336 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



had he depended on books rather than his own 

 acute observation. Of course, the condition of 

 ignorance, inaccuracy and misrepresentation which 

 existed in the time of the greatest of poet-dramatists 

 extended far forward towards our own days. 

 Neither can we claim that it has all disappeared, 

 even though we pride ourselves on the modern 

 advance of natural science investigations. Mr. 

 Seager has used much discretion in his selection 

 of quotations, though the sources of his research 

 are limited. The books which he quotes number 

 about a dozen, and certainly form as quaint a 

 collection of ignorant teachers as could well be 

 brought together. Their dates of publication 

 range from the end of the fifteenth century to the 

 first quarter of the seventeenth century. Mr. 

 Seager has arranged the subjects alphabetically, 

 and usually gives quotations from the old authors 

 without comment, beyond a reference as to where 

 they are to be found. Such comments as he 

 makes upon the application of the words by 

 Shakespeare are well considered and often useful. 

 The following are examples of the quotations 

 presented in the work before us : 



"Cuckoo. — 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' iii, 

 I, 134. 'The cuckoo is a dishonest bird, and is 

 very slow, and does not stay in a place. In winter 

 it is said to lose its feathers ; and it enters a hole 

 in the earth or hollow trees ; there, in the summer, 

 it lays up that on which it lives in the winter. 

 They have their own time of coming, and are borne 

 upon the wings of kites because of their short and 

 small flight, lest they be tired in the long tracts of 

 air and die. From their spittle grasshoppers are 

 produced. In the winter it lies languishing and 

 unfeathered, and looks like an owl.' (' Hortus 

 Sanitatis,' bk, iii, ch. xxxix.) 'If you mark where 

 your right foot doth stand at the first time that 

 you do hear the cuckoo, and then grave or take up 

 the earth under the same, wheresoever the same is 

 sprinkled about there will fleas breed. And I 

 know it hath proved true.' [Lupton : ' A Thousand 

 Notable Things,' bk. iii, § 47.) " 



"Eel. — 'Love's Labour Lost,' i, 2, 30. 'The 

 -eel is generated from the slime of other fishes ; it 

 is hard to skin, and very difficult to kill, as it lives 

 even after it is skinned ; it is disturbed by the 

 sound of thunder. It is most easily caught when 

 the Pleiades have set. And they say that in the 

 eastern River Ganges eels are gendered with feet 

 to walk on the land. Eels live for eight years, 

 and they exist without water for six days while 

 north-east wind blows, but less while the south 

 wind blows. Among eels there is no male nor 

 female, and they gender neither live creature nor 

 egg, as they are neuter.' (' Hortus Sanitatis,' 

 bk. iv, § 2.) " 



Though much of what appears in the quotations 

 in this book now seems absurd, we would undertake 

 to find many people still living who believe such 

 statements. Indeed, among enlightened persons it 

 was only within the present "nineties" that they 

 learned the truth about the life-history of young 

 -eels. We must congratulate Mr. Seager upon 

 making so interesting a book, which will afford 

 amusement to everyone who dips into its pages, 

 whether science student or layman. The old and 

 quaint wood-blocks selected for illustration are 

 hardly more wonderfully misleading from an 

 educational point of view than the letterpress 

 which accompanies them. The publisher has 

 produced a handsome volume, one suitable to 

 every library. 



British Game Birds and WildFoti'l. By Beverley 

 R. Morris, M.D. Revised by W. B. Tegetmier. 

 F.Z.S. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897.) In 

 twelve monthly parts. Super royal 8vo. Price 

 2s. 6d. per part, net. 



This work, which was first issued in 1855, has 

 been revised and brought up to date by Mr. Teget- 

 mier, the well-known contributor of articles on 

 certain ornithological groups, game birds among 

 others. Not only has he renovated the letterpress 

 for this new edition, but also the plates have been 

 overhauled, and in some instances corrected. It is 

 difficult to judge to what extent the work has been 

 rewritten, as there is not anything to indicate the 

 new from the old. In the part before us much of 

 the matter is up to date ; so it may be concluded 

 that a large portion of it is new. This should be 

 considered chiefly as a sportsman's book, as there is 

 no pretence of its being of a scientific character. 

 When complete there are to be sixty large coloured 

 plates and 382 pages of printed matter. 



A nnual Report of Smithsonian Instittition. (To July, 

 1894.) Pp. xl. and 770, Svo, illustrated by 70 plates, 

 photographs and drawings. (Washington : Govern- 

 ment Printing Office, 1896.) 



This handsome volume is fully up to the usual 

 excellence of the Smithsonian Reports, which 

 contain not only particulars of the national 

 scientific institution of the United States of 

 America, but also a selection of important papers 

 published elsewhere. The former section in this 

 volume occupies eighty-three pages, whilst the 

 latter appear in a " General Appendix " of 626 

 pages. 



South London Natural History Society: Abstract of 

 Proceedings for 1896. 131 pp. 8vo. (London : 

 The Society, Hibernia Chambers, S.E., 1897.) 

 Price 2S. 6d. 



The South London Entomological and Natural 

 History Society has reason to thank a few of its 

 members for the personal and financial aid given 

 in producing these " Transactions," which by the 

 balance sheet we see cost ^'28, out of which /15 15s. 

 is paid for by donations. The Society is in a 

 prosperous condition, and possesses a substantial 

 balance in its favour. The '• Transactions " before 

 U3 form an exceptionally interesting volume, con- 

 taining much original observation and several 

 papers of value. 



Some Unrecognized Laws of Nature. By Ignatius 

 Singer and Lewis H. Berhens. 483 pp. large 

 Svo, illustrated by 67 figures. (London : John 

 Murray, 1897.) Price i8s. 



This important work deals with the consideration 

 by the authors of a number of recognized physical 

 phenomena which have been independently 

 explored by them. The work represents an 

 immense amount of thoughtful labour, which 

 cannot fail to command the respect of the readers 

 of the book, even if in all cases they do not agree 

 fully with the deductions and interpretations. The 

 plan is to divide it into four sections, which deal 

 with (i) Methods of Enquiry ; (2) First Principles ; 

 (3) Phenomenology, or the Interconvertibility of 

 Forces ; (4) Gravitation. We must leave to those 

 of our readers who care to study the various 

 subjects the formation of their own opinions on 

 the theories, remarkable in some instances, pro- 

 pounded by the authors. There can be no doubt 

 of the magnitude of the task undertaken by them, 

 which amounts to converting modern physicists 

 from some very firmly-established theories. 



