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REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 



Faith in Fetters, by the Rev. T. R. R. Stebbinji (T. Fisher Unwin, 

 223 pp., C/- net). Some little time ago tlic autlior of this work rather 

 upset the equanimity of some of the Rood members of the South-F.astem 

 Union of Scientific Societies by his presidential address, which some of 

 them considered to be ' profane.' The author has now extended his 

 remarks in the present volume, which is doubtless influenced by his 

 studies in natural histor}^ and appeals to the National Church to purify 

 itself from a dense load of ignorance and prejudice, and to the men of 

 light and leading in its ministry to renounce all hypocritical evasion 

 and boldly avow themselves the champions of Sincerity and Truth. 



Zoology, a textbook for Colleges and Universities, by T. D. A. 

 Cockerell (Harrap, Ltd., 558 pp., 10/6 net). Of perhaps a more tech- 

 nical character than the preceding volumes, is this by the Professor of 

 Zoology in Colorado. The author is a great believer in illustrations 

 and various forms of animals are represented by over two hundred 

 photographs and diagrams. The volume is much more readable than 

 the usual text book, and among the chapters are interpersed articles on 

 ' Mendelism,' ' Variation,' etc. As a sample of the author's style we 

 may quote one paragraph : ' Many years ago the baby lions in the 

 London Zoological Gardens died in numbers, in spite of the fact that the 

 animals were well housed and given expensive food. In Dublin, where 

 conditions were not supposed to be so good, the young lions lived. It 

 turned out that the death of the London lions was owing to a rickety 

 condition of the base of the skull, and this in turn to a deficiency of lime 

 in the milk of the lionesses. This deficiency appeared to be owing to 

 the fact that the beasts had been fed on good cuts of meat, with too 

 little bone. In Dublin, where they could not afford to treat them so 

 well (as they considered it), they gave them more bone and less meat, 

 with the good results already mentioned. Thus, while the cellscan do 

 marvellous tricks of conjuring, there are limits to its power.' 



: o : 



The price of Discovery has been increased from 6d. to i/- monthly. 



The Yorkshire Post of November 30th records a Little Auk shot at 

 Wrelton, near Pickering. 



The Museum and Art Gallery presented to West Hartlepool by Sir 

 William C. Gray, Bart., was opened on November 4th by Capt. Gray. 

 Lieut. -Col. L. Robson, C.M.G., D.S.O., presided over a large gathering. 



The Annual Meeting of the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union was held 

 on November nth at Lincoln. Mr. Medlicott stated that in North 

 Lines, the barn owl had adopted the curious habit of hunting by day. 

 He had seen many hunting between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. He thought the 

 reason was lack of food, as they seemed to be in a very starved condition. 

 He also reported an instance of a cuckoo, with an unmistakable note, 

 appearing in two seasons in succession in the same localit3\ Regarding 

 mammals, two white stoats were shot during the winter north of Scun- 

 thorpe. .»On August 23rd he watched for five minutes a stoat rolling a 

 hen's egg from a nest over rough ground for thirty yards. The stoat did 

 it all quite easily with the point of its nose, and travelled at about walking 

 pace. In the autumn of 1919, voles — probably the short -tailed field vole — 

 did great damage to young sycamore trees in a small mixed plantation by 

 eating the bark. Hundreds of trees were damaged up to 20 ft. high, 

 but only sycamore trees were touched. Badgers, not common in the 

 district north of Scunthorpe, returned to an old earth in 1919, which had 

 not been occupied for eight years, and bred there successfully in 19 19 and 

 1920. The Rev. F. S. Alston was elected President for the ensuing year, 

 In his presidential address, Mr. J. F. Musham spoke on ' Some Molluscan 

 ways as observed in the Field and Captivity.' 



