Notices of new books. 75 



the table, and yet there has been apparently no diminution in 

 the supply, nor has any fresh stock been introduced. 



In this chapter, though many other authorities are quoted, 

 we are surprised to find no mention of one of the latest and best 

 contributions to the literature of the subject, namely, Dr. Brown 

 Goode's paper on the life-history of the Eel, published in the 

 * Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission,' vol. i., 1882, 

 pp. 71 — 124, and containing a useful list of the most important 

 papers concerning the Eel and its reproduction. 



In the chapter on Fresh-water Mollusca, Dr. Hamilton de- 

 scribes some of the species most likely to come under the notice 

 of an angler. He might have added something about the food 

 which they furnish to many aquatic animals, besides fish. The 

 Otter, for example, is very fond of Mussels. The Dipper devours 

 quantities of the Fresh-water Limpet (Ancylus jluviatilis), the 

 Little Grebe may often be seen picking off the thin- shelled 

 Limnea and Physa from the floating leaves of the yellow water- 

 lily (Nuphar lutea), while the fat Trout which our author is so 

 fond of beguiling with his dainty flies may very likely owe much 

 of its good condition to the abundant supply of small mollusca 

 which it is able to find, and greedily swallows. 



The worst feature in Dr. Hamilton's book appears in the 

 illustrations, the majority of which are simply execrable ; being 

 badly drawn, and badly engraved. No " river- side naturalist " 

 ever saw a Coot or a Little Grebe swim on the surface of the 

 water, as depicted on pages 34 and 44, nor a Mallard sitting up 

 like a Guillemot, as on page 47. Weasels and Stoats never show 

 the entire length of their limbs, as displayed on page 10, nor 

 have we ever seen an Otter with such a white face and throat as 

 that depicted on page 6. Many of the figures (as on pp. 55, 84, 

 87, 101, 123, 149, 150, 153, 209, and 295) are quite unlike the 

 species they are intended to represent. Dr. Hamilton, we feel 

 sure, has too good an eye for the beauties of Nature not to be 

 aware of this, but he has been unfortunate in his artists. 

 Several of the cuts (as on pp. 67, 77, 81, 85, 103, 123, 125, 131, 

 and 147) are too large for the page, being actually wider than 

 the type, — a great eye-sore, — and should have been either cut, 

 or vignetted, or, better still, omitted altogether. 



Should a second edition be contemplated, it is to be hoped 

 that these suggestions may receive consideration ; and it would 



