NATURE 



489 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1907. 



JUE PHYSICAL LIFE OF BIRDS. 

 The Bird, its Form and Functions. By C. William 

 Beebe. Pp. xii + 496 ; illustrated. (London : Archibald 

 Constable and Co., Ltd., 1907.) Price 14.';. net. 



MR. BEEBE 'S handsome and beautifully illustrated 

 book on the bird forms as charming and 

 interesting an introduction to physical ornithology as 

 the general reader, or the unscientific bird lover, can 

 desire. In his preface, the author points out that too 

 many students' of ornithology stop short at the classi- 

 fication of birds, the naming of new species, and the 

 observation of the habits of those that are known; 

 and that not one of an audience of teachers to whom 

 he had lectured, though they could identify fifty birds 

 or more, knew the significance of the scales: on a 

 bird's foot. His book is intended to bridge this gap. 

 It is an untechnical study of the bird in the abstract. 

 His aim has been to take a few dead facts and clothe 

 them with the living interest which will make them 

 memorable and full of meaning to any lover of birds, 

 and at the same time to keep them acceptable in tenor 

 and truth to the most critical man of science. Wherever 

 possible, a fact has been illustrated with a photograph 

 from a preparation, or from a living bird, the author's^ 

 belief being that when verbal exposition fails, pictorial 

 interest will often fix a fact in the memory. How 

 successful he has been in this a glance at the wealth 

 of exquisite illustrations will show. Beginning at the 

 root of all things avian, his first chapter deals with 

 the birds' ancestors, the Ichthyornis, Archseopteryx, 

 &c., both the remains and a "restoration" of the 

 latter being illustrated. 



We cannot follow in detail the seventeen chapters in 

 which he deals with the entire structure of birds 

 (treating each part in relation to the various functions 

 it has to perform), their senses, their eggs, and the 

 young in the egg. But we will turn to that on 

 " beaks and bills," as a fair example of the treatment 

 of the subjects. It is illustrated with thirty-three 

 figures, and all the various^ forms of beak are described 

 with their special adaptation to the wants and habits 

 of the different birds. The beak is all-important to the 

 bird. 



" Tie a man's hands and arms tightly behind his 

 back, stand him on his feet, and tell him that he 

 must hereafter find and prepare his food, build his 

 house, defend himself from his enemies and perform 

 all the business of life in such a position, and what a 

 pitiable object he would present ! Yet this is not unlike 

 what birds have to do. .As we have seen, almost every 

 form of vegetable and animal life is used as food by 

 one or another of the species. Birds have most intri- 

 cately built homes, and their methods of defence are 

 to be numbered by the score; the care of their delicate 

 plumage alone would seem to necessitate many and 

 varied instruments ; yet all this is made possible, and 

 chiefly executed, by one small portion of the bird — its 

 bill or beak." 



This picture is hardlv overdrawn if we allow a little 

 for feet and spurs and wings, which some birds use 

 for getting food and making homes and fighting. In 

 NO. 1976, VOL. 76] 



feeding alone, so many different kinds of beaks are 

 wanted. To pick up small seeds, to probe the deepest 

 caly.xes of flowers, catch insects on the wing, and fish 

 in the sea in various ways on or below the surface ; to 

 sift the mud and ooze, and skim the surface of the 

 water, to chisel away wood and tear flesh ; all these 

 ways of feeding require different beaks, and they are 

 all described in a delightful manner that anyone can 

 understand. So wonderful is their variety and the 

 variety of their functions that this one chapter, like 

 the others, as' the author observes, could easily be 

 elaborated into one or more volumes. " .\ collection of 

 bills of the various wading-birds would look like 

 complete set of surgical tools." 



In the same way the rest of the subject is' treated, 

 the chapters on feathers (in which are some most 

 interesting pictures of pelicans in their breeding haunts) 

 and eggs: being perhaps the most attractive. The 

 book will take and hold a distinct place in the liter- 

 ature of the subject, for it is quite original and stands 

 alone. Not only is it a most readable and interesting 

 book, but a valuable one to teachers. A short list of 

 books in the appendix indicates sources where much 

 more detailed information may be obtained by those 

 who desire it. They relate chiefly to North American 

 birds, for the author writes from the New York 

 Zoological Park. Nevertheless, his book is of world- 

 wide interest. The wealth of illustration is one of its 

 chief features, and the index is very full and elaborate. 



ANIMAL MECHANICS. 

 Kinematik organischer Gelenke. By Prof. Dr. Otto 

 Fischer. Pp. xii 4-261. (Brunswick: Friedr. Vieweg 

 and Son, 1907.) Price 8 marks. 



ENGLISH anatomists appear to have taken up the 

 study of the joints and the movements per- 

 formed by means of them almost entirely from the 

 standpoint of descriptive anatomy, leaving the mathe- 

 matical and more precise study somewhat severely 

 alone. Proof of this statement is amply afforded by 

 reference to the excellent bibliography which Prof. 

 Fischer has appended to his handbook, the work under 

 review, on the kinematics of living joints. No 

 less than 127 references are given to German or 

 French text-books or papers on the subject, whilst 

 English or American authors are responsible for only 

 nine. Of these, eight are papers to be found in vari- 

 ous journals. The only extended mathematical treat- 

 ment in English is that by Prof. Haycraft, entitled 

 " .Animal Mechanics," to be found in the second 

 volume of Schafer's "Physiology." The combination 

 of a sufficient knowledge of mechanics with the neces- 

 sary anatomy would therefore appear to be somewhat 

 rare in this country. The subject, however, is one of 

 great interest, and it is treated in a learned and at 

 the same time lucid manner by Prof. Fischer, who 

 h:is made for himself a considerable reputation in 

 gunnection with it. 



In the first section of this work, a more or less 

 general investigation is made into the mechanical 

 principles which govern the movements of organic 

 joints. This is done by considering first a machine 



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