Geology and Natural History. 285 



stories of his discoveries of the insects' domestic life have been 

 translated from the French, published as attractive books, and 

 have gained a wide popularity. Today he is everywhere recog- 

 nized as both a naturalist and a poet. 



The story of the life of this remarkable man reveals many 

 years of adversity, of struggle against poverty, of rebuffs on all 

 sides due to a complete lack of appreciation of his work, but it 

 also shows a long life of entire devotion to his chosen field of 

 study. It is a joy to feel that Fabre has lived to the age of more 

 than ninety years, and has at the last received the homage that 

 the world has given so tardily. 



The book in hand is more than a mere biography, for the 

 writer discusses the importance of Fabre's contributions to animal 

 psychology and their relation to the generally accepted biological 

 theories. A summary of Fabre's conclusions as to the meaning 

 of color patterns, of structural peculiarities, of characteristic 

 behavior, and of the marvelously complex instincts of the 

 various groups of insects, shows the need of a re-examination of 

 the factors thought to be concerned in the process of evolution. 



w. r. c. 



10. Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Science, Philip- 

 pine Islands ; by Alvin J. Cox. Pp. 83, with 72 plates. Manila, 

 1913 (Bureau of Printing). — The report consists of a concise 

 statement of the work accomplished during the year in the 

 various sciences and industries with which the Bureau is con- 

 cerned. The investigations in hand and completed are briefly 

 described and are illustrated by excellent plates. The full reports 

 of these investigations are printed in the special publications of 

 the Bureau. w. e. c. 



11. Diseases of Tropical Plants ; by Melville T. Cook. Pp. 

 xi, 31*7 ; with 85 figures. London, 1913 (Macmillan & Co.). — For 

 very evident reasons, phytopathological research in the tropics is 

 as yet undeveloped compared with the recent advances of vege- 

 table pathology in the temperate zones. To quote from Dr. 

 Cook, " The literature is very much scattered, frequently popular, 

 without even a scientific reference to make the identity of the 

 disease possible, sometimes technical, and with little data as to 

 the economic importance of the disease nnder consideration, and 

 often unreliable." Chiefly, for this reason, a work of this char- 

 acter is of value, since it contains the most important facts thus 

 far known relating to the common diseases of tropical plants, and 

 furnishes a ground work for future investigation along this line. 



After introductory chapters on the structure and functions of 

 plants, the classification of fungi, and the causes of plant dis- 

 eases, such plants as the following are taken up, and the principal 

 diseases from which they suffer are described : sugar cane, corn, 

 rice, cotton, citrus fruits, pineapple, banana, fig, guava, olive, 

 tobacco, coffee, tea, cacao, rubber and cocoanut. The destructive 

 diseases are added of certain plants which are grown in the 

 tropics as well as in the temj>erate zones, e. g. potato, tomato, 



