SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



11 5 



NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGXON. 



- C X-Rays. By William H. 



Meadowcroft iSS pp. Svo, with g full plates 

 and oiher illustrations. (London : Simpkin Mar- 

 shall, Hamilton, Kent and Co., Limited, 1S97.) 

 F'rice 4s. 



This little book is. we believe, of American 

 origin, this being the English edition. As its 

 title suggests, it is # a sketchy account of the 

 scovery : but the story of its progress 

 and recent application is told with clearness and 

 simplicity. The illustrations are of the usual 

 type, though nearly all differ in individuality 

 ;hose which have appeared in other works 

 on the subject. We consider this is one of the 

 best of popular books on X-rays and their scientific 

 application. 



A b. f Gilbert White. By Edward A. 



Martin. F G.S. -174 pp Svo, with three illus- 

 trations and plan (London: The Roxburgh 

 Press.) Price 3s 6d. 



Under the auspices of the Selborne Society 

 Mr Martin has gathered a useful and apparently 

 exhaustive history of the various editions of 

 Gilbert White's " Selborne." The author has 

 evidently given considerable attention to his work, 

 and states that he has found seventy. three separate 

 editions of this favourite book. The illustrations 

 are reproductions from those in the quarto edition 

 ol 1-13. They are of •■The Plestor," " Selborne 

 Church." and "Gilbert White's House." Mi- 

 Martin has produced <juite a successful book, for 

 every chapter contains something to please the 

 lover of country lore His choice and arrange- 

 ment of matter ha, been discreet, and shows signs 

 of judicious pruning The author states that 

 ■■ there appear, to be. at the present time, a greater 

 demand lhane\cr for Gilbert White's classic It 

 requires. 1 am firmly of opinion, but little 

 annotation It speaks for itself in its own 

 incomparable style." " Mi (ford's notes (in the 

 ::| arc admirable, and Professor Bell 

 did well to admit these to his edition and none 

 other " Chapter iv. in the book before us is (he 

 important, for i( summarises the various 

 editions known to Mr Martin, with short des- 

 • tbe least interesting page 

 in the book is the author's account ol tbe sale ol 

 Whitr s original man i the " Natural 



I Antiquities of Selborne," and other 

 i took place at "Sotheby's," on April 

 when this MS. alone fetched no less 

 of Mr Martin's 

 fai 'ion. the 

 it it was of an 



. him in (he " field " newspaper, 

 *hile ■ 



■lie beautiful tripl ed and 



■ . adorning the ini<-rioi of 



• li' I", pllli 



rijfhth li> 



of the triptych in a dilapidated condition in the 

 vestry. Several of the county papers reprinted 

 the article, and the result was evident some time 

 later in a county subscription for the restoration 

 of the panels and their replacement in the church. 

 It will be remembered that the three panels are 

 painted on wood by an early artist, the subject 

 being the " Adoration of the Magi." It was given 

 to the church by Gilbert White's brother, Benjamin, 

 and is illustrated in the edition of 1S13 of White's 

 " Selborne." 



The Fauna and Flora of Radhy and the Neighbour- 

 hood. By the Radley College Natural History 

 Society. 44 pp. Svo. (Oxford : James Parker and 

 Co., 1S96.) 



This little work is a beginning, and forms an 

 excellent basis for further svork, to be incorporated 

 in future editions, giving some more detailed 

 account of the animals and plants of the Radley 

 district of Oxfordshire. There is much work to be 

 done by the college society, and we understand 

 that its members are determined to do it. Already, 

 though this first edition was only recently compiled, 

 we hear of many additions having been made to 

 the list. School-boys, if properly guided by their 

 elders, and especially by " old boys " who have 

 become elders, can do as much or more than many 

 other people towards recording the fauna and flora 

 of a district. How much could be done by a large 

 school if only a short space of time were spared 

 during the play-hours, for natural history, from the 

 everlasting football and cricket, which are by no 

 means the "be-all" and "end-all" of school life. 

 We should then see fewer "loafing Johnnies "at 

 drinking-bars in the days when they have left 

 school. Loafing comes largely from want of 

 self resource and absence of intelligent occupation. 

 The men who are happiest in life are those who 

 find employment for their spare time, in addition to 

 the daily routine of bread-winning. The Radley 

 list will certainly before long become much ampli- 

 fied, but as we have said, it is a basis. Catalogu- 

 ing advances far more satisfactorily when every 

 novelty is an "addition" ; for each record becomes 

 an incentive to work. This first edition is practi- 

 cally anonymous, but it would be well in future to 

 give the names of the captors of future novelties 

 and of the committee of editors. This is desirable, 

 first, as an au(henticity of the records, and, secondly, 

 because when the present boys become very " old 

 boys" it will be a satisfaction to them to refer to 

 the work of the old days. The practice will also 

 be provocative of emulation among the boys, 

 which of all things is most conducive to energetic 

 work. 



Publications of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 



D on ol Entomology. (Washington: (896-97.) 



Among other literal me issued by tin: I lepartment, 



we have recently received pamphlets, in most cases 



finely illustrated, on " The Asparagus Beetles," by 



1 H. Chittenden ; " Insect Control in California," 



by* 1 Marlatt ; "Tin' Use ol Steam Apparatus 



for Spraying," by I.. II Howard, I'll I'.: "Tin: 



|ose Srale and its near Allies," by T. I'. 



Cockerel] I hey all c ontain nine li nseliil 



1, not only (or Amcrii . 1 1 1 ■ . Inn al 10 foi 



mpanion fo ihf Queensland Student of Plant 



it, By J M. Bailey, F.I..S i \ ( pp Svo, 



1 dmund I 1 17.) Free of price 



Mi I'.ailey. who is tin '.<"'- nni I'.otanist foi 



I01 of 1 >■ land, lia 1 done well to indui e 



