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Reviews and Book Notices. 



Messrs. T. C. and E. C. Jack have issued a remarkable series of neatly 

 bound volumes known as ' The People's Books,' at the extraordinarily 

 low price of sixpence each. Two of these are before us, viz., Embryology,, 

 the Beginnings of Life, by Dr. Gerald Leighton, and The Evolution of 

 Living Organisms, by Mr. E. S. Goodrich, F.R.S. The names of these 

 authors are sufficient guarantee for the reliability of the volumes. 



Spiders. By Cecil Warburton. Cambridge University Press, 1912, 136- 

 pp., I /- net. The interest that has been taken in recent years in the usually 

 neglected order, the arachnida, has been most satisfactorj^, and no doubt 

 ;\Ir. Warburton's excellent introduction to their study, just issued in the 

 Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature, will do much to further 

 the claims of this fascinating branch of natural history. After describing 

 the various forms of spiders, and their extraordinary habits, the author 

 deals with their enemies, parasites, etc. The book is well illustrated. 



Butterflies and Moths at Home and Abroad. By H. Rowland-Brown. 



London : Fisher I'nwin, 1912., 271 pp., 7/6 net. 



By the aid of 21 excellently coloured plates on tinted mounts, and 

 diagrams in the text, Mr Rowland Brown not onl}^ gives an account of 

 the more important genera and .species of butterflies and moths, but has 

 eight introductory chapters which will prove useful to the beginner. These 

 deal with the use of collecting and observation ; entomology, its meaning ; 

 the egg, the larva, the pupa, the perfect insect ; classilication, rearing and 

 breeding, killing, setting, storing, distribution, immigration, colonisation, 

 protective powers, mimicry, etc. The book will be found most useful 

 to a beginner, and the plates are very good. 



The Marine Mammals in the Anatomical Museum of the University 

 of Edinburgh. By Sir William Turner, K.C.B. London : MacMillan 

 and Co., 207 pp., 6/- net. 



Some time ago the present writer had the rare privilege of being con- 

 ducted round the wonderful collection of marine mammalia in the 

 Museum of the Edinburgh University, by Sir William Turner, and was 

 astounded at the marvellous amount of material which is there available 

 for students in this usually neglected branch of zoology. During a long 

 and mo.st energetic life Sir William has been successful, almost single- 

 handed, in gathering together an unrivalled series of objects representing 

 33 species of cetacea, varying from 66 feet or so long, to hand specimens. 

 The present work is not inerely a well prepared and well illustrated cata- 

 logue of the specimens at Edinburgh, but it forms a valuable contribution 

 to our knowledge of the larger mammalia. Sir William's ' Introduction,' 

 though only consisting of 20 pages, is remarkably clear and "concise, and not 

 only summarises what is known of modern whales, etc., but includes an 

 instructive description of the fossil forms. 



The Naturalist in Siluria. 'By Capt. Mayne Reid. Cheap Edition, 

 Price 2/-. Publibhed by The Year Book Press. 



Siluria, where Capt. Mayne Reed resided, is a district in Herefordshire 

 and Gloucestershire covered by the Upper Silurian Rocks. It is described 

 b^' Capt. Reed as a naturalist's paradise, and the book consists of a series 

 of essays, chiell}' concerning the vertebrate fauna of the district. Many 

 of them are extremely intere.sting, and prove Capt. Reid to have been a 

 keen and observant naturalist. 1 here are, however, one or two anomalies. 

 For instance, the author falls foul of certain scientific nomenclature, 

 and especially with Gayruliis glandarius, in connection with the Jaj' (we 

 wonder what he would think of the present day tinkering with nomen- 

 clature), yet in another place he suggests a new name for the Hedge Sparrow 

 calling it the Hedge Threader!! One cannot agree with him in his state- 

 ment that newts are 'hideous creatures,' nor that the 'wicked little 

 bullhead' [Cottits gobio), bites 'like a very shark.' Tlie book is a suitable 

 gift for a young nature lover. — R. F. 



Naturalist, 



