BOOK EEVIEWS. 



589 



with the influence of the forest on man and his affairs. All are well 

 written, and each gives an interesting and readable account of the 

 matter of which it deals. 



" Nerv'&tion of Plants." By F. G. Heath. 8vo. vii + 187 pp. 

 (Wilhams & Norgate, London, 1912.) 3s. 6cl. net. 



" This book is written more from the nature than the scientific 

 point of view," the author says, but he hopes " it will . . . interest 

 purely scientific readers." We fear he will be disappointed in 

 his hope, and that the book will rather tend to irritate than interest 

 the " purely scientific reader," unless his forte be psychology. One 

 thing is, however, abundantly clear — that it must have given intense 

 pleasure to the author to write the book. We must not criticize too 

 severely, but we wish he had been able to see more of order and less 

 of mystery in the way plants work. He might have written less of 

 belief and more of those hardly- wrung facts which have been wrested 

 by painstaking research into Nature's ways; he might have used 

 terms such as " breathing " and " chlorophyll " in a more accurate 

 manner. " Diastase," we see, is printed " diastaste " both in the text 

 and in the index. Shorter sentences would frequently have made the 

 meaning less " mysterious " and the book easier to read — we have just 

 counted over 120 words in one sentence on p. 104. 



"Wild Flowers as they grow." By H. Essenhigh Corke and 

 G. CNuttall. Fourth Series. 8vo. viii + 200 pp. (Cassell, London, 

 1912.) 5s. net. 



We have noticed the earlier series of these coloui* studies of wild 

 plants with their descriptive letterpress as they have appeared. The 

 present maintains the standard both in illustrations and text reached 

 by the earlier ones, and such familiar plants as Blackthorn, Guelder 

 Eose, Water Lily, and Stonecrop are dealt with, there being twenty- 

 five coloured plates in all. 



''The Circhng Year." By W. P. Westell. 8vo. viii + 334 pp. 

 (Nelson, London, 1912.) 6s. net. 



If one desired a book on Nature in the country as a present for a 

 child he might seek far and find none so sure to please as this. The 

 text is interesting, and deals with just those things most likely to be 

 met with in country rambles the year through. The illustrations in 

 colour are striking and accurate, and the little pen drawings helpful 

 in identifying ' ' finds . " 



"Farm, Garden, and Birds." 8vo. 67 pp. (Eoyal Society for 

 the Protection of Birds, London, 1912.) Paper covers, Is. 



Two prize essays dealing with the protection of crops from birds 

 without killing them, and numerous supplementary notes on the same 

 subject, ar^ contained in this little pamphlet. To anyone interested 

 in birds — and they compel the interest of all gardeners — a perusal of 

 its pages will be of great service. 



