414 Notes and Comments. 



share our anxiety to see the work completed. The present 

 part deals with a section of the bats, and if the remainder of 

 the work is done in the same thorough and scientific manner, 

 it can be safely said that no other such work will exist in 

 the English language. It is also gratifying to us to find to 

 what a large extent ' The Naturalist ' and the work of the 

 members of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union have been put 

 to use by the author. On every page there is evidence not 

 only of Mr. Barrett-Hamilton's thorough acquaintance with 

 the subject with which he deals, but it is also apparent that he 

 is in close touch with the various workers, as well as with the 

 somewhat extensive literature. The various diagrammatic 

 sketches and other illustrations, by Mr. E. A. Wilson, are also 

 all that can be desired. 



HARMSWORTH NATURAL HISTORY. 



Under this heading is perhaps the cheapest ' Natural 

 History ' that has appeared in recent years. The work is 

 being issued in about forty sevenpenny parts. Each part has 

 many illustrations in the text, and four excellent coloured 

 plates. Sufficient has already been published to indicate 

 that by the time the three volumes are complete the possessor 

 will have a thoroughly reliable and fairly comprehensive 

 account of the animal kingdom. The subjects, too, are dealt 

 with in a scientific manner, and not merely catalogues under 

 the heads of name, size, locality, habits, etc., as was the case 

 with the ' natural histories ' of years ago. When we bear in 

 mind that the principal contributors are Mr. R. Lydekker, 

 Sir Harry Johnston and Prof. Ainsworth-Davis, it is apparent 

 that the scientific accuracy of the publication is assured. As 

 a matter of fact, we have had occasion to refer to the work 

 on one or two points, and have found it most helpful. As 

 regards the text illustrations, these are numerous, but of 

 varying quality. Some are obviously from recent photographs 

 and sketches ; others, however, have an ancient, not to say 

 ' wooden ' appearance. 



kearton's nature pictures. 



In an attractive cover, Messrs. Cassell are publishing a 

 wonderful series of pictures by the brothers Kearton, in twenty- 

 four fortnightly parts, at a shilling net. Each of these 

 contains eight pages of letterpress (with illustrations) and four 

 plates, one of which is coloured. The plates alone are worth 

 the money, and we confess we like the uncoloured ones the best. 



Naturalist, 



