278 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [16:6— Sept., 1920 



and on the deep sea deposits in the Antarctic would have given him a footing 

 as a geologist for his studies of the ooze of the sea floor introduced that field 

 to geologists. He interested himself in all forms of organic life and found 

 fascinating problems in the floating plankton of both warm and cold oceans. 



He was a member of the famous Ross expedition (as naval surgeon to the 

 ship Erebus) which added so much to the geography of the world. The results 

 of this expedition led him to make the journey to the Himalayas where he 

 proved what he had suspected that the zones of life from base to summit of 

 tropical mountains correspond with the horizontal zones from tropics to poles. 

 His method of study was what is now known as ecological. 



The chapter on Kew, the famous garden with which his name as well as 

 that of his distinguished father is forever associated is especially interesting. 

 This great botanical garden, at first the mere appanage of a royal residence 

 and containing only about 18 acres, has been extended till now it includes 

 some 650 acres, with an herbarium building, museums, and conservatories, 

 while the staff is above one hundred men. 



To enumerate a few ofhis long list of honors, Sir Joseph Hooker succeeded 

 his father as Director of Kew in 1865. He received in 1873 the highest honors 

 in the gift of Great Britain in science when he was made president of the Royal 

 Society, received the Royal Medal (1854), the Copley Medal (1887) the Darwin 

 Medal (1892). 



He died on December 11, 1911, at the age of 94, "full of years and honors" 

 and was buried beside his father at Kew. 



The value of this brief biography is enhanced by a page of dates relating to 

 his official and scientific life, a list of portraits, and a bibliography. A portrait 

 faces the title page. 



M. E. H. 



Memories of the Months, Sixth Series. By Sir Herbert Maxwell. Published 

 by Edward Arnold, London. Longmans-Green and Co. Price, $3.75 

 net. 



As the title suggests, there are twelve divisions of the book, corresponding 

 to the number of months of the year. The author states in the preface that 

 the book is in the form of notes bearing upon a variety of phenomena and inci- 

 dents dealing, for the most part, with out-of-door life. There is an occasional 

 article not concerned with nature, however, such as "The Art of Blazon," in 

 which Sir Herbert discourses at some length about heraldry. 



Under the heading of each month are three or four short sketches chosen 

 apparently at random with no possible connection save that of the time of 

 year. In the month of April, for instance, Sir Herbert begins with a description 

 of a thrush's nest and proceeds from that to write of the, in his opinion, laud- 

 able tendency to return to informal gardens in England, and then passes 

 abruptly to a discussion of the clan of herbs known as Cross-bearers. 



The book contains interesting bits of information about a variety of sub- 

 jects, such as pheasants, lilies, the food of otters, and animal intelligence. 

 There are delightful bits of quiet humor and there is a refreshing originality 

 in the author's treatment of the subjects which should make the book appeal 

 not only to the student of nature but to the average man who is a lover of 

 nature. 





