SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



233 



S^jAi^» r:3 i^lL 



BOOKS TO READ 



NOTICES BY JOHX T. CARRINGTON. 



Journals cf Walter White, with a Preface by 

 William White, 293 pp. Svo. Illustrated by a 

 photogravure portrait. (London : Chapman and 

 Hall, Ltd.. 1898.) 6s. 



Walter White was a well-known and respected 

 official of the Royal Society. In 1S44 he joined 

 the society as sub-librarian, and ten years later 

 became its assistant secretary, finally retiring in 



From that standpoint it was Walter White's 

 privilege to meet almost every scientific worthy of 

 the Victorian era. Other men also crop up in his 

 journal from time 

 to time, such as 

 Tennyson, Spen- 

 cer Walpole, 



Carl vie and _- 



Gladstone. It is 

 not by any 

 means a learned 

 journal, but a 

 series of gossipy 

 passing impres- 

 sions of men and 

 events. We sus- 

 pect, however, in 

 editing these en- 

 tries, the author's 

 brother has 

 bowdlerized to 

 some extent, as 

 they often show 

 considerable fee- 

 bleness and are 

 out of character 

 with others. 

 Walter White 

 was the son of 



a cabinet. maker, and was brought up to the 

 same trade. The earlier entries in these jour- 

 nals refer to his mixed physical and mental 

 work— the carpenter's bench and the self-instruc- 

 :hrough "Chamber's Journal" and the 

 •'Penny Magazine." On March Oth, 1833, at the 

 age of twenty-two years, he wrote: "Made deal 

 picture- frames, finished loo table, and began two 

 basin stands. Working late in evening, began 

 chest of drawei Read Latin." Ten days later 

 we find, "Rained fast on coming out of chapel. 

 Mem very vulgar to run home." It is interesling 



e through these daily impressions, the steady 



rise, step by »tep, until we find him a fluent reader 



I renr ii in languages, and the 



I ennyson, who, on his advice, 



• tty. 1 be bitter 



third of the itertalning 



" July , With M.vmillan the pub- 



Home to his houie at Italharn ti 

 an impromptu visit Talked about ;i scientific 

 pe r iodical which ly<kycr is to e In for him ; 



Tennyson's transfer of agency to Straban 

 '•lac , offered the Laureate /j.ooo a year. 



Then, while smoking, he, Macmillan, talked 

 of his father and mother, his earl)' days and 

 struggles — surgeon's assistant, sailor before the 

 mast, teacher and schoolmaster, and last, book- 

 seller." We need hardly add that the scientific 

 periodical was our valued contemporary, "Nature." 

 After nearly forty years, and knowing the enormous 

 change in scientific thought which has taken place 

 since the appearance of Charles Darwin's " Origin 

 of Species," the notes of conversations with Darwin 

 and other leaders of science of the time of its publica- 

 tion are of special interest. We refrain from quoting 

 only on account of the limits of our space. The 

 diary closes in the autumn of 1SS4, and he retired 

 from the service of the Royal Society in the 

 following year, in consequence of rheumatism in 

 his right hand making writing impossible. The 

 society permitted him to enjoy his full salary to 

 the end of his life, which closed on the iSth July, 

 1S93, in his 82nd year. We feel sure that in his 

 discretion the editor of this journal, as represented 

 in the book before us, has probably exercised wise 

 judgment in respect to the feelings of persons 



still living, in 

 cutting out much 

 that was written 

 in the original. 

 We hope, how- 

 ever, the time 

 will come when 

 another and ful- 

 ler edition will 

 give us a further 

 insight into the 

 unpublished 

 opinions and 

 privately- expres- 

 sed thoughts of 

 some of the 

 greatest scien- 

 tific and literary 

 men of the 

 middle of this 

 century. 



The Shakes- 

 pearean Guide to 

 Stratford-on-A von 

 By H. Snowden 

 Ward and Catherine Weed Ward, 137 pp. 

 8vo, with 31 illustrations. (London : Dawburn 

 and Ward, Limited, 1897.) is. 



We think highly of this little work, which, though 

 a guide in name, is really an interesting miniature 

 treatise upon Shakespeareland. The authors tell 

 their story pleasantly enough, and have produced a 

 literary companion for the wanderer in places 

 where Shakespeare was born, roamed as a youth, 

 and later, retired and died. This guide is an instance 

 of work which may be done by amateurs possessed 

 of a camera and artistic taste. To wander round 

 places made sacred by the association of some 

 well-known writer — taking views and writing 

 intelligent notes — is a charming way of spending a 

 holiday. These snap-shot pictures, when printed, 

 form pleasant winter occupation in forming 

 a MS. book, not necessarily for publication. In 

 that way might not some of our entomologists 

 Illustrate the fashionable r.ollecting-groundB such 

 at the New Fori 1 and othcrscqually well known ? 

 The Wards have nol depended only on their 



1 1 , lull bave ■'•< ured the aisisl 



f Mr. W. T. Whitehead for some of their 



Stratfori)-on-Avon. 

 The Shakapercan Guide to Stratford-on-Avon 



