SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



1/9 



BOOKSTOKEgDlKi 



Niilli l.-> IIV JullN I. LAKKINlilO.N. 



Man Past and Preset!/. By A. H. Keane, F.R.G.S. 

 xii. 4- 5S4 l>|)- S in. X si in., wilh 12 plates and 

 other illustrations. (Cambridge : The University 

 I'rcss, 1S99. ) I2S. 



This boiil; is one of the Cambridge Geographical 

 Series, and is really a continuation of the work by 

 the same author in that series upon Ethnology. The 

 two preliminary chapters of the work liefore us, indeed, 

 form a kind of link between the two volumes dealing 

 with the cradle, origin, and migrations of the Pleis- 

 tocene precursor, also with the Stone and Metal ages, 

 and further evolution of the human races. The 

 next three chapters deal with the negroes. Then 

 four discuss the .Mongols, a couple more the .\merican 

 aborigines, and the last three the Caucasic peoples. 

 The plates consist of groups of photographic portraits 

 of typical individuals selected from the various races 

 described. The book is well arranged, concise, and, 

 read in conjunction with the author's previous work 

 on Kthnology, is instructive and highly educational. 



Cnriosi/ies of Light and Sis^hl. By SnEl.KORD 

 limwELi., M.A., LL.H., F.K.S. xii. + 226 pp., 

 7.i(in. X 5jin., 50 illustrations. (London: Swan 

 Sonncr.schein and Co., Ltd., 1899.) 2s. 6d. 



This book provides some delightful reading both to 

 the layman and also to the scientific mind. Based 

 upon some unconnected lectures at different institu- 

 tions, the matter has been enlarged and re-arranged 

 so as to make the points treated, form a more 

 continuous- sei|uence. Although writing in a dis- 

 tinctly popular style, Mr. Bidwell has brought in 

 many matters of strictly modern scientific importance. 

 In fact at the end of each chapter we find we have 

 not been reading some text book matters popularised, 

 but that we have been grasping, in an e.tsy manner, 

 the wave theor\- of light, or the theory of colour, or 

 some other far reaching principle. Many curious 

 phenomena are also introduced that one does not find 

 in general reading and these give a decided freshness 

 to the book. The analogies used to illustrate some 

 points are simple, but very eft'ective. C)ur eyes are 

 shown by man\- examples to be far from perfect when 

 considered as optical instruments, and several of the 

 experiinents illustrating these defects, and also some 

 optical illusions, are quite simple and can be carried 

 out by any interested reader, with very little apparatus 

 at command. This also applies to the chapter on 

 curiosities of vision and the lecturer on colour and 

 vision will find some very useful experimental 

 information. The book is printed upon good paper 

 and in large type for comfortaljle reading. 



The Piociss Year Book for rSgg. Edited by 

 Wit.LiAM Gamble, viii. -1- 108 pp., loin. x 7in.', 

 with frontispiece and 76 illustrations. (London : 

 Penrose and Co., 1899). 3s. 6d. 



This is one of the most beautiful examples of 

 modern printing and illustration we have yet seen. 

 The plates, plain and other blocks, are perfect 

 examples of process reproduction and printing. It is 

 hard to choose which one chiefly admires. Perhaps a 



stucly after Gainsborough is the most cfl'ectivf. The 

 frontispiece is a splendid example of printing, and a 

 fine portrait of Lord Kitchener, it is (K-rfeclly life- 

 like. The progress of three-colour priming is liberally 

 shown in some good pictures. The articles are varied, 

 and some are by writers of authority. 



Missouri Holani,al Garden. Tenth Annual Re- 

 port, edited by I'Ror. Wii.i.iAM Tkei.ease. 21 1 pp., 

 Qiin. X 6iin., illustrated with sixty-one plates. (St. 

 Louis, .Mo. : .At the Gardens, 1899.) 



The chief scientific pajK-r in this volume is devoted 

 to a critical examination by F. Lambion-Scribner, of 

 the grasses in the Bernhardi Herbarium, collected by 

 Thaddeus Haenke and described by J. S. I'resl. 

 This article is illustrated by fifty-four plates of grasses, 

 cleverly drawn in outline. It will be found a 

 useful monograph to students of the order, as 

 the species cover a considerable geographical 

 range, including North and South .-America and some 

 Pacific islands. .-Vnother paper is upon a " Sclerotoid 

 Disease of Beech Roots,'' by Hermann von Schrenk, 

 which is also illustrated by two plates and a diagram. 

 A biographical sketch, with portrait, is given of the 

 late Edward Lewis Sturtevant, who has beipieathed 

 his extensive library of prelinncan works to the Mis- 

 souri Botanical Garden. It is said to be the most 

 perfect collection of that class of books in existence, 

 and contains many great rarities. Dr. Sturtevant, 

 though graduating for the medical profession, never 

 practised but devoted his whole attention to scientific 

 agricultural work. A considerable bibliography of 

 his literary efforts is given, including many books and 

 papers of value to agriculturists. 



Our Insect Friends and Foes. Bv Bei.i.e S. CraiUN, 

 .V.M. xix. + 377 pp., Sin.Xjiin., with 255 illustra- 

 tions. (London and Xew York : G. P. Putnams 

 Sons, 1899.) 7s. 6d. 



The preface of this work commences with the 

 wor:ls " A boy of eleven once asked me," and this 

 book is evidently intended as an ans\yer to his 

 question. It is most elementary, but still will be 

 useful for school work as at any rate it will enable the 

 scholars to distinguish the orders of insects. It is, 

 however, a great pity, that while expending so much 

 mone_\- on the numerous illustrations, care was not 

 taken to have them drawn by someone who under- 

 stood what was required. They appear, indeed, to 

 have been executed by a similar kind of artist to those 

 who supply impossible species for Christmas cards, 

 and it .seems to be of little consequence in some 

 instances in various Lepidoptera, « hether the anterior 

 or the posterior pairs of wings are the larger. Many 

 of the figures are absolutely wrongly drawn. Take 

 for instance the illusiiations on pages 97, 95, 126, etc. 

 It is unfortunate what might have been a useful book 

 has been so disfigured. 



Handhook of British Breeding Birds. By \V. 

 Percival Westell. iSS pp., sAin. X44in., illustiated. 

 (London: Henry J. Drane, n.d. ) 6d. 



The first point about this book that meets one's 

 notice is a ten-line preface by the late W. E. Glad- 

 stone, chiefly regretting that it could not be longer on 

 account of the state of his health and numerous 

 engagements. There are also two introductions, one 

 by Claude St. John and the other by the author. 

 The illustrations are very crude and often useless. 

 For instance that on page 58. Others are better, but 

 do not appear to have been drawn for this work. 

 There is little to s.ay of the letterpress which is largely 

 tabular. 



Note. — Notices of a number of books unavoidably 

 stand over through pressure on our space. 



