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SCIENCE-G0SS1P. 



would, most assuredly, have perished at the stake. 

 We are not at all sure there are not still existing 

 some good people who would, even now, enjoy 

 a sniff of that perfume. The book is a clever 

 compilation of well-established facts — and some 

 opinions. The sub-titles indicate the contents ; 

 they are "Where are We? What are We? 

 Whence did we Come ? and Whither do we Go ? " 

 We recommend our readers to peruse this work 

 dispassionately and to form their own opinions, 

 and they will, we imagine, be largely assisted by 

 absence of prejudice. The work does not pretend 

 to propound new theories, but it places very plainly 

 before its readers some of those which have- 

 resulted from the liberality of thought that has 

 characterised the latter quarter of this century. 

 Although it is probable some of the readers may 

 cavil with portions of his last chapter, it would be 

 futile to disguise the fact that in the work, as a 

 whole, the author represents the tendency of 

 modern thought among thinking people. 



The Flora of the Alps. By Alfred W. Bennett, 

 M.A., B.Sc, F.L.S. 8vo. Parts vii. and viii., with 

 28 coloured plates. (London : John C. Nimmo, 

 1S97.) 2s. 6d. each net. 



This handsome work is now complete, conclud- 

 ing with Part viii., which contains a glossary of 

 scientific terms, index of Latin names and index 

 of English names of Alpine flowers. The work is 

 illustrated by 120 coloured plates, the majority of 

 them excellent likenesses of the plants they are 

 intended to represent. Whether as a travelling 

 companion to mountainous Europe, or for the 

 library, we can recommend this work to both 

 botanists and those travellers who like to know the 

 names of unfamiliar flowers met with on their 

 excursions. 



The Story of the British Coinage. By Gertrude 

 Burford Rawlings. 224 pp. small 8vo, and 

 108 illustrations. (London : George Newnes, 

 Limited, 1898.) is. 



Numismatics rather belongs to archaeology than 

 to physical science. Still the subject is an exact 

 science and a very interesting one. This little 

 book is one of Sir George Newnes' " Story Series " 

 to which we have previously had occasion to refer. 

 The two-page preface is useful, as it instructs the 

 uninitiated in the terms used by numismatists. 

 There are four general divisions in the work 

 relating to English, Scottish and Colonial coinage, 

 with a note on Tokens. The numerous illustrations 

 are of much aid to the reader, and are generally 

 good. The author writes pleasantly, and one goes 

 on reading and learning many bits of coin-lore. 



The Journal of Malacology. Edited by Wilfred 

 Mark Webb, F.L.S. , 60 pp. 8vo, illustrated. 

 (London : Dulan and Co., 1897.) 



Some of the articles in this volume will be 

 useful to malacologists, especially the notes on the 

 genus Testacella, to which the editor has given 

 much attention. There are six plates in this 

 volume besides some figures in the letterpress. 



Transactions of the English Aboricultural Society. 

 Vol. iii. Part iii. 139 pp. 8vo, illustrated. 

 (Carlisle: G. and T. Coward, 1S97.) is. 



This part contains the President's address to 

 the sixteenth annual meeting, and articles on 

 "Town and Suburban Planting," "Hedges and 

 their Management," also, " General Forestry." 

 Not the least interesting portion is the report 

 on the Society's visit to Sandringbam. 



Ernest Hart was born in London in 1836, and 

 died on January 7th, 1898, at Brighton. Ms. Hart 

 was in early boyhood bright and intelligent, soon 

 showing at the City of London School a faculty 

 for prize-winning. He was brought up to the 

 medical profession, walking St. George's Hospital. 

 Mr. Hart was admitted a member of the Royal 

 College of Surgeons in 1856, and received the 

 appointment of Resident Medical Officer at St. 

 Mary's Hospital, Paddington. Although Mr. Hart 

 gave much attention to ophthalmology and aural 

 treatment, he was not destined to make his name 

 by the exercise of his profession. He devoted 

 himself early to its literary side and joined the 

 staff of the " Lancet," which journal for some 

 time secured his services. That work led to 

 his being appointed editor of the " British 

 Medical Journal " in 1866, which post Mr. 

 Hart held to the end of his career. He raised 

 that journal to its present prosperity. Mr. Hart, 

 though too fully occupied with literary work to 

 be a very active student of any branch of science, 

 cultivated several. Among these, perhaps, that of 

 bacteriology in connection with epidemic diseases 

 most interested him. He spent much time and 

 attention upon the so-called science of hypnotism, 

 and formed one of a commission to investigate its 

 modern teachings. The report was far from favour- 

 able and exposed considerable trickery. As an 

 authority on Japanese art, few were more learned 

 or had a finer collection. 



Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. — In the death of 

 the Rev. C. L. Dodgson, the English-speaking 

 peoples have lost a familiar friend, for was he not 

 the " Lewis Carroll " who wrote the classic " Alice 

 in Wonderland " and " The Hunting of theSnark " ? 

 As a man of science he was equally known as a 

 mathematician and author of mathematical works. 



Thomas Jeffery Parker, F.R.S. — Information 

 of the death of Professor Parker, of Otago, on 

 November 7th, reached this country with the close 

 of last year. Through his absence from England 

 many of the younger of our readers know less of 

 Prof. Thos. Jeffery Parker's work than would have 

 been otherwise the case. A native of London, he 

 was born in 1850, In 1868 he joined the Royal 

 School of Mines as a student. After a short 

 absence from London, while acting as a science 

 master at Bramham College, he became, on the 

 invitation of Professor Huxley, his demonstrator at 

 South Kensington, in 1S72. He was also, whilst 

 holding that office, Lecturer on Biology at Bedford 

 College, London, and Examiner in Zoology and 

 Botany to the University of Aberdeen. In 1880 

 he became Professor of Biology in the University 

 of Otago, New Zealand. 



Henry Stacy Marks, R.A. The band of lovers 

 of field natural history has lost an ardent member 

 in H. Stacy Marks, whose pictures, generally of a 

 humorous character, were so well known. He was 

 chiefly a student of the habits of birds, and might 

 have been often found at the Zoological Gardens,. 

 Regent's Park, with pencil and note-book. 



