i5S 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



the geological past. The text is in English. There 

 is a large amount of interesting facts for the 

 general reader who is not already acquainted with 

 the geological features of the world outside our 

 own islands. Although the subject, of necessity, 

 is highly speculative, it will be found most fascinat- 

 ing to many, to whom it will come with some sense 

 of novelty. 



The Natural History of Aquatic Insects. By Pro- 

 fessor L. C. Miall, F.R.S. 395 pp. crown 8vo, 

 with 116 figures by A. R. Hammond, F.L.S. 

 (London and New York : Macmillan and Co.) 

 Price 5s. 



If we pick out a list of the little-worked orders 

 of animals or plants, we may safely consider we are 

 making a list also of those where there is an 

 absence of trustworthy modern manuals of the 

 subjects. Aquatic entomology, until now, was one of 

 the subjects so neglected, but there will remain no 

 excuse for its absence of study after the issue of 

 Professor Miall's new 

 book. Since the days 

 of Swammerdam, 

 Reaumur, Lyonnet and 

 De Geer — whose works, 

 as pointed out by the 

 author of this manual 

 in his preface, are un- 

 justly neglected now-a- 

 days — we have had very 

 little systematic study 

 of aquatic insects as a 

 group. A few popular 

 and more or less inaccu- 

 rate compilations by 

 unscientific writers have 

 been all that young 

 naturalists had to de- 

 pend upon in the 

 English language. Now 

 they have an excellent 

 manual by a trained 

 teacher of high reputa- 

 tion, beautifully illus- 

 trated by accurate draw- 

 ings. The text is well 

 arranged and popularly lFrom " The Pheasant: 



written, though in the 



most approved of modern scientific modes. A 

 pleasant feature of Professor Miall's work is 

 the sketches of the lives of earl)- masters of 

 aquatic entomology, which he has woven into 

 his chapters on the insects they especially 

 studied. "We strongly recommend this book to 

 our readers and to the librarians of scientific 

 societies or public libraries. It cannot fail to 

 give an impetus to work among the insects of 

 which it treats. We shall consequently expect, 

 in due course, more short notes for our pages 

 about them than we have recently received, for 

 there is still much to learn. 



A Handbook to the Game-Birds. By W. R. 

 Ogilvie-Grant, of the Zoological Department, 

 British Museum. Vol. i., Sand-grouse, Partridges, 

 Pheasants. 320 pp. crown 8vo. Illustrated by 

 21 coloured plates and other drawings. Allen's 

 Naturalists' Library. (London : W. H. Allen and 

 Co., Limited, 1895.) Price 6s. 



This is one of the best volumes yet issued in the 

 republication of the "Naturalists' Library." The 

 plates are in some instances good and in others 

 fair, but have often more or less of the brand of 



the lithographic artist, who delight to pile on their 

 colours. This book will appeal to a wider set of 

 readers than those who care only for scientific 

 values. Sportsmen and travellers in Africa and 

 other regions will be pleased to have a trustworthy 

 book on game-birds, for it deals with them as a 

 whole, so far as this volume carries us. The 

 author has a reputation for his knowledge in this 

 branch of ornithology. He gives short but good 

 descriptions of the adult birds, and of the nestlings 

 also, where possible ; then follow accounts of the 

 range of the species, habits, nest and eggs. 



An Introduction to Chemical Crystallography. By 

 Andreas Fock, Ph. D. (Berlin). Translated and 

 Edited by William J. Pope, with a preface by 

 N. Story-Maskelyne, M.A., F.R.S. 205 pp. 

 crown 8vo. (Oxford : Clarendon Press. London : 

 Henry Frowde, 1895.) Price 5s. 



It was in iSSS, that Dr. Fock published the work 

 which has now been translated by Mr. Pope. The 

 translator has further 

 brought up to date the 

 many additions to the 

 knowledge of this im- 

 portant branch of crys- 

 tallography that have 

 been discovered since 

 Dr. Feck brought out 

 his "Einleitung in die 

 Chemische Krystallog- 

 raphie." Prof. Story - 

 Maskelyne's preface is 

 short but important. 

 He points out how 

 singularly readable is 

 Dr. Fock's work, and 

 how this translation 

 brings the book within 

 the reach of University 

 and other students. The 

 book is divided broadly 

 under three headings 

 which we quote from 

 the preface. "(1) Crystal 

 growth, in the discussion 

 of which due importance 

 is given to the extensive 

 and laborious investiga- 

 tions of Lehmann. (2) The laws controlling the 

 equilibrium between the elements of a solution at 

 different pressures and temperatures ; these 

 elements, when we consider the pressure as 

 constant, being the solution and crystal-solid, the 

 former of which may be considered as consisting 

 of the solvent, and what for lack of a much-needed 

 term I may call the solute (namely — the substance or 

 substances dissolved). (3) Salts containing water 

 of crystallization, double salts and isomorphous 

 substances are treated each in its turn, and the 

 final chapters deal (4) with both physically 

 isometric and isogonous substances and with the 

 crystallographic changes attending the substitution 

 of one radicle or element by another." This is a 

 valuable manual on chemical crystallography, and 

 it will be found that it has rather gained than lost 

 by the translation. Professor Story-Maskelyne 

 remarks that : "A freshness of interest is imparted 

 to each of the larger subjects by a concise but 

 sufficient survey of the historical growth of the 

 ideas involved in them ; for frequently whilst 

 tracking the steps by which a scientific idea has 

 become confirmed, we best learn to appreciate the 

 grounds on which contemporary theories rest." 



-Fur and Feather Series.) 



