Some New Books. 129 



modern processes for extracting and refining the more important metals. 

 Each chapter is clear and succinct, and no space is wasted in fine writing. 

 It is just what the student requires. The value of the book is considerably 

 increased by no fewer than 21S figures, which clearly indicate the various 

 processes in the manufacture of gold, silver, mercury, lead, tin, iron, zinc, 

 manganese, and many other metals. 



Wonders of Plant Life, by S. Leonard Bastin, with 40 plates and 8 

 autochromes. Cassell & Co., Ltd., London, pp. x. and 136. 3/6 net. 



Tills book deals in a very readable and interesting manner with the 

 more important phases of plant life, under such headings as : — ' The Asser- 

 tive Plant,' ' The Plant and the Seasons,' ' The Plant as a Host,' ' The 

 Plant and its Helpers and its Enemies,' ' The Feelings of Plants and the 

 Evolution of Flowers.' There are a number of good illustrations froni 

 photographs taken by the author ; two of these, one showing aquatic 

 plants in summer, and another showing the same habitat in winter, are 

 very striking. On the whole the book is carefully written ; but occasion- 

 ally unwarranted statements are made, e.g., ' flowers with sepals and 

 petals but lacking the reproductive process are of course unknown in 

 Nature.' Neuter flowers seem to have been overlooked. Fruits are often 

 called ' seeds,' and ' leaf ' is sometimes used in the sense of shoot and 

 thallus. 



The World's Minerals, by Leonard J. Spencer, M.A., F.G.S. London : 

 W. & R. Chambers, x. +212 pp. 



The greatest difficulty that beginners have experienced in the study 

 of minerals by means of text-books is that it has been hitherto impossible 

 to convey any proper idea of the actual appearance of the minerals by dia- 

 grams and descriptions. In the present work this difficulty has been 

 practically overcome. By means of 40 coloured plates, the character of 

 our chief minerals is shewn in a way we do not remember to have seen in a 

 text-book previously. Not only are the varied and beautiful colours 

 faithfully represented, but even the lustres and metallic tints are repro- 

 duced. Some of the reproductions are wonderfully well done — the 

 Flourspar (plate 9), and Quartz (plate 11), particularly appeal to us. 

 The name of Mr. L. J. Spencer, of the Mineralogical Department, British 

 Museum, and editor of the Mineralogical Magazine, is a sufficient guarantee 

 of the character of the descriptive letterpress, and he has not made the 

 mistake of including too many. He principally confines the book to a 

 description of 116 more common simple minerals, and these are illustrated, 

 bjr 163 figures on the coloured plates. Particulars are given of the localities 

 at which the minerals occur, etc. 



The Fur, Feather and Fin Series. This well-known series will certainly 

 be familiar to most of our readers, but our present purpose is to draw 

 attention to the fact that the publishers, Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co., 

 have just issued a cheap impression at half-a-crown a volume. As the 

 volumes are well bound and illustrated, anyone interested in the sporting 

 side of natural history should certainly obtain them. The books are 

 divided into sections to suit the tastes of different classes of readers. 

 For instance, that devoted to The Pheasant has a natural history .section 

 by the Rev. H. A. Macpherson ; ' shooting 'is by A. J. Stuart- Wortley, 

 and 'cooking' by Alexander Innes Shand. 'The Grouse' and 'The 

 Partridge ' volumes are similarly dealt with. In the case of that on 

 The Hare, besides the Rev. Macpherson's notes on natural history, the 

 Hon. Gerald Lascelles writes on 'shooting,' Mr. C. Richardson on ' cours- 

 ing,' Messrs. Gibbons and Longman on ' hunting,' a,nd Col. Kenney 

 Herbert on ' cookery.' Personally, we find the volume dealing with 

 The Red Deer of the most general interest, though they are all well 

 worthy of':areful study. The publishers kindly enable us to reproduce 

 one of the illustrations from the last-named book (see plate I\'.), which 

 will give a fair idea of the nature of the illustrations. 



1912 April I. 



