182 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. Ko. 683 



those who took very high places in the Mathe- 

 matical Tripos did so little afterwards. 



Again on page 34: 



He had two really wicked characteristics, that 

 he would never allow any one to help him with 

 his work, not even permitting invitations to be 

 answered for him, and that he kept every single 

 thing he received by post, even advertisements. 



On page 36 : 



Lord Kelvin's visits were occasions of enjoy- 

 ment to him, and great were the discussions be- 

 tween them, which anything served to begin; for 

 instance, the eggs were always boiled in an egg- 

 boiler on the table, and Lord Kelvin would wish 

 to boil them by mathematical rule and economy 

 of fuel, with preliminary measurements by the 

 millimeter scale, and so on. 



On page 44 : 



One day especially his silence in the House [of 

 Commons] was remarked. Some scientific ques- 

 tion had come up and still he said nothing. When 

 we afterwards asked him why, he answered that 

 he had been prepared to rise, but that another 

 person had obviously wished to speak and had 

 said enough, although he had treated the subject 

 from a different standpoint from that which he 

 should have himself adopted. Only one member 

 beat him in regularity of attendance, Sir Richard 

 Temple, who, however, lived in London. 



Amongst the series of letters, one striking 

 omission will be noticed, the absence of any 

 correspondence with Lord Kelvin. We are 

 glad to learn from the preface that these suffice 

 to form a collection by themselves and that it 

 has been decided to publish them separately, 

 with a memorial of the lifelong friendship 

 and collaboration of the writers. Of the 

 numerous scientific matters which are treated 

 in the letters given, it is only possible to men- 

 tion one or two. In a letter to Sir Henry 

 Eoscoe dated February 7, 1862, he gives his 

 share in the history of solar chemistry, which, 

 in view of the off-repeated rumors that he had 

 really antedated Kirchhoff, must be regarded 

 as settling the question. He adds, " for I 

 never published anything on the subject and 

 if a man's conversations with his friends are 

 to enter into the history of a subject there is 

 pretty nearly an end of attaching any men- 

 tion or discovery to an individual." As an in- 

 stance of the gradual development of the 



theory of waves and heavy ocean swells we 

 may turn to a long series of letters full of 

 details and carefully thought-out ideas. 



In conclusion, one must give high praise not 

 only to the editor for the way in which he has 

 done his work in compiling this biography and 

 to those who have assisted him, but also to the 

 Cambridge University Press for a couple of 

 volumes which are issued in a form suitable 

 either for continuous reading or careful con- 

 sultation. 



E. W. B. 



Yale University 



American Birds. Studied and photographed 

 from life by William Lovell Finley. Il- 

 lustrated from photographs by Herman 

 T. Bohlman and the author. New York, 

 Charles Scribner's Sons. 1907. Pp. xvi + 

 256. 



In an attractive volume of moderate size 

 Mr. Wm. Lovell Finley describes in popular 

 style the habits of a considerable number of 

 western birds from the rufous humming-bird 

 to the golden eagle. For the pictures, most 

 of which are excellent, we are equally indebted 

 to Mr. Herman T. Bohlman, who has been the 

 author's companion in the field for many 

 years. 



We are told in the preface of this book that 

 " each chapter represents a close and con- 

 tinued study with camera and note book at the 

 home of some bird or group of birds — a true 

 life history of each species." All who watch 

 birds on this side of the Mississippi wiU be 

 glad to see a faithful transcript of their man- 

 ners on the Pacific slope, and should not be 

 disappointed to find that their behavior is 

 essentially the same wherever found. 



The interests of the author seem to have 

 centered in the acquisition of good photo- 

 graphic illustrations, and in this he has suc- 

 ceeded far better than most students who have 

 gone into the field with such a purpose. 

 Among the more noteworthy pictures may be 

 mentioned some of the rufous humming-birds ; 

 the Maryland yellow-throat, a common but 

 extremely shy species whose nest and eggs are 

 rarely seen; the nest, eggs, and young of the 

 red-tailed hawk, one of which bhows the re- 



