240 



SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 



We have received the following books, but in consequence of 

 pressure on our space the notices must be deferred : " Studies 

 Scientific and Social," Vols. I. and II., by Alfred Russel Wallace ; 

 ' ' The Harlequin Fly," by Miall and Hammond ; " What is 

 Heat and Electricity ? " by Frederick Hovenden ; " Lord Lil- 

 ford : a Memoir," by his Sister ; " By Land and Sky," by Rev. 

 John M. Eicon ; " What is Life?" second edition, by Frederick 

 Hovenden ; " Magnetism and Electricity," by P. L. Gray ; 

 " Outlines of Field Geology," by Sir A. Geikie : " Elementary 

 Mechanics of Solids," by W. T. A Emtage ; " History of Che- 

 mistry," by Dr. Ladenburg ; " The School Journey," by Joseph 

 H. Cowham ; " Modern Chemistry," 2 vols., by W. Ramsay : 

 " Story of Bird Life," by W. P. Pycraft ; " How to Avoid 

 Tubercle," by T. Wise; "Publications" 46,47,48,49 of Field 

 Columbian Museum ; " Report of Marine Biological Association 

 of the United Kingdom " ; " Reports of Director of Experi- 

 mental Farms. Canada " : " Transactions of Hull Scientific and 

 Field Club," Vol. I., No. III. ; " Alga Flora of Yorkshire." by 

 W. and G. S. West ; " Mosquitoes of the United States," by 

 L. 0. Howard ; " Proceedings of the Society for Psychical 

 Research," Part XXXVII. ; " Proceedings of 12rh Annual 

 Meeting of (American) Association of Economic Entomo- 

 logists " ; " Millport Marine Biological Station " ; " The Scientific 

 Roll, Bacteria," by Alexander Ramsay ; " Air in Rooms," 

 by Francis Jones : " Annals of Andersonian Naturalists' 

 Society," Vol. II., Part II. ; " Godalming " by T. F. W. Hamil- 

 ton ; " Subject List," No. 3, Patent Office Library ; " Museum 

 Handbooks," Nos. 3 and 4, Essex Field Club, &c. 



Our Bird Friends. By Richard Kearton, 

 F.Z.S. xvi + 215 pp., 8 in. x 5£ in. With 100 

 illustrations by C. Kearton. (London : Casseil 

 & Co., Ltd. 1900.) 5s. 



A book for all boys and girls is the second title 

 for this pretty and exceedingly interesting volume. 

 The pages are full of pleasant reading and good 

 bird stories, told by a true lover of" birds in a 

 natural state of freedom. It is much more than a 

 children's book, being one that will readily enter- 

 tain their elders. The book teems with bird-lore, 

 and, what is of more consequence, the statements 

 are accurate and original, not copied from other 

 sources, as is so often the case with popular bird- 

 books. The hundred illustrations are admirable, 

 as will be readily understood, being from photo- 

 graphs by Mr. Cherry Kearton. By permission of 

 Messrs. Cassell & Co. we reproduce one showing 

 the daily growth in the first week of the life of 

 a young blackbird. This, besides being entertain- 

 ing, has scientific value, as indeed have most 

 of the pictures. Many of the subjects have been 

 difficult to obtain, and all are most successfully 

 portrayed. 



Heredity and Human Progress. By W. Duncan 

 ' McKim, M.D., Ph.D. viii + 283 pp., 8in. x 5| in., 

 with diagrams. (New York and London : G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons. 1900.) 7s. (3d. 



The author opens his subject by saying. " Pro- 

 foundly convinced of the inefficiency of the mea- 

 sures which we bring to bear against the weakness 

 and depravity of our race, I venture to plead for 

 the remedy which alone, as I believe, can holdback 

 the advancing tide of disintegration." Thatremedy 

 is the painless extinction in lethal chambers, of 

 all human beings of whatever age, who suffer 

 either from moral or physical weakness: the 

 drunkards, the criminals, and other human failures 



who live only to reproduce their objectionable quali- 

 ties through heredity in coming generations. Of 

 course this is simply appalling to the thoughtless 

 person who more or less comfortably passes 

 through life, but who, if Dr. McKim had his way, 

 would as comfortably pass out of life without 

 unnecessai'y delay. Yet the author and the many 

 who think with him are theoretically right, though 

 who is to decide where to stop in the reduction of 

 the failures is the difficulty. The artificial life 

 under high civilisation of human beings is bound 

 to lead to the disintegration of communities and 

 the return to severer methods of selection of the 

 fittest. The time will come when the form of 

 selection will assert itself. As we are reminded, 

 poverty, disease, and crime are traceable to one 

 fundamental cause, depraved heredity : they are 

 not a necessary human heritage, but result from 

 our toleration of the "weak and vicious." The 

 book before us is carefully thought out and written. 

 Whatever may be one's opinions, it is a book to 

 read. 



The Boolt of Fair Devon. 209 pp., 9 in. x 4f in., 

 with numerous illustrations. (Exeter : United 

 Devon Association. 1900.) 2s. net. 



This prettily produced handbook to the scenery 

 and places of interest in Devonshire is described 

 as the official invitation of the United Devon Asso- 

 ciation to visitors and others to become acquainted 

 with that beautiful county. The volume has been 

 compiled by many Devonians under an influential 

 editorial committee. Especial articles have been 

 contributed upon the climate, education, flora and 

 natural history, water sports, sea and freshwater 

 fishing, hunting, and many other subjects. The 

 article on natural history is rather general than 

 specific, and treated from the popular side. We 

 learn that no less than 1,142 species of flowering 

 plants occur in the county ; also that the avifauna 

 embraces upwards of three hundred species of birds. 

 Reference is made to the numerous kinds of fish 

 that occur around the coasts. The illustrations 

 are effective, being from original sketches and 

 photographs. This little work will doubtless 

 attain its purpose of drawing the attention of 

 many persons to the beauties of " Fair Devon." 



The Microscopy of the More Commonly Occurring 

 Starches. By Hugh Galt, M.B., CM., D.P.H. 

 108 pp., 1\ in. x 5 in., with 22 original photo- 

 micrographs. (London : Bailliere, Tindall & Cox. 

 1900.) 3s. 6cl. net. 



This is an attempt, as stated by the author, to 

 describe and delineate the commoner starch grains 

 as they appear under the microscope. The treat- 

 ment is slight, but as far as it goes not unsatis- 

 factory, and we agree with the author that the 

 published drawings of starches which appear in 

 ordinary text-books ' are somewhat misleading, in 

 that the concentric markings are much less evident 

 in starches as shown under the microscope than 

 they appear in the drawings. We also consider 

 that the author rightly lays stress on the respective 

 measurements of the various starches, as well as 

 on their outlines ; but we think his method of 

 illustrating these is, to say the least, unfortunate. 

 The author explains with the utmost frankness 

 that he had had but little experience of photo- 

 micrography—a word so generally accepted in 

 England that we must use it in preference to the 

 alternative micro-photography — when he com- 

 menced the series of photographs which illustrate 



