250 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



hexagonal prisms that are colourless to bluish-green 

 have been obtained at Flinders Island ; and, also, as 

 water-worn pebbles in Stanniferole's Drift, at 

 Mount Cameron. At the last locality a fairly good 

 example was obtained some years ago. It consisted 

 of a portion of a crystal about an inch in diameter 

 and the same in length ; it had the true hexagonal 

 form and characteristic cleavage, and the colour 

 was dull green, with a translucent appearance. 

 The stone was mistaken by the miners for the 

 peculiar form of copper ore. More recently 

 another specimen was obtained in the drift of 

 almost the same colouration, rather less in 

 diameter, but nearly three inches in length. Near 

 the Great Republic Tin Mine, at Ben Loman. this 

 mineral has been discovered in exceptionally large 

 and well- formed crystal groups. The find occurred 

 in surface trenching across the granite rock, 

 W'hen a somewhat large quantity of beryl was 

 exposed, intimately associated with extremely 

 large and fine crystals of orthoclase. ]\Iany of 

 the individual crystals of the beryl measured fully 

 ten inches in length, and nearly two inches in 

 thickness. The colour is unusual, being a mottled 

 yellow-brown, with a dull lustre on the exterior 

 surface." Then follows an analysis. We quote 

 this as an example of the original notes in this 

 little book, which cannot fail to be useful to the 

 mineral collector. 



Fuel and Refractory Materials. By A. Humboldt 

 Sexton, F.I.C., F.C.S. 350 pp. 8vo, 104 illus- 

 trations. (London : Blackie and Sons, Limited, 

 1897.) Price 5s. 



This work, though mainly intended for the use of 

 students, will also be found to meet the requirements 

 of engineers and others who require information on 

 the subject of " fuel " for practical purposes. The 

 author states in his preface that it is written to 

 meet a want he has felt for many years, i.e. a 

 manual, treating concisely and comprehensively of 

 fuel, and yet holding a place between such 

 exhaustive treatises as those of Dr. Percy and 

 others, and the brief outlines of the subject which 

 are to be found in manuals on metallurgy. The 

 book commences with the theory of combustion 

 and the chemical action and re-action of various 

 combustibles. From this the author passes to the 

 heating powers of different fuels. Mr. Humboldt 

 repudiates Welter's law, that the heat evolved by a 

 fuel when burned is proportional to the amount of 

 oxygen with which it combines ; he maintains that 

 this can only be correct where there is no change 

 of state or chemical change except combination ; 

 " but as in all solid fuels the solid carbon is 

 converted into the gaseous form, the law breaks 

 down and is of no practical use."' Wood, peat and 

 the various forms of coal are carefully analvsed, 

 and their respective heating powers shown by 

 chemical formula. Pyrometry, calorimetry, and the 

 utilization of fuel are also comprehensively dealt 

 with. Chapter xv. is devoted to refractory 

 materials. There is a good list of references at 

 the end of the book and a most useful index, which 

 will be a boon to many students who require the 

 work only for reference. 



A New Course of Elementary Chemistry, including 

 the Principles of Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis. 

 By JoHX Castell-Evans, F.I.C. 237 pp. Svo. 

 (London : Thomas Murby.) Price 2s. 6d. 



This is the third edition of this work, which 

 aims at being more than a mere text-book 

 for examinations, and " is intended to help 

 students to attain a real knowledge of scientific 



chemistry." The problem^s are chiefly original, 

 and are only in ver}' few instances to be found 

 in any other text-books. The author commences 

 by making his readers fully conversant with 

 the British and foreign system of units. This 

 he does by giving problems to be worked from 

 one system to the other ; also in the varying 

 theometric scales of Fahrenheit, centigrade, and 

 Reamur. There is a full account of all data 

 required to obtain the heat of sulphuric acid 

 from its elements, and the mode of calculation 

 therefrom. The method in which the kinetic 

 theory of gases can be deduced is detailed in a 

 very clear manner. Part ii. consists of chemical 

 analysis, with detailed accounts of each experi- 

 ment. To this edition an appendix has been 

 added containing a few easy inorganic preparations. 



Allen's Naturalists' Library. A Handbook to the 

 Game-birds. Jiy W. R. Ogilvie-Graxt. Vol. ii., 

 316 pp. Svo. Illustrated by 18 plates. (London: 

 W. Allen and Co., Limited, 1897.) Price 6s. 



Volume ii. of this useful series deals with 

 pheasants (continued from vol. i.), megapodes, 

 curassows, hoatzins and bustard-quails. These 

 two volumes contain the names of every known 

 species of game-bird, and may therefore be con- 

 sidered a monograph of the GallincB. The subject 

 has been treated in this work in a similar manner 

 to vol. i. To ensure exactitude the author has 

 carefully compared and revised his descriptions 

 with the specimens of these birds in the British 

 Museum. Whitehead's bustard quail (Turnix ivhite- 

 iieadi) is described bj^ him for the first time in this 

 work. It was found at ^Manila by Mr. John 

 Whitehead, after whom it was named. This species 

 is most like the male of T. dussumicri in size and 

 markings, but the general colour is different. 

 Another new species mentioned is Cholmley's see- 

 see partridge [Ammoperdix cholmleyi), discovered by 

 Mr. A. J. Cholmley in the Erba Mountains, near 

 Suakim, during a recent trip to the Soudan. The 

 adult female is similar to the female of A . heyi. 



A Dictionary of Birds. — By Alfred Newton, 

 assisted by Hans Gadow. Part iv., 379 pp. 

 Illustrated. (London: Adam and Charles Black, 

 1896.) 



This is the last part of Mr. Newton's compre- 

 hensive work. The three previous volumes have 

 been already noticed in these pages. Part iv. 

 contains the Index and a lengthy Introduction to 

 the entire w-ork. In this Mr. Newton gives a short 

 history of the study of ornithology, commencing 

 with Aristotle, who was the first serious waiter on 

 birds with whose works we are acquainted. This 

 classic naturalist only mentions about 170 different 

 sorts of birds, which he divides into eight prin- 

 cipal groups. His observations and descriptions 

 are so meagre — being chiefly physiological — that 

 it is impossible for his commentators to deter- 

 mine with any certainty what were the birds 

 of which he wrote. Though other writers on 

 ornithology appeared at long intervals, the first 

 to issue a work conceived in anything like 

 the spirit that moves modern naturalists was 

 William Turner, a Northumbrian, who, while 

 living abroad to avoid the persecutions, printed at 

 Cologne, in 1544, a commentary on the birds 

 mentioned by Aristotle and Pliny.- This work was 

 reprinted at Cambridge in 1S23 by the late Dr. 

 George Thackeray. The Introduction, as will be 

 seen, is well worth reading, not only by those who 

 have devoted themselves to the study of ornithology, 

 but by all who wish to have a general knowledge of 



