NA TURE 



[Ma.v 9, 1907 



theorj', and shows a common ground where the prac- 

 tical dyer, the chemist, and the physicist may meet. 

 Its study will well repay all students of dyeing and 

 those practically engaged in the textile trades who 

 have been able to keep in any way abreast with recent 

 work. Walter M. Gardner. 



THE WAYS OF WILDFOWL. 

 Practical Wildfowling. A Complete Guide to the 

 Art of the Fowler, with Descriptions of the Various 

 Birds usually met with. By W. J. Fallon. Second 

 edition, revised and greatly enlarged. Pp. 248; 

 illustrated. (London : L. Upcott Gill ; New York : 

 Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1907.) Price 6s. 



THE new edition of Mr. Fallon's useful little hand- 

 book of practical wildfowling has been brought 

 up to date, and a considerable amount of new matter 

 and many new illustrations have been added. 

 Thoroughly to enjoy his sport the wildfowler must 

 ■be a good field naturalist, and this little work aims, 

 inter alia, at making easy the identification of those 

 species of birds he is most likely to meet with. The 

 enjoyment of wildfowling lies not only in killing, but 

 in seeking to kill by pitting one's endeavours and 

 skill against the cunning and wariness of the fowl. 

 Unlike pheasants and partridges, they cannot be 

 brought over the guns. Herein lies the essence of 

 the sport, and hence the absolute necessity of under- 

 standing the life-habits and peculiarities of the 

 various kinds of wildfowl. 



With the first part of this excellent manual, which 

 deals fully with the guns, boats, ammunition, and 

 other outfit and accessories necessary for the pur- 

 suit, we are not immediately concerned, but pass on 

 to the chapters on the art of wildfowling, for therein 

 much may be learned about the habits of some of 

 the shyest of birds. To be a successful wildfowler, a 

 man must have an intimate knowledge of the birds' 

 ways and behaviour under the varying conditions of 

 time, tide, and weather. He must also be able to 

 identify the fowl, not only when in hand, but when 

 at a distance. His skill in handling the gun will 

 avail him little if he cannot distinguish a jack snipe 

 from a sandpiper, curlews from gulls, or ducks from 

 divers, for all these and others must be attacked 

 with a different strategy. To know birds, when at a 

 little distance, by some peculiarity of motion, shape, 

 or flight, is a great part of the fowler's craft, for 

 the tactics adopted to secure one kind of duck may 

 be quite inadequate in the case of some other species 

 of this family. He must be familiar, too, with the 

 food and the feeding-ground of the various ducks, 

 geese, and shore birds in order to know where they 

 may be found, and at what time of the dav or 

 night. 



Naturalists, indeed, are indebted to the wildfowler 

 for much that they have been able to record as to 

 the habits of various wildfowl ; and as Mr. Fallon 

 ■essays, and very successfully, to instruct the tyro in 

 all these things, his book appeals strongly to the 

 field naturalist. In this part of the book the subject 

 "is treated under the heads of wild swans, wild geese, 

 NO. 1958, VOL. 76J 



wild ducks, and shore birds, and the plan adopted is 

 to describe each species of these groups likely (or 

 even possible, for the rare kinds which may turn 

 up any day are included) to bo met with, and then 

 to deal with the various methods of approaching and 

 shooting them. 



The identification of the different species is rendered 

 more easy by the introduction of some very life-like 

 figures, while in reading about the way to get at 

 them we find ourselves learning a good deal about 

 their individual peculiarities. In going through the 

 book we come upon many good notes and original 

 observations on the food and feeding habits of geese, 

 ducks, and shore birds, and would instance the 

 interesting remarks on the grain-feeding habits of 

 the pink-footed goose. Many another out-of-the-way 

 scrap of natural history, too, can be gleaned; for 

 example, the curious habit of sheldrakes choosing as 

 a nesting site the straw stacks which are placed in 

 the fields as shelter for the cattle in some marshy 

 districts. If we were disposed to be critical, we 

 might suggest that the curlew sandpiper should not 

 be described as of similar plumage to the dunlin, and 

 that the white patch on the lower part of the back, 

 so conspicuous when the former bird is flying, is a 

 mark distinguishing the two species. .Also that it is 

 not up to date to say that a clutch of knot's eggs 

 does not exist in any collection ; not that this matters 

 to the wildfowler. There have been many books 

 written on wildfowling since the days of Hawker, but 

 it is doubtful whether any of them give so much 

 information in so small a compass as this little hand- 

 book. There is a good index, and we cannot with- 

 hold a word of especial praise from the delightful 

 picture with a heron in the foreground. 



O. V. Aplin. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Hypnotism and Suggestion. By Edwin Ash. Pp. 



IJ4. (London; J. Jacobs, 1906.) Price 45. net. 

 In the preface the author tells the reader that the 

 objects he had in view in writing this book 

 were to explain the technique of experimental 

 hypnotism and suggestive therapeutics, and at the 

 same time to endeavour to divest the subject of the 

 air of mystery with which it is popularly invested. 

 In an introductory chapter he brieflv alludes to 

 certain general questions connected with hypnotism. 

 He considers that telepathy is at present " non- 

 proven," and, further, he does not believe in a 

 " magnetic force " for curative purposes. 



The author carefully describes the methods 

 employed in the production of hypnosis, and the 

 earlier and later phenomena to be observed when 

 this condition is brought about. He discusses the 

 various stages of hypnosis, and points out the difficul- 

 ties of arranging an accurate classification. In 

 considering the use of hypnosis for surgical 

 anaesthesia, he recognises its limitations, and 

 although he fully lealiscs its value, nevertheless, from 

 the practical standpoint, the difficultv of producing 

 it rapidly and deeply is a serious objection in the 

 way of bringing it into general use. Post-hypnotii- 

 influence forms tlie subject-matter of another chapter, 

 and its possible relationship to criminal acts is re- 

 ferred to. Dr. .\sh agrees with many observers that 



