578 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 21. 



By some accident in binding, the two 

 plates of part 10 (pis. 13 and 15) ai-e re- 

 peated from the first volume. 



The nomenclature is that of the Ameri- 

 can Ornithologists' Union, except that the 

 authority given is for the combination, not 

 for the species — an unfortunate departure, 

 inasmuch as it does not tell who was the 

 original describer of the species. 



To those unfamiliar with the first volume 

 it may be said that the work is not a scien- 

 tific treatise at all, but a popular book de- 

 voted to the life histories of birds, and 

 based mainly on the authors' extensive field 

 experiences, supplemented by quotations — 

 perhaps too lengthy and frequent — from 

 the writings of well-known ornithologists. 

 It does not profess to cover all North Ameri- 

 can bu'ds, omitting the water birds, birds 

 of prey and a few others, but treats prima- 

 rily, as its title indicates, of ' Our Native 

 Birds of Song and Beauty.' It is a large, 

 well printed quarto, and of its kind is in- 

 comparably the best book yet published 

 in America. C H. M. 



Municipal Government in Great Britain: By 

 Albert Shaw. New York, The Century 

 Co. 1895, 8°, viii + 385. 

 The modern increase of cities, and of the 

 proportion of urban population as compared 

 with that of rural districts, is, according to 

 Mr. Shaw, to be accepted as a permanent 

 fact for this generation and its immediate 

 successors, and,instead of lamenting over it, 

 it is the duty of thinking men to devise 

 ways and means to do away with or dimin- 

 ish the evils which are at present connected 

 with city life. The author states his point 

 of view as being that a city government 

 should so order the general affairs and in- 

 terests of the communitj^ as to conduce 

 positively to the welfare of its people, or, at 

 all events, to make it certain that for the 

 average family the life of the town sliall not 

 be necessarily detrimental. The object of 



the book is to show how some of the older 

 and larger British cities have dealt ^\^[th 

 this problem, giving details as to their, 

 modern forms of government, method of 

 elections and modes of securing pure water, 

 cleanliness, rapid transit, prevention of 

 contagious diseases, etc. 



The cities selected for this purpose are 

 Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and 

 London, and for each a vast amount of in- 

 formation is elearlj^ and concisely given. 



Taking Birmingham as an example, it is 

 shown that in frftrenty years the death rate 

 of the city was lowered twenty per cent., 

 and, in some parts of the city, sixty per 

 cent.; that the provisions for the comfort 

 and recreation of the people have been 

 greatljr iacreased, and that, while over forty 

 millions of dollars have been expended in 

 securing these improvements, the taxes 

 have not been increased, because the muni- 

 cipal gas and water works, street railways, 

 markets, etc., have been from the financial, 

 as well as fi-om the utilitarian, point of 

 view completely successful. Surely it is 

 worth while for the citizens of American 

 cities to inquire how this has been ac- 

 complished. 



The description of the means used bj^ the 

 citj' of Glasgow for the isolation and treat- 

 ment of infectous disease is worthy of care- 

 ful study. The Contagious Diseases Hos- 

 pital has been given the semblance of a 

 lovelj" village, and Mr. Shaw truly says that 

 " the difl^erence between popularity and un- 

 popularity in a public hospital for infectious 

 diseases may well mean all the difference 

 between a terrible epidemic and its easy 

 prevention." The sanitary wash houses of 

 Glasgow are a feature of the work of the 

 Health Department which finds no parallel 

 in American cities but which is of great im- 

 portance. One of these cost $50,000, an- 

 other $75,000, and they far more than repay 

 theu' cost. 



The author promises a second volume 



