January 15, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



Ill 



regarded as classics. To lovers of birds the 

 names of their authors, Audubon, Wilson and 

 Nuttall, are as familiar as those of Milton, 

 Dante and Shakespeare. Nuttall's book was 

 the less pretentious of the three, having no 

 colored plates and selling at a price which 

 brought it within reach of a large constituency. 



Nuttall was primarily a botanist, and not a 

 few of his admirers who know him only from 

 the excellence of his ornithological writings 

 will be surprised to learn that for about ten 

 years (1825-1834) he was Curator of the Botanic 

 Garden and lecturer on natural history at Har- 

 vard, being Asa Gray's predecessor; and that 

 the high character of his work placed him in 

 the front rank of early American botanists. 



In seeking new plants he made an expedition 

 into Arkansas, and afterward, in company with 

 Capt. Wyeth and J. K. Townsend, crossed the 

 continent from Atlantic to Pacific, following 

 the difficult overland route later known as ' The 

 Oregon Trail.' His field work led him into all 

 sorts of out-of-the-way places where he was 

 constantlj' meeting strange and interesting 

 birds. That he took an affectionate interest in 

 their doings is shown by his biographies, which 

 are original, faithful and entertaining and show 

 an intimate personal familiarity with the species 

 of which he wrote. Besides, they furnished 

 what was then so much needed, a brief narra- 

 tive of the life history, breeding habits and dis- 

 tribution of each as at that time known. In 

 speaking of the book a modern writer has said: 

 "Nuttall, like good wine, does not deteriorate 

 with age." The original edition was long ago 

 exhausted and for many years has commanded 

 a relatively high price — the two volumes com- 

 monly selling for $25, or even $30. 



In order to keep this execellent work within 

 reach of the ever-increasing number of students 

 and lovers of birds, Mr. Montague Chamberlain 

 brought out, in 1891, a new and revised edition. 

 The new edition differed from the original in sev- 

 eral important respects : While the text and 

 squence of the biographies were in the main un- 

 changed, the birds were given their modern 

 names. Western species were omitted, the de- 

 scriptions of species were rewritten, a paragraph 

 was added giving the geographic range as at 

 present known, and additional species were in- 



cluded so as to embrace all the birds now 

 known from the eastern United States and 

 Canada. In all cases, the additional matter 

 was printed in different type from the body of 

 the work, so that Nuttall's original text was 

 clearly set off from the matter contributed by 

 the editor. The title page was misleading, as it 

 failed to indicate the fact that the Western 

 species had been left out, but in the new edi- 

 tion (1896) this is corrected, the new title page 

 reading : ' A Popular Handbook of the Or- 

 nithology of Eastern North America.' The 

 book is printed from the same plates as the 

 previous edition, but corrections and additions 

 have been made in the matter contributed by 

 the editor. It is illustrated by text figures and 

 colored plates. The latter might better have 

 been omitted, although it is true that the ma- 

 jority of them may be recognized if looked at 

 through a veil or smoked glass to deaden the 

 unnaturally brilliant colors so characteristic of 

 cheap chromolithographs. It is only fair to the 

 author to state that he is in no way responsible 

 for these plates ; they were introduced by the 

 publishers against his desire. The text figures 

 are much better. They are of two kinds : (1) 

 cuts borrowed from Baird, Brewer and Ridg- 

 way's History of North American Birds and 

 mostly of high excellence ; and (2) figures 

 drawn for the book and mostly unsatisfactory. 

 The latter have a coarse look and evidently 

 were intended for greater reduction ; they 

 suffer by contrast with the more finished draw- 

 ings among which they are scattered. 



Mr. Chamberlain has done a public service 

 in enabling the younger generation of bird stu- 

 dents to add this classic to their libraries. This 

 will be especially appreciated by those who 

 care more for a bird in the bush than a bird in 

 the hand — who love birds for what they are 

 and what they do in life — for Nuttall's bio- 

 graphies possess a freshness and charm which 

 time can never efface. C. H. M. 



The Cell. Outlines of General Anatomy and Phys- 

 iology. By Dr. Oscar Hektwig. Trans- 

 lated by M. Campbell and edited by H. J. 

 Campbell, M. D. London, Swan, Sonnen- 

 schein & Co.; New York, Macmillan & Co. 

 1895. 8vo., cloth, 368 pp., 168 figs. $3.00. 



