SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



Photography for Naturalists. By Douglas 

 English, viii+182 pp., 9| in. x 8 in., with 56 

 illustrations. (London : Iliffe & Sons, Limited. 

 1901.) 5s. net. 



The author of this book strongly advocates photo- 

 graphy as an illustrator in scientific works, rather 

 than the art of the draughtsman. In a descriptive 

 treatise on certain objects of Nature such as he 

 portrays, where the illustrations are made in the 

 open country, he abundantly proves his case. The 

 primary object of Mr. English appears to be the 

 cultivation of the art of photography to aid 

 naturalists in making observations. He therefore 

 gives a series of instructions which will be helpful. 

 In addition to the chief illustrations of the work 

 there are diagrams showing the position of the 

 camera and other arrangements to attain successful 



voluminous title that the book before us is equally 

 verbose. As a matter of fact, the volume errs, if in 

 anything, in the parts that are really interesting 

 to the general reader, in its excessive conciseness. 

 There is seldom more than from half a page to a page 

 and a half devoted to the progress of any of the years. 

 This will be understood when we mention that 

 the first 144 pages out of the 248 constituting the 

 book are devoted to the printing of the charter, 

 bye-laws, list of Fellows, members, and the per- 

 manent staff at the end of 1900. The remainder 

 of the volume possesses more than general interest 

 to the reader, and one can only wish that the 

 committee had seen its way to greatly enlarge this 

 section of the volume. To those zoologists who read 

 the pages before us, it will be disappointing to flncl 

 so little indicating what might be called the early 



Sticklebacks. 

 (From " Photogra2)hy for Naturalists") 



photography. As a rule the instances illustrating 

 the author's own work are good. We present to 

 our readers, by permission of the publishers, one of 

 an aquarium with sticklebacks. Mr. English's 

 photographs of fish are successful, as indeed is the 

 rest of his book, which is handsomely illustrated : 

 an interesting addition being some plates represent- 

 ing the haunts of British fauna. This Avork should 

 give an impetus to the wider use of photography 

 among field naturalists. 



Progress of the Zoological Society of London. 

 Edited by the Secretary. vi + 248 pp., 8| in. 

 x 5^- in., illustrated with plans. (London : The 

 Society. 1901.) 



From the preface we learn that the Council 

 determined at the close of the last century to elect 

 a sub-committee of the Publication Committee, 

 with the object of preparing an official statement 

 regarding the Society's past. This committee — con- 

 sisting of Professor G. B. Howes, F.E.S., Dr. A. 

 Smith "Woodward, F.B.S., the Secretary, and the 

 Vice-Secretary — have issued their Keport, which is 

 entitled " A Record of the Progress of the Zoo- 

 logical Society of London during the Nineteenth 

 Century," with a copy of which we have been 

 favoured. It must not be thought from this 



history and struggles of those enthusiasts [who 

 founded what has now become such an important 

 institution. Perhaps this may be accounted for by 

 reference to a paragraph in the preface signed by 

 Mr. P. Gr. Sclater, the Secretary. Therein he states 

 that Mr. Henry Scherren has been engaged in making 

 researches on the early history of the Society, from 

 which, it appears, the extracts have been taken that 

 in the volume before us are entitled " A Short 

 History of the Zoological Society of London." It 

 may be that the committee who had charge of 

 the matter felt they should not prejudice a future 

 publication founded on Mr. Scherren's labours. 

 Be that as it may, the result before us is dis- 

 appointing in its brevity. Still, there is much of 

 great interest in this story of the Zoo, and some 

 sentences that are amusing. For instance, we find 

 in 1826 that " a Wancleroo monkey snatched the 

 wig from the head of a bishop and put it on his 

 own." We note that Dr. Sclater has been secretary 

 to the Society since the annual meeting in 1859. 



Vse-Inheritance. By Walter Kidd, M.D., 

 F.Z.S. 47 pp., 8£ in. x 5| in., with 16 woodcuts. 

 (London : A. & C Black. 1901.) 2s. 6d. net. 



Dr. Kidd has been studying the formation of 

 " Whorls in the Hairy Coats of Mammals " and 



