Reviews and Book Notices. 



463 



The source of the information, however, is acknowledged, as well as is 

 the source of most of the information in the volume. In this connection, 

 a little care may have been exercised in the spelling of the author's names. 

 As usual, the author modestly informs his readers that he has ' endeavoured 

 to deal in a bright, entertaining, and accurate manner with the creatures 

 whose absorbing biographies are here inider consideration.' The title 

 page informs us also that :\Ir. Westell is an ' Exhibitor before the Royal 

 Society.' ' The Story of the Sea and Shore ' is well illustrated, and will 

 make a useful prize-book for elder boys and girls. 



We have received volume I. of ' The Book of Nature Study,' which 

 bids fair to be the. book of nature study. The work is to be completed in 

 six volumes, at 7/6 net each. (London, The Caxton Publishing Co.). It 

 is under the general editorship of Dr. J. B. Farmer, F.R.S., and from the 

 following list of contributors, it will be seen that the editor is supported 

 bv an excellent staff : — Prof. J. A. Thomson, Mr. W\ P. Pycraft, Prof. W. 

 W. Watts, Dr. W. H. Lang, ^Ir. A. D. Hall, Mr. O. H. Latter, Dr. Ivlarion 

 1. Xewbigin, Miss C. L. Lawrie, Dr. F. Cavers, and Mr. J. G. Hennesey. 

 Dr. Farmer's interest in the nature study movement is well known, 

 and it can- safely be said, judging from the volume before us, that he is 

 carrying out his scheme in the present series on ideal lines. Each of the 

 chapters is a complete essay in itself, and brings together information not 

 usually accessible in a popular form. The following headings of some of 

 the chapters will indicate the original lines upon which this work is being 

 prepared : — ' The Clothing of IMammals ' ; ' The Colouration of Adult 

 Mammals ' ; ' The Colouration of Young ]\Iammals ; ' ' The Essential 

 Characters of Birds ' ; * Seasonal Changes of Plumage ' ; ' The Living 

 Fish ' ; ' The External Characters of Fishes ' ; ' The Life Histories of 

 Fishes,' etc., etc. The volume contains over two hundred pages, and is 

 illustrated by several plates (some coloured), and text figures, as well as 

 by a ' Dissected Model of a Pigeon ' on the inside of the front cover. There 

 is no doubt that ' The Book of Nature Study ' will have a ready sale. A 

 detailed prospectus of the work will be sent on application to the publishers, 

 on mentioning ' The Naturalist.' 



Conditions of Life in the Sea, by James Johnstone, (Cambridge 

 University Press, 332 pp., 9/- net), is one of exceptional merit, and has the 

 further advantage of dealing with a subject which is far too neglected. 

 The author has had considerable practical experience, and has also made 

 himself familiar with the literature on the subject with which he deals. 

 Throughout the work the fullest references to special memoirs are given, 

 in this way greatly adding to its value. The book is professedly a short 

 account of quantitative marine biological research, and as such, appears 

 to be the first attempt of its kind made in this county, though there are 

 treatises in German and other languages. The book is in three portions : — 

 Part I. is rather elementary in treatment, the object being to supply an 

 account of those facts of oceanography which are not likely to be familiar 

 to the reader who is not specially interested in marine biological investiga- 

 tion. Part II. deals with the methods and results of quantitativejmarine 

 biological research ; and Part III. with the general conditions of life in the 

 sea. Mr. Johnstone begins by giving a useful illustrated summary of the 

 modern methods of sounding and dredging, and deals with the life in the 

 sea, and the sea fisheries. There is also a chapter on the oceanography 

 of the north-western ocean. He then refers to the distribution of the 

 plankton, quantitative plankton investigation, a census of the sea, and the 

 productivity of the sea. The third section includes a description of bac- 

 teria in the sea, and the circulation of nitrogen. There are several valuable 

 appendices, not the least useful being the Bibliography. The index is 

 also very full. The volume is well illustrated, and will prove oi great 

 service to the increasing number of students of the l:w?r forms of life 

 occurring a.round our coasts. • . - 



1908 December i. • 



