November 6, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



677 



which in the least warrants this surprising 

 statement. 



In the present state of European civilization 

 we turn with more interest possibly than form- 

 erly to these ancient civilizations of the East. 

 English people can only regret that when the 

 Japanese have taken the pains to write in the 

 English language treatises of this kind about 

 their history that even then the publication 

 should be eiieeted in Germany and Holland. 

 Surely the people of the Orient should be met 

 by English and Americans more cordially in 

 scholarly as well as commercial matters. Mr. 

 Mikami has rendered a real service to the his- 

 tory of science by this exposition of the devel- 

 opment of mathematics in China and Japan. 



Louis C. Karpinski 

 University of Michigan 



Birds of New Yorh. By Elon Howard Eaton. 

 Memoir 12, New York State Museum, 

 John M. Clarke, Director. Part 2. Intro- 

 ductory Chapters; Land Birds. Albany, 

 University of the State of New York. 1914. 

 4to. Pp. Y19. Sixty-four colored plates, 

 and many half-tone illustrations in the text. 

 In the review of Part I.^ it was said that 

 ■" Of the many manuals and reports on birds 

 issued under authority of the various state 

 governments none approaches in voluminous 

 •detail and fullness of illustration the present 

 work on the ' Birds of New York,' " of which 

 Part I., comprising the water birds and game 

 birds, appeared in 1910. It was further 

 stated that "the author, Elon Howard Eaton, 

 has shown himself well fitted for the task, 

 both the introductory matter and the syste- 

 matic part giving evidence of thorough re- 

 search and good judgment." This high praise 

 is equally merited by Part 11., comprising 

 introductory chapters on bird ecology (pp. 5- 

 46), the economic value of birds (pp. 46-51), 

 the status of our bird laws (pp. 51-52), special 

 measures for increasing bird life (pp. 52-58), 

 bird refuges (pp. 58-59), private preserves 

 (pp. 58-60), and a systematic account of the 

 land birds (pp. 61-543). 



1 Science, N. S., Vol. XXXIL, No. 866, pp. 

 247-48, August 19, 1910. 



The chapter on bird ecology treats (1) of 

 the fundamental factors of environment, aa 

 climatic, physiographic, character of soil, and 

 biotic; (2) bird habits; (3) nesting sites of 

 New York birds, in respect to whether in 

 banks, on the ground, in tussocks, in thickets, 

 at different elevations in trees, or in struc- 

 tures erected by man, including bird boxes 

 specially provided by man; (4) bird commu- 

 nities, classified with reference to breeding 

 haunts; (5) succession of bird life, with 

 reference to climatic and edaphic conditions; 

 (6) the infiuence of culture conditions, as 

 timber cutting, draining of swamps and 

 marshes, pruning of shade and fruit trees, and 

 effects of agriculture; (Y) birds in relation to 

 their food habits; (8) injury done by birds. La 

 different ways by particular species; (9) 

 economic value of birds, as destroyers of in- 

 sects, weed seeds, field mice, etc.; and, finally 

 (10) measures for increasing bird life, as the 

 erection of artificial nesting sites, and the 

 planting of trees and shrubs that yield them 

 shelter or food. 



The systematic part treats of the, genera and 

 species in the sequence of the A. O. U. Check- 

 list, from the vultures to the bluebird, in the 

 detailed manner indicated in the review of 

 Part I. The 65 half-tone illustrations in the 

 text are mostly of young birds or of nests 

 and eggs, but include a few full-length views 

 of birds from mounted specimens; the 64 

 colored plates are by Euertes, and thus 

 scarcely need further comment, except to say 

 that the color-printing is of very unequal 

 merit, being for the most part good, but far 

 from satisfactory in many of the sparrow 

 plates and in some others, which, of course, is 

 not the fault of the artist. The subject- 

 matter does great credit to the author and to 

 the state, and the work will always be the 

 standard authority on the ornithology of New 

 York as known at the time of its publication. 

 As a piece of book-making it falls far short of 

 being a model. There is no table of contents 

 beyond the chapter titles given on the title- 

 pages, nor any list of the text illustrations, 

 nor of the plates; the index is placed after 

 the plates with a hiatus in the pagination. 



