SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



45 



j^mmm 



BOOKS TO KEflD 



NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 



A Dlctionaiy of the Names of Minerals, including 

 tlwif History and Etymology. By Albert Hunting- 

 ton Chester, E.M., Ph.D., Sc.D. .\x.\viii and 

 320 pp. Svo. (New York : John Wiley and Sons. 

 London: Chapman and Hall, 1S96.) Price 15s. 

 net. 



It is always a satisfaction to meet with such a 

 book as this. Dictionaries with the derivations of 

 the names of species in any branch of natural 

 science are scarce enough. Students, as a rule, 

 neglect the value attaching to names of animals, 

 fossils or minerals ; so that when their turn comes 

 to bestow names on newly-disco\'ered species, it 

 too frequently happens that want of suitability and 

 general fitness lamentably shows itself in the name 

 given. Not in any division of nature does this 

 display itself more than in uninomal system 

 adopted by mineralogists. Many of these names 

 are, to say the least, fantastic, and furnish a sad 

 want of uniformity in their termination. The 

 opportunity for some specific terminal for mineral 

 names was indicated twenty years since by Professor 

 C. U. Shepard, of Amherst College. Alassachusetts, 

 who suggested that the commonly-used terminal 

 " ite " should be applied to all recognised mineral 

 species, and the termination " ine " should apply to 

 all variety names. To use an expression not 

 uncommon in the State, which is claimed to contain 

 the "hub of the world," his proposal did not 

 "catch on." So long as a hundred and fifty 

 years ago Sir John Hill, in his " History of the 

 Fossils," divided minerals into named genera 

 and species, with classes and orders in which to 

 arrange them. Not only did the system never 

 come into use, but its inventor abandoned it some 

 twenty years later. Since then, other attempts 

 have been made in the same direction, but chemical 

 analysis and the foundation of the science of crystal- 

 lography led to the adoption of the present arrange- 

 ment. Of fantastic names, some amusing instances 

 may be found. A green fibrous arsenite of copper, 

 was called "erinite" by j\Ir. W. Haidinger, because 

 it was supposed to come from Ireland. The same 

 name has been applied to a reddish clay-like 

 mineral, allied to montmorillonite, from Giant's 

 Causeway. Printer's errors are responsible for not 

 a few long-accepted names, such as "glorikite," 

 which is a mistake for glinkite, named in honour of 

 General Glinka, who was Governor of the Ural 

 Mines. This dictionary contains no less than 4,627 

 names of minerals, though many of them are either 

 popular names, obsolete, or synomyms. A useful 

 addendum is a dictionary of authors of mineral 

 names with their species. The list of titles of 

 works cited in the dictionary is in itself a bib- 

 liography of mineralogy, for it occupies eighteen 

 pages of small type. Dr. Chester's work is one 

 which should be in every scientific library and in 

 the hands of every mineralogist. We think that 

 its issue cannot fail to give an impetus to the 

 study of minerals. 



A Hand-book to the Order Lepidoptera. Bv W. F. 

 IviRBY, F.L.S., F.Ent.S. Part i. Butterflies — 

 vol. ii. 348 pp. Svo. 3G coloured plates, and 

 numerous figures in the letterpress. (Lx)ndon : Allen 

 and Co., Limited, 1896. Allen's Naturalist's 

 Library.) Price 6s. 



In our notice of the first volume of this work 

 (S.G., N.S., vol. i, page 256), we pointed out that 

 Mr. Kirby had struck out a new design in treating 

 the well-worn subject of butterfiies and moths; this 

 he maintains in the second volume with much 

 success. In it he nearly completes his observations 

 on the butterflies, and will in the next volume 

 commence his survey of the moths, after dealing 

 with the Hesperiidse. We note with some dismay 

 that Dr. Bowdler Sharpe in his editorial note to 

 this volume of "The Naturalist's Library," says, 

 "Mr. Kirby is especially well-known as an 

 authority on entomological bibliography, and it 

 is not surprising to find that his recent researches 

 into nomenclature of butterflies have led him to 

 arrive at conclusions concerning the proper names 

 of our British species somewhat different from 

 those adopted from most modern works." Colias 

 edusa is to go at last, and in its place Eurymus hyale ; 

 whilst we also lose Colias hyale to find Eurymus kirbyi. 

 We look in vain in the systematic index for our 

 familiar Lycana agon, but have the good luck to 

 find the silver-studded blue, bearing doubtless the 

 correct scientific name of Plebius argus, so called by 

 Linnasus, as it appeared in " Systema Naturae," in 

 1758. I\Ir. Kirby '3 survey of the different famalies 

 of butterflies occurring in Britain, and comparison 

 with other members of the same families in other 

 regions, is most instructive and well done. It 

 constitutes the leading feature of the book, and is 

 the more satisfactory because we can fully depend 

 on whatever Mr. Kirby writes for us. The coloured 

 plates are generally much better than those in 

 many other works far more expensive. This 

 volume confirms our opinion that .\llen's Natu- 

 ralist's Library is a liberal education in itself. 



Biological Experimentation : Its Functions and Limits. 

 By Sir Benj.\min Ward Richardson, M.D., 

 F.R.S., 170 pp. Svo. (London : George Bell and 

 Sons, 1S96.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 



Whenever we take up a book by Sir Benjamin 

 Ward Richardson, we settle comfortably in our 

 chair with the feeling that we are going to enjoy 

 pages clearly setting forth well-arranged facts in 

 plain language. This book is no exception, for 

 although by no means an entrancing subject, it is a 

 pleasure to read on page after page. The origin of 

 the book was founded upon an invitation by the 

 Council of the Leigh-Browne Trust to Dr. 

 Richardson, to give replies to nine questions 

 bearing more or less on the question of the 

 necessity of vivisection. His answer as given on 

 page 161 is good and unmistakable. One 

 admirable chapter is a history of the " Discovery 

 of Anaesthesia," and it is well worth while getting 

 the book for the chapter alone. 



One Thousand Difficult U'ords from Examination 

 Papers. Part 2, for Seniors. Selected by A 

 Practical Teacher. (London : Relfe Bros.) Price 3d. 



These thousand words are evidently selected, as 

 stated in the title, and are by no means " catchy," 

 or the trick words often heard at spelling bees. 

 The only disadvantage seems to be in their 

 arrangement, which would have been better if 

 alphabetical. 



