Some New Books. 
27 
unknown to English-speaking people. Besides being an able writer, he 
is a thorough naturalist, and by the aid of reproductions of an enormous 
number of photographs, and an excellent map, he gives an insight into 
the history of the various animals from man down to insects, met with 
in his travels'. Not only is the book a charming narrative of travels in 
‘ darkest ’ Africa, but the number of mammals, birds, butterflies and 
moths new to science, as a result of the author’s researches, is proof of 
his qualifications as a naturalist. We 'have read his book with very 
great pleasure and profit. d 
Sporting Trips in Europe and Algeria : A Record of Sport in the 
Alps, Pyrenees, Norway, Sweden, Corsica and Algeria, by Hugh P. 
High ton (London : Witherby & Co., 237 pp., 16/-). The title of this 
book well describes its scope. The publisher informs us that : — ‘ This 
record furnishes the sportsman with an exceedingly useful, amateur 
guide in his choice of easily reached terrain for game unobtainable at 
home. It also gives the student of nature with a penchant for out-of- 
the-way places a fasincating succession of pictures of the natives/their 
surroundings and sporting methods.’ There are several reproductions 
from photographs, though, unfortunately, the frontispiece, called ‘ Suc- 
cess : a burden of thirty-five kilos,’ which is probably meant to be the 
author with a good ‘ bag ’ of game, seems to us to represent a woodman 
bringing home his faggots ! And surely the gentleman sat down, on the 
plate facing page 77, has legs about six feet in length ! If the camera 
so distorts mere man, how may we rely upon it for the photographs of 
the records of ‘ big game ’ which the book contains ? Many of us have 
spent pleasant and unpleasant Sundays. But the author once ‘ left for 
Botten in the morning, and enjoyed a really delightful sunny drive 
beside lake and river ; a warm air above, and the cool splash of sparkling 
water singing sweet music to the ear. What better Sabbath service than 
this? ’ The answer is : ‘ Ask a clergyman ! ’ Yet we like the book. 
The Evolution of Civilization, by Joseph McCabe (Watts & Co., 
120 pp., 3/6). If for nothing else, we must admire Mr. McCabe for his 
industry in the cause of truth. We must also thank Messrs. Watts & 
Co., for the way in which they popularise books bearing upon truth. 
In the present .volume, the author deals with A Million Years of Child- 
hood, Ancient Crete, Old Egypt, Babylon, the Hebrews, The Splendour 
of Greece, the Vices and Virtues of Rome, The New Era. The book 
is cheap and' good, which, we believe, is the aim of Messrs. Watts. 
Wanderings of a Naturalist, by Seton Gordon (Cassell & Co., 
220 pp., 1 5/-). Readers of Country Life and other journals are familiar 
with the work of Mr. Seton Gordon, and The' Scotsman, The Times and 
other papers have also published articles from his pen, many being 
reprinted in the present work, which is principally devoted to the Scottish 
Highlands and their avifauna ; but the coasts of Ireland and Northum- 
berland are touched upon as well as the Pyrenees. The book is in Mr. 
Gordon’s familiar style, contains 44 chapters, and is illustrated by 78 
reproductions from photographs — principally excellent, and dealing with 
various aspects of 'bird life . 
Animal Ingenuity of To-day, by C. A. Ealand (Seeley Service 
Sc Co., 313 pp., 8/6). The sub-title of this work perhaps best defines its 
scope : — ‘ A description of the skill, clever devices and stratagems of 
birds, reptiles, insects and other forms of animal life ; their means of 
subsistence and protection.’ The volume, which is illustrated, contains 
a record of the many extraordinary devices adopted by all classes of 
animals, from the highest to the lowest. Bees, wasps and ants, of course, 
occupy a prominent position in the work, but the author has succeeded 
m gathering together much of great scientific interest, and frequently 
cf an unusual and unexpected nature. The book is pleasantly written . 
1922 Jan. 1 
