8o 



SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 



Story of Wild Flowers. By Professor G. Hens- 

 low, F.L.S., F.G.S. viii + 249 pp., 6 in. x 4| in. 

 Illustrated with 54 figures in text. (London : 

 George Newnes, Limited. 1901.) Is. 



This is one of the series issued by George Newnes, 

 Limited, and is quite up to the usual style of these 

 little works. There is much in it which wovdd be 

 of interest to the regular botanist, while the clear- 

 ness and simplicity of the style render it a most 

 useful work for amateurs and beginners in the 

 fascinating study of botany. 



The Story of King Alfred. By Walter Besant* 

 207 pp., 6 in. x 4 in. Illustrated. (London : George 

 Newnes, Limited. 1901.) Is. 



It is really wonderful to find how everything 

 appears to adapt itself to the " Library of Useful 

 Stories," published by Messrs. Newnes. Here we 

 have, in the year of his millennium, a concise his- 

 tory of Alfred the Great by a clever writer. As 

 was to be expected from the late Sir Walter 

 Besant, the story is told as a story, without overload- 

 ing the pages with dry-as-dust details, which, after 

 all, in a little work such as this would probably 

 discourage the readers for whom it is intended. 



Plant Studies. By John M. Coulter, A.M., 

 Ph.D. viii + 392 pp., 3 in. x 5^ in. With 336 

 illustrations. (London: Henry Kimpton. 1901.) 

 7s. 6d. net. 



This is another of the Twentieth-century Text- 

 Books, and constitutes an elementary botany of 

 fascinating appearance, as the illustrations and 

 general production of the work are as admirable 

 as in its companion volume on animals. The 

 work is pleasantly written, each paragraph leading- 

 naturally to its successor. The book is in two 

 divisions, the first fourteen chapters being domi- 

 nated by ecology and the remaining eleven dealing 

 chiefly with morphology. The work has not at 

 all the character of an ordinary text-book, which 

 too often satiates the youthful mind and creates 

 dislike of the subject studied. The use of works such 

 as that before us, however, is almost sure to create in 

 after-life taste for investigating the works of Nature. 

 Terra Firma. By David Warllaw Scott. 

 xvi + 288 pp., 8 in. x 5|in. With map. (London: 

 Simpkin & Marshall. 1901.) 



In noticing this book the large amount of careful 

 work and collation which is evident in its pages 

 makes one feel sad that the time and energy spent 

 upon it had not been expended on some subject 

 more useful to mankind. This sadness is enhanced 

 by the first few lines of the author's preface. They 

 are : " I am now an old man, and had I consulted 

 my own comfort would never have penned a line of 

 this book, as for some years I have had cataract in 

 both eyes, so that it was not without difficulty that 

 I could read or write. So great, however, appeared 

 to be the need, and being still anxious to serve my 

 generation, I determined to undertake this work in 



order to expose the fallacies of modern astronomy." 

 It is hardly necessary to tell our readers that the 

 author's object is to prove that the earth is flat. 



First Aid to the Injured. By H. Drinkwater, 

 M.B. 104 pp , 6 in. x 4 in. Illustrated by 71 figures 

 and a frontispiece. (London : J. M. Dent & Co. 

 1901.) Is. net. 



This publication will be of value to those who 

 are brought in contact with accidents without 

 having received medical training, and which of us 

 may not be so placed ? Illustrated instructions 

 are given showing what may be done on emergency 

 as first aid while waiting for skilled attendance. 

 The price of this little book is so small that it 

 should be in every household. 



Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washing- 

 ton. Vol. XIII. xxvi + 507 pp., 9J in. x 6 in. 

 With maps. (Washington, D.C. 1900.) 



This bulletin extends over the years 1895-1899. 

 It contains a variety of subjects, ranging from the 

 Central American Rainfall, Gravity, Measurements 

 and Determinations, New Cloud Classifications, 

 Steel Cylinders for Gun Construction, Latitude- 

 Variation Tide, Alaska as It Was and Is, Graphic 

 Reduction of Star Places, Chemistry in the United 

 States, Recent Progress in Geodesy, and other 

 subjects. 



Our Country's Shells. By W. J. Gordon, viii + 

 152 pp., 7f in. x 5| in. With 33 coloured plates and 

 other plain illustrations. (London : Simpkin, 

 Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Limited. 1901.) 6s. 



Mr. Gordon's other works on Natural History 

 have been noticed in these pages, this, on shells 

 and how to know them, being uniform with his 

 other books upon flowers, birds, and butterflies and 

 moths. It is quite a beginner's, and contains a 

 sketchy account of British land and marine niol- 

 lusca, but will, we hope, entice people to take a 

 more scientific interest in the subject. 



Earth, 's Atmosphere. By Dr. Thomas Lamb 

 Phipson. x + 194 pp., 7-5- in. x 4£ in. (London : 

 Charles Griffin & Co. 1901.) 2s. 6d. 



The object of the writer is to bring before the 

 public in a condensed form the results of the 

 latest discoveries connected with the atmosphere 

 of the earth, the physical and chemical properties of 

 the air, and its geological history as far as it can be 

 traced. He also devotes some pages to the deduc- 

 tions to be drawn from these facts from the 

 medical point of view. As he points' out, it is very 

 necessary for a physician to have a knowledge of 

 the laws of climatology to guide him in the choice 

 of residence for invalids, and also to assist him in 

 the prevention of disease by detecting impure, 

 noxious air and using remedies to make it whole- 

 some. He commences with a chapter on the 

 earth's atmosphere in remote geological periods, 

 which, he points out, has varied in successive ages as 

 much as the flora and fauna. If this had not been 

 so, it would have been impossible for the fossil 

 flora and fauna to have existed, or for the rocks 

 to have been formed. For instance, such com- 

 bustible substances as iron pyrites, copper pyrites, 

 graphite, etc., found in primitive rocks, prove that, 

 at the time of formation, no free oxygen could 

 have been present in the atmosphere. Space 

 does not permit of a detailed account of each of 

 the points investigated by the author. It is a 

 work well worth reading, and will be of special 

 value to physicians and general practitioners. 



