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Notes or a Botanist on the Amazon 

 and Andes. By Richard Spruce. 

 Edited and condensed by Alfred Russel 

 Wallace, with a Biographical Introduc- 

 tion, portraits, 71 illustrations and 7 

 maps. 8vo. Vol. I, pp. 1-518; Vol. II, 

 pp. 1-524. Price, $6.50. 



Richard Spruce sailed from England for 

 Para on June 7, 1849, an d devoted the 

 succeeding fourteen years and ten months 

 to botanical collecting on the Amazon, the 

 Rio Negro, and in Peru and Ecuador. 

 He returned to England broken in health 

 and, through the failure of a commercial 

 house in Guayaquil, with no material gain 

 to show for a decade and a half of arduous 

 labor, exposure and privation; but he 

 established for himself an enviable repu- 

 tation as a careful, energetic and fearless 

 explorer in the world of plants. Compara- 

 tively little of the contents of the two 

 volumes which recount his experiences in 

 South America was left by him in final 

 shape for publication, but his publishers 

 have been exceedingly fortunate in secur- 

 ing as the editor of Spruce's notes, Alfred 

 Russel Wallace. Not only was Spruce a 

 personal friend of Wallace, but Wallace's 

 own classic explorations in Amazonia were 

 made just prior to Spruce's arrival in that 

 region. Wallace, therefore, is admirably 

 fitted to handle sympathetically Spruce's 

 manuscript and correspondence, selecting 

 those portions which best deserve preser- 

 vation, and adding annotations which 

 greatly increase their value. The two 

 volumes resulting, published by Mac- 

 millan & Co., in London, 1908, have re- 

 cently been imported by the New York 

 house of this name and are, therefore, 

 now readily accessible to American 

 readers. 



While Spruce has comparatively little 

 to say about birds, this record of his con- 

 tact with nature primeval cannot fail to 

 interest every lover of nature, nor to make 

 its strong appeal to those who admire 

 courageous, uncomplaining persistence, 

 toward whatever end it be directed. 



Furthermore, the book contains a large 

 amount of information concerning the 

 country, of means of transportation and 

 subsistence, which is still of value. It is 

 illustrated with reproductions of Spruce's 

 sketches, photographs, and several ex- 

 cellent maps. — F. M. C. 



Our Vanishing Wild Lire, Its Exter- 

 mination and Preservation. By Dr. 

 William T. Hornaday, Director of 

 the New York Zoological Society. Pub- 

 lished by the New York Zoological 

 Society and sold by Charles Scribner's 

 Sons, $1.50. Illustrated. 



This is the first attempt which has been 

 made in this country to treat in extended 

 popular style the subject of the passing 

 of the wild bird and animal life, as a result 

 of the selfish activities of mankind. Doctor 

 Hornaday, as a naturalist and a big-game 

 hunter of extended experience, has here 

 brought together a large array of facts 

 gathered during his many years of observa- 

 tion. He has also drawn freely from vari- 

 ous bulletins of the United States Biologi- 

 cal Survey, reports of State Game Commis- 

 sions and publications of the National 

 Association of Audubon Societies. From 

 all these sources he has culled his material 

 and prepared an illustrated volume of 

 411 pages, the majority of which make 

 as interesting reading as is to be found in 

 the best novel, and infinitely more in- 

 structive. 



The author deals with the former abun- 

 dance of wild life in this and other coun- 

 tries, and traces, by stages, its disappear- 

 ance. He also outlines methods by which 

 bird-slaughter may be stopped, and gives 

 many examples of the good results accom- 

 plished in efforts at bird-protection. The 

 language used is, at times, exceedingly 

 vigorous and, while there may be those 

 who will not agree with all he says, or 

 approve of just the way in which he says 

 it, no one can fail to recognize the forceful 

 message which the book carries. 



The volume is dedicated to "William 



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