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REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 
NEW NATURE STUDY BOOKS. 
The production of popular natural History books still proceeds apace, 
and happily the rule is that they are well written, well printed, well illus- 
trated, and cheap. In this way the study of natural history is becoming 
more and more general. 
Messrs. Gowans & Gray, of Glasgow, have issued No. 29 of their well- 
known nature-books (76 pp., 6d.), being the fifth series of their Wild Birds 
at Home. There are 60 reproductions of charming photographs of bird- 
life, by Mr. A. Brook. The photographs are principally those of the jay, 
jackdaw, nightjar, buzzard, sparrow-hawk, and kestrel. 
Messrs. Macmillan & Co. have issued a third edition, revised and 
enlarged, of Mr. R. C. Punnett’s excellent little handbook on Mendelism, 
which we have already noticed in these columns. The fact that this work 
has been several times reprinted, and that American, German, and Swedish 
editions have been prepared, speaks for its popularity. The present 
edition (176 pp.), contains many illustrations, including some very fine 
coloured plates. 
Messrs. Cassell & Co. have published The Nature Lover’s Handbook 
(205 pp., 2/6). It ison light paper, of small size, and with rounded corners, 
evidently for use in the pocket. The book has been compiled by Messrs. R. 
Kearton, J. J. Ward, H. P. Fitzgerald, H. Irving, and S. L. Bensusan. 
There is a chapter of ten pages or so for each month, and elaborate tables 
of birds’ nests and eggs, butterflies and moths, wild flowers and trees. 
These contain particulars of scientific and popular names, dates of appear- 
ance, where found, etc. It is just the thing for a teacher. 
From the same publishing house have been issued Wild Flowers as They 
Grow, by H. E. Corke and G. C. Nuttall (2 vols., 5/- net each, 197 pp. each). 
They are printed in large type on stout paper, and would make ad- 
mirable presentation volumes. These books claim to be the first to be 
illustrated from photographs of plants in situ, prepared by the Lumiere 
process. These are reproduced by the four-colour process, and certainly 
the actual plants are represented as well as in any illustrations we have seen. 
There are dozens of these beautiful plates, which include such subjects as 
dog-rose, scarlet pimpernel, wild strawberry, foxglove, bee-orchis, poppy, 
SO ay LEO 
Messrs. Methuen & Co. have published two interesting nature-books, 
both of which will certainly become popular. 
The first is Our Inseet Friends and Foes, (296 pp., 6/-), by F. Martin 
Dunean, and contains over fifty illustrations from photographs by the 
author. Some of these depict the insects in their various stages and in 
their natural surroundings ; others shew enlargements of parts of insects. 
The chapters deal with insect communities, aquatic insects, insect actors, 
insects in commerce, poison fangs, plant fertilization, beetles, insect foes, 
etc. They are written in popular and readable English, and interest 
in the volume is maintained by many romantic narratives. 
The same firm have published The Life of Crustacea, by Dr. W. T. 
Calman (289 pp., 6/-). 
This, perhaps more than any book yet noticed, supplies a want. The 
Crustacea have been sadly neglected, and rarely do we see a ‘ nature-study ’ 
book refer to them in any way. This is largely due to the fact that few 
are qualified to write on the subject in an accurate and popular manner. 
Dr. Calman has succeeded in doing this, and his book should certainly 
give an impetus to the study of these interesting and neglected organisms. 
The volume is also made much more valuable by the wealth of excellent 
illustrations, there being 32 full-page plates and 85 illustrations in the 
text. The author not only describes all the numerous important forms 
of crabs, lobsters, shrimps, etc., etc., but has chapters on their distribution, 
both in time and space ; fossil crustaceans, and methods of preserving the 
modern forms. We welcome the book; we have wanted it a long time, 
rgo1r Nov. 1. 
