﻿196 Canadian Hccord of Science. 



only in the text, but in the questions (p. 48. " Is force ever the real 

 cause of any effect ? Why not ? What is the cause ?") the writer 

 finds himself compelled to announce in a footnote (p. 76) that for 

 convenience he will in future employ the word in its usual sense, not 

 before he has done so many times unconsciously in the interval. 



We have only to add that the diagram of the Astronomical 

 Telescope (p. 3i)5) would be clearer if the whole pencil from one end of 

 the arrow had been traced, instead of one ray from each end. 

 Nothing can be learned from it as it stands, while it may easily 

 encourage a familiar misapprehension. On p. 364 no hint is given that 

 the length of the rhomb of calcite must bear a certain proportion to its 

 breadth if it is to be cut as directed in constructing a Nicol Prism. 



Some very recent additions to our knowledge are included in the 

 book (e.f/. , Mr, Woodward's ingenious way of representing a sound- 

 wave), but we should have been glad to see some notice of Dr. Lodge's 

 work on Lightning Conductors, since they are spoken of. Gleams of 

 humor are not wanting, especially in the questions: eg., "Wild 

 pigeons have been shot in tlie latitude of Albany, N.Y., with Carolina 

 rice in their crops. About what must have been the velocity of their 

 flight ? (Apply scale to your map of the United States)" (p. 27). The 

 height of the Washington Monument is assumed known (p. 101.) 

 Other traces of nationality will be observed by the foreign reader. 



John Cox. 



The Birds of Montreal. — By Ernest D. Wintle, Montreal. W. 

 Drysdale & Co. Price, |1.50. 



This book is a welcome and valuable addition to the literature of the 

 Natural History of Montreal and the surrounding district. We must 

 congratulate Mr. Wintle on the completion of his task which, he tells 

 us in his preface, has occupied him for fifteen years. This volume 

 supplies a long felt want, and its issue Avill, there can be little doubt, 

 give an immediate impulse to the study of Ornithology, especially 

 among young men. It will be a guide to the sportsman, as well as a 

 hand-book for the scientist. There is no more fascinating recreation 

 than gunning for game ; and it is as health-giving as it is delightful . 

 The author and his collaborateurs have had many a tramp through 

 forests and by streams before possessing themselves of such a mass of 

 facts as is packed into this attractive little volume. In reading it, one 

 can fancy he hears the bracing October winds whistling through the 

 reeds, and the whirring of the wings of the partridge startled in the 

 thicket. The middle-aged citizen, who was accustomed to cricket and 

 football in his youth, at least once a year, finds the old longing for out- 

 door activity come upon him with irresistible force, and so he forsakes 

 his desk and goes off, with rod and gun, into the northern wilds and is 

 a boy again, for a week or two. Thus he renews his energies and keeps 



