SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



J 63 



From " Lost British Birds." 



drawing-room was supposed to be complete with- 

 out one of those instruments and a number of 

 more or less bad photographic views for illustra- 

 tion. As time advanced the fashion passed, 

 probably because of the advance of higher forms 

 of photography in other directions. Still there 

 was some scientific value in the stereoscope, 

 however little generally understood at the time. 

 M. Drouin appears to be the first writer, in 

 book form, on the subject since Sir David Brewster, 

 in i860. With the advent of the book now under 

 notice, it is likely there will be a revival of interest 

 in stereoscopv, which is in a much better position 

 in consequence of the great advance of photography 

 since Sir David's time. The modern instruments 

 are much nicer than the old, and with the aid of 

 such a work as this, will become a source of 

 great interest. 



Agricultural Zoology. By Dr. J. Ritzema Bos, 

 Lecturer in the Royal Agricultural College, Wagen- 

 gingen, Holland; with an Introduction by Eleanor 

 A. Ormerod ; translated by J. R. Ainsworth 

 Davies. pp. xx and 256, Svo, with 149 illustrations. 

 (London : Chapman and Hall.) Price 6s. 



The translator, in his preface, claims that Dr. 

 Bos' book fills a gap in the works provided for 



the British farmer in 

 his own language. He 

 further says he has, 

 with the author's per- 

 mission, made certain 

 additions and used small 

 print when treating of 

 non-British animals. It 

 might have been advis- 

 able to omit these, for 

 it is not much use to 

 the British farmer to 

 have a description of 

 the hamster and its 

 habits, or to know that 

 it " may be caught in 

 traps." There is much 

 information about the 

 common objects living 

 on the farm, which are 

 explained fully and well 

 illustrated. The book 

 will be very useful to 

 many residents in the 

 country who are not 

 farmers, and it would 

 be found an excellent 

 addition to every village 

 library. 



The World's Lumber Room : a Gossip about some 

 of its contents. By Selina Gave. Sixth thou- 

 sand. 316 pp., Svo. With 57 illustrations. 

 (London : Cassell and Co., Limited.) 



This is a popularly written work, especially 

 suitable to young people, upon many things in 

 nature. We think a better title might have been 

 found, as there is little treated upon in the book 

 which may be classed under the word " lumber " ; 

 although an effort is made to suit certain con- 

 ditions of matter to the work. The author has 

 succeeded in gathering together an interesting 

 number of subjects which cannot fail to make 

 young readers think about such things as "Dust 

 and its Causes," or "Vegetable and Animal 

 Scavengers." The book is well illustrated and 

 one to be recommended as a school prize. 



FOXEY STAINS IN BOOKS. 



THE correspondence concerning "Dendritic 

 Crystals" in the late number of " Sciexce- 

 Gossip," reminds me of another and more 

 formidable enemy to books and engravings in 

 the shape of brown spots technically known as 

 "foxey" marks. Everybody who has books must 

 know and suffer from them, but I can nowhere find 

 any satisfactory account of them, or. suggestions as 

 to their removal. Can you help me ? In Blade's 

 "Enemies of Books," they are spoken of as produced 

 by damp, which would mean, I suppose, that they are 

 some kind of fungus, but I cannot discover with the 

 help of my microscope that they are so, and they 

 are certainly not crystalline. Having a crayon 

 portrait, which I value much, injured by this 

 nuisance, I consulted an engraver and print-seller 

 as to the means of removal, but he could only 

 suggest covering the spots with some harmless 

 powder, tinted to match the paper. It appears 

 to me that French and German books, and English 

 books published at the beginning of the century are 

 particularly liable to become "foxed." — Thomas 

 E. Amyot, Diss, Norfolk ; August 6th, 1S94. 



