SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Feb. 3, 1888. 



of meteorological instruments. But the observations of 

 the botanist or the entomologist, etc., to be of value 

 must be made regularly and preserved for reference and 

 collation. 



The bulk ot the book before us is in the form of a 

 journal, a page for each day in the year. At the head 

 of the page we find headings for meteorological observa- 

 tions. Then follow in succession plants and trees, 

 blossoming, leafing, seeds germinating, etc.; insects, 

 larvae, etc., appearing, or to be especially looked for ; 

 fish, reptiles ; birds, their migration, song, nesting ; 

 "animals" seen, or breeding; and, lastly, "shooting, 

 fishing, sports." On these various headings a few 

 remarks will not be uncalled for. The registration of 

 temperature, rain-fall, wind, etc., in connection with 

 biological observations is of great importance. 



The rubric for insects appearing or to be looked for is 

 too restricted. With exceptions almost too few for 

 notice, the lepidoptera alone are recorded. Hence a 

 naturalist who should study the appearance, reproduc- 

 tion, etc., of the coleoptera, hymenoptera, and the like 

 would not find spaces to record his observations. There 

 is no column for mollusca, whether inhabiting the land 

 or the water. The heading " animals " takes us by 

 surprise. It is evidently here used as an illegitimate 

 synonym for " mammals " or " mammalians," a sense in 

 which we have never before heard it used by any 

 scientific man. Nor can we imagine what plea can be 

 urged on behalf of its adoption. Lastly, the heading 

 "shooting, fishing, sports" seems to us quite out of place. 

 The times when these pursuits are followed are fixed by 

 law or by custom, and are not perceptibly aifected by 

 the peculiarities of the seasons or by the geological 

 character of the district. 



We should, therefore, advise the young naturalist, 

 after making himself thoroughly master of the invaluable 

 instructions contained in the preliminary portion of this 

 work, to draw out the diary on a larger scale in a blank 

 book, leaving ample room for observations on insects other 

 than lepidoptera. The times when many species may 

 be expected to appear will be found tabulated in " Ob- 

 servations in Natural History," by the Rev. L. Jenyns. 



The Liver-Fluke and the Rot in Sheep. By Edward Halse, 

 A.R.S.M. Edward Stanford. 

 This essay gained the prize oftered to the present 

 and past students of Tamworth and Aspatria Colleges by 

 Miss Ormerod. It is mainly a compilation from various 

 memoirs scattered through the scientific and agricultural 

 journals. The importance of the study of this disease is 

 evident when we state that in the year 1879-80 

 6,000,000 sheep, about one-tenth the whole quantity in 

 the United Kingdom, suffered from the rot. The life 

 history of this parasite is a very interesting one on 

 account of the number of metamorphoses through which 

 it passes. Commencing with the egg, which escapes 

 from the sheep, it is washed into a stream or pond, and 

 there developes into a little embryo which swims about 

 in the water until it finds a small snail to vi'hich it 

 attaches itself. It then bores its way into the snail's body, 

 and there developes into a number of cells, each of which 

 contain germs which either break up into other similar 

 cells or develop into tadpole-like creatures. The latter 

 wriggle themselves out of the snail and swim again in 

 the water. After a short tim.'^ they attach themselves to 

 blades of grass, draw themselves into a ball, and surround 

 themselves with a white covering, thus becoming a cyst. 



When eaten by a sheep, the outer covering is crushed, 

 and the liberated fluke works its way into the liver, 

 where it rapidly increases in size. 



Damp wet soils are the favourite abode of this pest, 

 and drainage will frequently get rid of it. Lime and salt 

 will kill the creature while it is in its tadpole-like 

 existence, and it is well to dress pastures in which the 

 fluke is known to exist with these substances during the 

 months of May, June, and July. 



We can strongly recommend this little work to all 

 who are interested in sheep farming. 



Practical Guide to Photography. By Marion and Co. 

 London : Marion and Co. 

 We have no doubt that this little book will prove use- 

 ful to persons about to embark in the pursuit of photo- 

 graphy as a recreation. The method of describing the 

 various manipulations of every-day photography is suffi- 

 ciently ample for all practical purposes, without being 

 likely to frighten the beginner by its complexity. The 

 chapter on photographic optics commends itself to us as 

 treating plainly a subject of which beginners have 

 frequently little knowledge, long after they have mastered 

 the production of creditable photographs by " rule ot 

 thumb." We think a chapter on the Chemistry of 

 Photography should be included in the next edition of 

 this work, even though it is avowedly intended for the 

 use of beginners ; as without an intelligent interest in the 

 actions of the chemicals employed, the production of 

 photographs is little more than a mechanical operation 

 that loses its attraction to amateurs when a certain 

 degree of proficiency is attained. 



Lecture Notes and Problems on Sound, Light, and Heat. 



By Chas. Bird, B.A., F.G.S. (London : Relfe Bros. 



1886. 9d.) 



The title sufficiently explains the purport of this little 



brochure. It cannot be used as a substitute for real work, 



but it may profitably accompany it, and it would also, 



in some cases, serve well as a skeleton of notes for the 



use of lecturers. 



Biliousness ; its Causes and its Rational Treatment. By 

 A. E. Bridger, B.A., M.D., F.R.C.P. London : 

 Henry Renshaw. 



Medical books written for the public are open to grave 

 objection. As a rule they lead to one of two results ; 

 the reader, if he finds the cap fit, either attempts amateur 

 doctoring or betakes himself as a patient to the writer of 

 the book. From the first of these results come evils 

 which very few outside the medical profession fully 

 appreciate ; from the second come possible benefit to the 

 patient, and certain profit to the doctor. Unfortunately, 

 however, for him, his colleagues have a troublesome way 

 of looking upon such an increase in his earnings as the 

 outcome of undignified advertisement and puffery, which 

 must to some extent detract from its value even in his 

 eyes. 



The book before us is a favourable specimen of its 

 class, but to the uninstructed it will convey a groundless 

 impression that the physiological and pathological pro- 

 blems underlying the complex phenomena of bihousness 

 have at length been solved, and that its treatment is now 

 put upon a purely scientific basis, instead of resting, as in 

 fact it does, despite the author's theorising, upon a very 

 imperfect mixture of science and empiricism. 



The medicines and courses of treatment which are 



