54 
NATURE NOTES. 
Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries 
visited during the Voyage of H.M.S. “Beagle” round the IVorld, by Charles 
Darwin, M.A., F.R.S. T. Nelson & Sons. [Price 4s.] 
There can be no better book to put into the hand of a boy with a taste for 
natural history, than Darwin’s Voyage of the ‘ ‘ Beagle , ” and it would be hard to find 
a better edition than that published by Nelson & Sons. It is a handsome book, 
well printed, and well illustrated with pictures which are not merely introduced 
because the publisher happens to have the blocks in hand, but which really 
assist the reader to understand his author. It is superfluous to praise the 
book itself. We sincerely hope the Duke of Argyle is wrong when he says, 
“ Celebrated as was this book once, few probably read it now,” but we are in full 
agreement with his grace when he adds, “If we are ever inclined to rest our 
opinion upon authority, and to accept without doubt what a remarkable man has 
taught, I do not know any work better calculated to inspire confidence than 
Darwin’s Journal 
JVanderings in South Africa , by Charles Waterton. T. Nelson & Sons, 1891. 
[Price 4s.] 
This well-known volume is published uniformly with that just mentioned, and 
is in many ways deserving of equal praise. It is a great advantage to have prefixed 
the very interesting and humorous review by Sidney Smith, one of the finest 
examples of its witty writer’s skill. Waterton’s instructions for preserving birds 
for cabinets of natural history are appended : they conclude with a passage which 
show plainly how true a Selbornian in spirit was this eminent naturalist. “ Should 
these instructions tempt you to shoot the pretty songster warbling near your door, 
or destroy the mother as she is sitting on the nest to warm her little ones, or kill 
the father as he is bringing a mouthful of food for their support, oh ! then, deep 
indeed will be the regret that I ever wrote them.” 
The Humanity aeries of School Boohs, edited by the Rev. F. O. Morris, B.A. 
Dedicated to the Right Hon. Lord Selborne. S. \V. Partridge & Co. [6 vols. 
Price 6d., 8d., iod., is., is. 3d., is. 6d. ] 
These school books are so well known and have received such high commend- 
ation from national schoolmasters, Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools, and the 
general public, that it does not seem necessary to do more than remind our readers 
that they are still on sale, and that they are just as suitable for private reading as 
for use in schools. We feel sure that a very large amount of good has been done 
by Mr. Morris’s publications. It may be humiliating, but it- is an indisputable 
fact that, either irom ignorance or from malice, a large number of children are 
naturally cruel ; and those parents and teachers who are content to cram their 
charges with science and “ accomplishments,” without inculcating the principles of 
humanity, very shamefully neglect their duty. 
The Humane Educator and Reciter, compiled by Florence Iloratia Suckling. 
Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. [Price 3s. 6d.] 
Mrs. Suckling is known to many of our readers as an indefatigable worker in 
the cause of humanity and kindness. We much fear that her generosity has 
caused her in the present instance to undertake an enterprise which can hardly 
prove a commercial success. Her “ Humane Educator” is a large and handsome 
volume of between 500 and 600 pages, and the price is unusually low. We hope 
that those Bands of Mercy for whom she has done so much will do all in their 
power to secure so wide a circulation for her book that its sale, even if not re- 
munerative, may at any rate not be attended with personal loss to the compiler. , 
The first 350 pages of the work are taken up with an anthology from English 
poets who deal with the lower animals and the duties of mankind towards them. 
The way in which the selection has been made reflects high praise on the taste 
and judgment of the selector, who must have read widely in order to carry out 
her purpose, and must have noted carefully all that appeared in the periodicals 
bearing on her subject. For this portion of the book we have nothing but praise ; 
it is worth much more than the price charged for the whole volume. 
The “ Fragments from Authors” which fill the concluding pages, comprise 
