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SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



illustrations, who has made sketches from their 

 photographs. We reproduce one of these as an 

 example of his line pictures ; there are others direct 

 from the photographic prints, each occupying a 

 whole page. 



The Lepidoptera of the British Islands. Vol. iv. 

 Heterocera, Noctuae. 404 pp. large 8vo. By 

 Charles G. Barrett, F.E.S. (London : L. 

 Reeve and Co., 1897.) 12s. 



This volume commences with the species Axylia 

 putris, and concludes with Apamea orphiogramma. 

 The very full notes of the habits, in the various 

 stages of life, of the species under review by Mr. 

 Barrett, will be found most useful to British 

 lepidopterists, who, with the aid of these volumes 

 and the edition with coloured plates, should have 

 little difficulty in studying the species and life- 

 histories of British butterflies and moths. 



William Harvey. By D'Arcy Power, F.S.A., 

 F.R.C.S. 283 pp. Svo, with reproduced portrait 

 from Hall's engraving of Cornelius Jonson's well- 

 known picture, and 2 plates. (London : T. Fisher 

 Unwin, 1897.) 3s. 6d. 



This is another, the second, of the " Masters of 

 Medicine " Series edited by Dr. Ernest Hart. 

 Harvey, living as he did from 1578 to 1657, be- 

 longed, as it were, to the dark ages of medicine, 

 when its higher intellects were struggling to lift 

 their profession to an exact science. The life of 

 Harvey has been so frequently written that Mr. 

 Power has done wisely, as stated in his preface, to 

 have re-examined the records during the period of 

 Harvey's connection with the University of Padua. 

 Altogether the author has produced a pleasing 

 biographical story. It is believed that young 

 Harvey received his early education at Folkestone. 

 He afterwards was entered as pensioner or student 

 at Caius College, Cambridge, he being then sixteen 

 years old. In 1598 Harvey appears to have attached 

 himself to the University of Padua, though there is 

 no record of his work in the archives before 1600. 

 It was at Padua that Harvey became not only the 

 pupil but the friend of the celebrated Hieronymus 

 Fabricius, who founded in his mind those qualities 

 which enabled him to follow up the work of 

 that eminent anatomist — work which led to the 

 foundation of Harvey's world-wide reputation as 

 the discoverer of the circulation of the blood in 

 animals. 



Geology of Indiana : Twenty -First Annual Report of 

 the Department of Geology and Natural Resources. By 

 W. S. Blatchley, State Geologist. 727 pp. med- 

 ium 8vo, with 39 plates and 6 maps. (Indianapolis: 

 W. B. Burford, 1897.) 



As a field for practical geologists to show the 

 value of the science in developing the natural 

 resources of a country, the State of Indiana has 

 few equals. Within the past twenty years this 

 science has raised the State from being a purely 

 agricultural region to a high condition of com- 

 mercial prosperity. Petroleum has had much to 

 do with this result. Bitumen in its solid, liquid or 

 gaseous forms, has been found in immense quanti- 

 ties, and, as natural gas and petroleum, is now 

 largely worked. One section of this report is 

 devoted to this group of minerals. Another and 

 interesting chapter is on the gigantic Indiana caves 

 and their fauna. Other portions of the book 

 will be found of value to palaeontologists and 

 petrologists. 



With Nature and a Camera. By Richard Kear- 

 ton, F.Z.S. 382 pp. medium 8vo, with 180 

 pictures from photographs by Cherry Kearton. 

 (London, Paris and Melbourne : Cassell and Co., 

 Limited, 1897.) 2IS - 



The Brothers Kearton have produced another 

 beautiful book. It will be remembered that we 

 noticed one of theirs on "British Birds' Nests" 

 (Science-Gossip, N.S., vol. ii. p. 242) in November, 

 1895. This volume is uniform in size and, to some 

 extent, is a sequel to that one. In our notice we 

 expressed a wish that Mr. Richard Kearton would 

 give us more of his notes, for they could not fail to 

 recount not only natural history but also adventure. 

 This wish has been gratified, and we have before 

 us a most readable book with many clever illustra- 

 tions. Birds, as before, take the leading place among 

 the observations of these talented travellers; but 

 other matters of much interest are also there. The 

 first three chapters are occupied with a bright 

 and carefully-written account of a visit to the far 

 outlying St. Kilda. The next is on "Gamekeepers, 

 their Friends and Foes." Chapter v. is on " Nests, 

 Eggs and Young " ; followed by others on " Where 

 Birds Sleep," "Sea Birds and their Haunts," 

 " How Cage Birds are Caught on the Brighton 

 Downs," " The Art of Duck Decoying," " People 

 we have met," and "Our Methods of Photo- 

 graphy." In their investigations, as stated in the 

 preface, our authors " have slept for nights 

 together in empty houses and old ruins, descended 

 beetling cliffs, swum to isolated rocks, laid in wet 

 heather for hours at a stretch, tramped weary miles 

 in the dark, spent nights in the open air on lonely 

 islands and solitary moors, endured the pangs of 

 hunger and thirst, and the torturing stings of insects, 

 waited for days together for a single picture, and 

 been nearly drowned both figuratively and literally ; 

 yet such is the fascination of our subject that we 

 have endured all these and other inconveniences with 

 the utmost cheerfulness." We may be asked, who 

 or of what class are these men who have suffered 

 such for the sake of observing and portraying 

 nature at her wildest ? They represent a type by 

 no means uncommon among amateur biologists, 

 men who have to earn their daily bread in the 

 great city, and have no more spare time than is 

 afforded during the conventional holidays of such 

 people. It is, however, from that class — the upper 

 clerks and managers of commercial establishments 

 — from which most of our best naturalists are 

 drawn. Their work is usually far more produc- 

 tive than that of the professional man of science, 

 or the man of leisure living in rural districts. 

 The reason is, that the man of limited leisure 

 carefully maps out every day of his holidays long 

 beforehand, for fear any of the precious time may 

 be wasted. Consequently he certainly carries out 

 in his annual fortnight or month, what one of the 

 other classes always intends to do " to-morrow." 

 The aphorism that an Englishman " does not 

 know when he is beaten," applies quite as much 

 to our naturalists as to the heroes who waste their 

 own or others' lives on the field of war. In our 

 long experience we have known many a humble 

 biologist, humble in every sense, whether socially 

 or scientifically, who has done deeds which in 

 themselves were as brave, and required far more 

 consideration at the moment, as others which 

 on the field of battle have gained highly- 

 valued recognition. For endurance, commend to 

 us a really enthusiastic naturalist, perhaps some 

 workman in a factory, who, after a long and 



