
chase are duly emphasised. 
The author describes well-known animals, such 
as the goral, the serow, the tahr, the markhor, the 
bharal, the urial, and the black bear, which he 
(like scores and scores of other men) has seen | 
and followed and shot; the Kashmir stag and the | 
brown bear, which he saw at a distance; and the 
snow-leopard, the ibex, and the so-called Sikkim 
stag, which he did not see. All these animals 
(except the Sikkim stag unseen of the author) have 
been fully described, again and again, though the 
authcr does not mention the fact, by Hodgson, 
and Blyth, and Jerdon, and Blanford—to name 
only a few of his many illustrious predecessors. 
Beyond mammals, he makes some remarks on the 
jungle-crow, and describes the colouring of three 
species of pheasants. He also gives several pages 
to “the lizard of the Himalaya,” which he charac- 
terises and corpulent little 
beggar,” and caricatures as a ‘“paterfamilias ” 
living with a “spouse,” and chastising ‘a young 
hopeful.” 
Nor will the sportsman find much to please 
him. British officers, of course, have sometimes 
to be angry and sin, but one does not like to read 
of a sportsman constantly “turning angrily ” upon 
NO. 2213, VOL. 89| 
as “an impudent 
| specific order for that meal has been given. 
(luckily loaded) is in his own hands instead of in 
those of the enraged guide, and complaining be- 
cause a rest-house is pre-occupied by people who 
appear to be extremely civil and considerate. And 
to all who know Indian servants, how staunchly 
they stand by their master in times of discomfort, 
| it is positively painful to read of a sportsman whose 
servant reports unpleasant news “with a note of 
evil joy in his voice,” and tells his weary and 
hungry master that there is no dinner because no 
This 
is not the native servant that we all know. Most 
old Indians can tell of servants who would give 
and lose all rather than be untrue to their salt. 
There are also little things in which the author 
is perfunctory. That famous old Himalayan 
shikari General A. A. Kinloch is always referred 
to as ‘““Kinlock’’; that Nestor of Indian natural- 
| ists the late W. T. Blanford is referred to once 
| by his proper name, once as “ Blandford”; and 
Dr. Syntax is several times outraged—as in the 
sentence, ‘‘ Two essentials are absolutely necessary 
for he who,” etc. 
A book professing to deal, however informally, 
with natural history and wild sport must, quite 
apart from any literary standard, be also measured 
| by other standards—educational, sciezitific, philo- 
upon the mountain side? ”’ or “What a fine beast | 
is a noble old ram”; and all the labours of the | 
sophical, or technical. By any ef these standards 
this book cannot be classed. About the best thing 
| in it is a plate of a range of snows, facing p. 30, 
and this is spoilt by a fancy label that leaves the 
locality unmentioned. 
HYDRAULICS. 
By Prof. H. J. Hughes 
(New York : 
and 
A Treatise on Hydraulics. 
and A. T. Safford. Pp. xiv+505. 
The Macmillan Co. London: Macmillan 
Con lutds 1ont.) senicesnosmmner. 
N a country so favourably situated for the 
utilisation of hydraulic power as is the 
United States, the growing interest in the study 
of the science of hydraulics, as marked by the 
rapidly increasing number of text-books on the 
subject, is not to be wondered at. The book 
under review is the joint production of the 
assistant professor of civil engineering and of the 
lecturer in hydraulic engineering at Harvard 
University, and is written as a text-book for 
university students. 
An introductory chapter, dealing with the 
various units involved, is followed by three chap- 
ters devoted to hydrostatical problems. In this 
section, which occupies a somewhat large propor- 
tion—some seventy pages—of the book, the 
