Revieivs .



99



p. 62 “Grasshoppers” should be “ Grassfiuclies.”


,, Dreponopledes should be Drepanoplectes.

p. 63 Parsaria should be Paroaria.


,, “Yellow-bellied” should be “Yellow-billed.”


,, “Necklace” should be “Black-throated.”


,, Arachechthra should be Arachnechthra.

p. 64 alsaliige should be akahige.

p. 65 homadori should be komadori.

p. 65 “belt and feet” should be “bill and feet,

p. 66 “ was orange” should be “ were orange.”


Frank Finn.


[We have to apologize to our readers for the mistakes in Mr. Finn’s

article. This was partly due to the article having to be inserted at the last

moment. — E d.]



REVIEWS.



DESERT ISLANDS.*


Those, whose good fortune it is to visit out-of-the-way

corners of the world where Nature, untrammelled by man, still

holds undisputed possession, frequently, when writing of their

experiences, fall into one of two errors, either the book is so full

of their domestic worries and the difficulty they had in cooking

their breakfast or shooting their dinner that they quite omit to

adequately describe the country, or else they record in impersonal

language of unimpeachable scientific accuracy exactly what they

see, without investing the story with any touch of their own

personal thoughts or sensations.


Between these two extremes, Dr. Lowe has steered an

admirable course. Small personal details of no real importance,

except to lend a personal and human touch to the book are there,

but they are never allowed to intrude or take away from the

descriptions of the desert islands visited. To render the narra¬

tive still more attractive, the author gives us an insight into his

own thoughts and speculations. His account, for instance, in

Chapter IX. where he discusses the all-important problem of

how bare rocks, rising from mid-ocean, came to receive their



* A Naturalist on Desert Islands, by Dr. P. R. Down. 8vo., 300 pp. and numerous

photographs. T.ondon : Withekby & Co. 7/6 net.



