662 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 24. 



lies and genera are defined, as well as the 

 species. Some of the descriptions are orig- 

 inal, but most of them are quoted from 

 ' Baird, Brewer and Eidgway's History of 

 l^orth American Birds ', and its continu- 

 ation, the ' Water Birds of North Ame- 

 rica,' for which work, as everyone knows, 

 they were originally written by Mr. Eidg- 

 way. The general matter is not very full 

 and is frequently quoted fi'om the same 

 work. Unfortunately about two-thirds of 

 the biographical part was omitted because 

 of the necessity of limiting the number of 

 pages. There are numerous quotations 

 from Mr. E. W. Nelson's papers on the birds 

 of Illinois, and a few personal observations 

 by the author, chiefly relating to the Aus- 

 troriparian fauna of the extreme southern 

 part of the State, where he has done much 

 field work, extending over a long period of 

 years. A novel feature is a synonomy of 

 popular names, given under each species. 



The first volume covers 520 pages and is 

 illustrated by 32 plates; the second volume 

 covers 282 pages and has 33 plates. Nearly 

 all the plates in both volumes are from 

 Baird, Brewer and Eidgway, and Eidgway's 

 Manual. Most of those in the second 

 volume were made originally for this work, 

 but owing to delay in publication were first 

 used in the ' Manual.' The great majority 

 are outline figures of heads, wings and feet; 

 but some are shaded cuts of bii'ds. Owing 

 to the destruction of the electros, part of 

 these are process reproductions made from 

 proofs and are poorly printed. The frontis- 

 piece is a beautiful colored picture of a 

 Meadowlark in full song, drawn by the 

 author, and of unusual excellence. 



In faunal works relating to particular 

 areas it is customary to record somewhat 

 in detail the manner of occurrence of each 

 species, to indicate breeding ranges, time 

 of nesting, dates of migration and so on. 

 Very little information of this kind is to be 

 found in the Ornithology of Illinois. The 



work consists maiulj- of technical descrip- 

 tions and sjTionj'my, to which is added, 

 under each species, a paragraj)h or two of 

 general matter which as a rule, excepting 

 the quotations from Nelson, is hardlj' more 

 pertinent to the State of Illinois than to 

 any other part of America where the bird 

 occurs. 



Of 49 species classed by Mr. Eidgway as 

 rare, detailed records of occurrence within 

 the State are given for 36. 



Mr. Eidgway states that the intent of the 

 book was '' to supply the people of Illinois 

 with an inexpensive work which would 

 enable them to identify the birds they de- 

 sired to learn the names of, and to acquaint 

 them with their leading characteristics." 

 These primary aims the work certainly has 

 fulfilled. C. H. M. 



Tests of Gloio-Lamjis : W. E. Ayeton and E. 

 A. Medley. The Philosophical Maga- 

 zine, May, 1895. 



Eeaders of Science who are interested in 

 the matter of electric lighting from a prac- 

 tical standpoint will find much that is in- 

 structive in this paper recently printed in 

 the Philosophical Magazine and published 

 as a separate. For several years Professor 

 Ayrton has been investigating the question 

 of the economy of incandescent lighting and 

 and especially the behaviour of the glow- 

 lamp under contiuuous use. Some of the 

 earlier results of this investigation have 

 been announced from time to time in the 

 English journals, having been communi- 

 cated by Professor Ayrton to the Phj'sical 

 Society of London. The present pamphlet 

 contains some additions made in January, 

 1895, and from these additions it appears 

 that the results previously obtained have 

 not been entirely supported by subsequent 

 tests. The principal result reached in these 

 tests was the rather unexpected fact that 

 the glow-lamps examined appeared to in- 

 crease in effectiveness during the first 80 or 



