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SOME NEW BOOKS. 
Notwithstanding the high cost of paper and printing, quite large 
numbers of books appear — some of them being scientific, others ‘ popular,' 
some both, some neither. Still, they come. 
Some Birds of the Countryside : the Art of Nature, by H. JL 
Massingham (T. Fisher Unwin, 208 pp., 12/6). Much of this volume 
has already appeared in the Contemporary Review, Athenceum and other 
well-known journals, which is some index to the nature of the stories, 
which deal with the coast of South Wales, The Flats (Norfolk), A City 
of Birds, Gilbert White and Selborne, Bird Haunted London, A Dorset 
Diary, A Village in Hampshire, and Charles Waterton, the last a well 
known Yorkshire squire and naturalist. This chapter will appeal 
particularly to readers of The Naturalist. The volume is dedicated 
‘ To ,' which would be equally appropriate to quite a number of 
lady friends ! 
From the same house has been issued a similar volume, entitled 
Dogs, Birds and Others : Natural History Letters from The Spectator, 
chosen by the author of the preceding volume (198 pp., 8/6). In this 
he gathers together a quitd remarkable series of stories relating to the 
sagacity of dogs, and gives scientific explanations of their achievements, 
some being truly astonishing. Similarly, the pages of The Spectator 
have provided quite a wealth of material dealing with various aspects 
of bird life, and among the many chapters we notice ‘ Birds and the 
Arts — Illustrated in their Music, Dancing, Painting, Architecture, 
Drama and Flight, together with some Critical Appreciations.’ There 
is also An Anthology of Animal Notables, Squirrel Memoirs, and Captive 
Animals. All are admirable and devoid of ‘ piffle.’ 
Life of Alfred Newton, by A. F. R. Wollaston, London : John 
Murray (322 pp., 18/- net). Many others besides ornithologists will be 
interested in this excellent narrative of a great man’s great work. It is 
a charming story, and is well worth perusal, a fact patent from the fact 
that Mr. Murray is the publisher. There is an admirable Preface by 
another veteran, Sir Archibald Geikie, from which we learn that : ‘ The 
subject of this volume, a man of strongly -marked personality, was for 
more than half a century a leader among the naturalists of this country, 
a distinguished Professor in the University of Cambridge, a prolific and 
accomplished writer, and a charming companion, whose geniality, 
humour, and innocent little whimsicalities drew around him a wide 
circle of Triends. All who knew Alfred Newton will be glad that Mr. 
Wollaston, one of his pupils, should have put together this appreciative 
memoir. In so doing he has been fortunate in having had access to so 
large a number of the Professor’s letters and journals as to give the 
chapters not a little of the character of an autobiography.’ 
The Wit of the Wild, by E. Ingersoll, London : G. Routledge 
•& Son, 212 pp., 6/- net. This is of the ‘ popular ’ variety, and deals 
with ‘ The Way of the Weasel,’ ‘ The Squirrel’s Thrift,’ ‘ Animals that 
Advertise,’ ‘Do Animals Commit Suicide,’ and so on. There are 
plates ’- — some from poor and worn blocks. 
We have long admired Prof. G. H. Carpenter’s work in connexion 
with The Irish Naturalist and other publications ; he is a very busy 
man, and has many duties, official and otherwise. But notwithstanding 
this, he occupies his ‘ spare ’ time in scientific research, one result of 
which is a valuable volume on Insect Transformation (Methuen & 
Co., 282 pp., 12/6), which in many ways is reminiscent of Miall’s Aquatic 
Insects, to which work the author is admittedly indebted. With the 
aid of over 280 sketches and some plates, he expounds his well- 
digested views on the form, growth and change of insects, the open type 
1922 Jan. 1 
