2 44 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 



Our Rarer British Breeding Birds. By Richard 

 Kearton, F.Z.S., xvi. +149 pp., 9iin. x 6in., with 

 70 illustrations from photographs by C. Kearton. 

 (London, Paris, New York, and Melbourne : Cassell 

 and Co., Ltd., 1899.) 7s. 6d. 



As a work of art and of accurate popular interest, 

 it would be difficult to choose a more beautiful 

 Christmas present than this last book of the brothers 

 Kearton. Both Richard and Cherry Kearton are 

 skilled and practical ornithologists, with an excep- 

 tional knowledge of the habits and nesting places of 

 British birds. Consequently, we have a pleasure 

 beyond the great artistic merit of the illustrations, in 

 the fact of knowing what appears in the brightly- 

 written letterpress, will be truthful and trustworthy. 

 In the work before us, the haunts of the rarer birds 

 that breed in Britain, are depicted with their nesting 

 places. The birds now described are not included in 

 the former works of these gentlemen, who are to be 

 congratulated on having obtained photographs of so 

 many rarities. To attain this, much anxiety, travel, 

 and good judgment must have been expended ; for it 

 seldom falls to the lot of one man to see nests of all 

 the birds herein pictured. Rich as is the result, there 

 are still some birds breeding in this country to be 

 photographed, and the author appeals for oppor- 

 tunities to enable his brother to depict them in their 

 homes. An important new feature in this book, that 

 has not appeared in others by Mr. Kearton, is the 

 indication of the scale of the pictures, which renders 

 them much more valuable. With regard to the 

 illustrations, those who know the former works of the 

 Keartons, will appreciate what is meant, when we 

 say those before us are even better than in their 

 former books. The frontispiece representing an 

 osprey and nest, is a remarkable picture. By the 

 courtesy of the publishers, we reproduce the photo- 

 graph of a nesting place of the long-eared owl, which 

 is so characteristic of the type of woods where we, 

 ourselves, have found it, that the view especially 

 appeals to us, as doubtless it will to many of our 

 readers. 



Origin of the British Flora. By Clement Reid, 

 F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., vii. + 191 pp., gin. x6in. 

 (London : Dulau and Co., 1899.) 



The author's association with the geological survey 

 of England and Wales, has afforded him many unusual 

 opportunities for comparing the fossil flora with the 

 recent flora of the British Islands. In the intro- 

 duction, Mr. Clement Reid tells us that he first de- 

 veloped an interest in the difference between the 

 Newer Tertiary and existing floras, while conducting 

 the geological survey of East Norfolk and its Pre- 

 glacial forest-beds off Cromer. This led him to a study 

 of our recent flora, especially with regard to the fruit 

 of those natural orders which were represented in a 

 fossiliferous state. In the book before us we have the 

 results of more than twenty years' work in this 

 direction ; which, from the scientific point of view, are 

 most valuable as indicaung the age of our flora. The 

 work, therefore, will be found a necessary addition to 



the library of every botanist worthy of the name. It 

 must be remembered that in dealing with the origin 

 of the British flora, it commences with records that 

 have been awaiting in a fossil, or sub-fossil, condition, 

 for many thousands of years, thus affording evidence 

 that many of our familiar wild plants can show an 

 ancestry far more ancient than that of mankind. 



Who's Who— 1900. xviii. + 1,092 pp. 7iin. x .sin. 

 (London : Adam and Charles Black, 1900.) 3s. 6d. 



This is the fifty-second year of issue of this, the 

 most useful, annual biographical dictionary of living 

 persons. It is much enlarged, and contains additional 

 biographies and other information. It is brought up 

 to the 31st October, therefore it is the most recent of 

 its kind. Preceding the biographies are no pages of 

 useful information ; and as a whole, it is difficult to 

 imagine a book of reference containing so much, 

 within the limits of its covers. 



Optics. A Manual for Students. By A. S. 

 Percival, M.A., M.B. xii. + 399 pp., 8 x Si, with 

 diagrams. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1899.) 

 10s. net. 



The author of this book states in his preface that it 

 is designed primarily for the use of ophthalmic students, 

 and such being the case one would expect that details 

 closely pertaining to the human eye occupied by far 

 the greater portion of the book. As a matter of fact, 

 however, the reader is not brought to this section before 

 p. 328 is reached. The first 327 pages are taken up 

 with a very full and masterly treatment of more or less 

 general physical and geometrical optics, which to one 

 who has already had a good grounding in the subject 

 and knows a fair amount of mathematics, will prove 

 very useful reading. Indeed, this part of the book 

 is perhaps better adapted to the wants of a student 

 reading physics and mixed mathematics for his B.Sc. 

 examination, than to an ophthalmic student, the 

 mathematics in some places being out of the reach of 

 the latter. He will, however, find very important and 

 useful information from page 32S onwards. The book 

 is well written and the large number of diagrammatic 

 illustrations given considerably simplify the work and 

 assist the reader.—^. Q. 



Handbook of Optics for Students o'f Ophthalmology. 

 By W. N. Suter, B.A., M.D. viii. +^ 209 pp. 

 7jin. x 5m., with diagrams. (New York and 

 London: The Macmillan Company, 1899.) 5s. 



This book should form a very useful guide to the 

 ophthalmic student, for whom it is specially written. 

 Just sufficient of the general principles of refraction 

 and dispersion of light are given to enable the 

 reader to follow the matter relating directly to the 

 eye. In fact, the author has succeeded in embodying 

 many ophthalmic demonstrations, while explaining 

 general optical phenomena. Examples that the 

 student meets with daily are completely worked out 

 in the text. To appreciate the books one requires a 

 good grounding in geometry, some algebra and the 

 principles of plane trigonometry, but not more. For 

 the benefit of those unacquainted with the last of 

 these, a very brief explanation of trigonometrical 

 terms is given at the end of the book. Perhaps on 

 the score of the mathematics required, the book will 

 find more favour with the medical reader. —J. Q. 



Rise and Development of the Liquefaction oj 

 Gases. By W. L. Hardin, Ph.D. x. +247 pp., 

 7iin. x 5in., with 42 illustrations. (New York and 

 London : Macmillans, 1899.) 6s. 



If a curve were plotted having as its ordinates the 

 successes in the realm of the liquefaction of gases, and 

 as its abscissal the years of the present century, it would 



