162 



SCIEXCE-GOSSIP. 



Lost British Birds. By W. H. Hudson. 32 pp., 

 8vo, with 15 drawings by A. D. McCormick. 

 (London : Chapman and Hall, Limited.) Price 6d. 



Among lost species of British birds, Mr. Hudson 

 states that he has included only those which are 

 practically lost as inhabitants of our islands, 

 though they may occasionally appear as visitants, 

 being stragglers from a region where they still live 

 in some numbers. The list includes thirteen 

 species, and the author claims that about seventeen 

 others are in imminent danger of extinction as 

 British residents. From the scientific point of 

 view, though strongly sympathizing with the 

 object of this little work, we are not quite sure 

 that some of the species should have been 

 included in the list of thirty. The illustrations by 

 Mr. McCormick are artistic and very good repre- 



A. 



vVV' ■,41, ^ 



From ''Lost British Birds." 



sentations of the birds mentioned. We reproduce 

 two of them as examples, viz. : the common crane 

 and the spoonbill. 



The work under notice is the fourteenth publi- 

 cation of the Society for the Protection of Birds, 

 which numbers upwards of 10,000 persons, nearly 

 800 of whom are associates. The objects of this 

 excellent Society are worthy of every possible 

 support, even if some of its members do occasion- 

 ally display a little indiscretion through their 

 enthusiasm in furthering their views. The ruthless 

 slaughter of many kinds of birds for the sake of 

 the decorative value of their skins for milliners 

 and dressmakers can only be stopped by public 

 opinion. There is no doubt that the formation of 

 this and kindred societies is doing much in the 

 right direction. As the population and civilization 

 of the world increases, the wild animals must 

 disappear before the advance of mankind. The 

 initiatory efforts for their protection cannot be 

 commenced too early in the great centres of civili- 

 zation, for it will become more and more difficult 

 each year to save those animals which are in 

 danger of being lost. Though the members of 

 these societies think unfavourably of the amateur 

 collector, we are not of their opinion. Anything 

 which tends to create a taste for or interest in any 

 objects of nature creates a desire for their preser- 

 vation. Very small numbers comparatively of 

 any of these objects are taken by collectors for 

 purposes of study, and can really make hardly any 

 appreciable difference, unless the bird for instance 

 is already practically lost. As pointed out by 

 Mr. Rice in these pages (p. 102), a single storm 

 during the nesting season will destroy more nests 

 and young birds than a small army of village boys 

 or collectors. It is only when there is a commercial 

 value that great slaughter occurs with consequent 

 evanishment. The " Cockney " type of sportsman, 

 who only desires to kill something, is contemptible, 

 but we doubt even if he does much towards actual 

 extermination, unless in such cases as the shooting 

 of gulls or other birds in the breeding season. 

 Still we reiterate that the Society for the Protec- 

 tion of Birds should be supported, and it is the 

 plain duty of our readers to render every assistance 

 in stopping the wasteful and senseless extermina- 

 tion of our native birds to pander to effeminate 

 fashion. 



The Frog : an Introduction to Anatomy, Histology, 

 and Embrvology. By A. Milnes Marshall, 

 M.D., D.Sc, F.R.S., Professor in the Victoria 

 University and at Owens College. Fifth Edition, 

 revised and illustrated, pp. viii. and 163, 8vo. 

 (Manchester : J. E. Cornish ; London : Smith, 

 Elder and Co., 1894.) 



The issue of the fifth edition of this well-known 

 text book reminds us of its author's sad death only 

 a few months ago, and a note states that the 

 revision for press was the late Professor Marshall's 

 last professional act, being completed only a week 

 previously. The additions to this new edition are 

 chiefly in the chapter on Embryology, in which 

 some new figures have been introduced and errors 

 corrected. 



The Stereoscope and Stereoscopic Photography : from 

 the French of F. Drouix, translated by Matthew 

 Surface. 180 pp., 8vo. with 101 illustrations. 

 (London and Bradford : Percy Lund and Co.) 

 jgiThose among us who can remember the in- 

 artistic davs of crinolines, will associate with such 

 memory the fashion for the stereoscope. Xo 



