38 
NATURE NOTES 
presents all the attractiveness of an as yet unexhausted field ; and that the authors 
and others have provided us with introductory manuals at once accurate, pleasantly 
written and inexpensive. 
The New Gulliver or Travels in Athomia. By C. T. Druery, F. L.S. Pub- 
lished by the author, 1 1 , Shaa Road, Acton, W. 
Mr. Druery is a rash man to provoke by his title a comparison with the 
second greatest prose allegory in our language. The “ Pilgrim’s Progress ” and 
“Gulliver’s Travels,” we imagine, owe their immortality not to the moral 
allegory of the one or the political allegory of the other, but to the intrinsic in- 
terest of the story itself in each case, as a story. These two most dissimilar 
stories agree in this that they achieve a marvellous verisimilitude by' an extreme 
and even lengthy elaboration of detail. It is not much to say to Mr. Druery’s 
discredit to state plainly that in a short story of l6o pages he has not produced 
such an effect. He lets us into the secret of his forty winks at the outset, his 
allegory is transparent, and apart from it, he has but little story to tell. We 
doubt whether anyone without leanings towards the observation of Nature would 
care for the tale as a tale ; but there — as the author says — it is the point of view 
that is all important. Have we but a garden, if only an acre (or even less) in 
extent, we cannot fail to learn much pleasant lore from the point of view that 
Mr. Druery suggests. Space does not permit of our quoting any passages ; but, 
considering that the writer is well-known as an authority on ferns, it is not sur- 
prising that chapters ix. and x. are, to our mind, the best in the book. Mr. 
Druery has published more than one volume of verse, and we found in reading it 
that a considerable part of the present work, though printed as prose, is in fact 
written in blank verse. Fifteen clever drawings by the author enhance the 
charm of a very pleasant book. 
Received Teacher's Review for January, containing a continuation of 
Mr. W. Johnson’s “ A Year’s ‘ Nature Notes’ in a London School Board of 
AgricidUire Leajlels, No. 56, The “Canker” Fungus, Nectria ditissivia. No. 60, 
The Wood Leopard Moth, Zeuzera ALsculi, both well illustrated and very in- 
teresting, and No. 61, Sheep-Scab; The Victorian Naturalist for December, 
1899; Science Gossip for January, more than up to its usual level; The 
Naturalist, Hunianity, The Animals' Friend, The Animal World, Our Animal 
Friends, and The Agricultural Economist for January. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Instinct in a Rat. — The following rather “ tall ” story reaches us from the 
West Indies : — A rat will climb a cocoanut-palm to get at the coco-nuts. He 
then bores a hole and gets inside and eats out the contents. But how is he to get 
down again, seeing that he cannot scramble down head foremost and cannot 
jump from so great a height ? He leans out of the coco- nut and bites off the 
stalk and the nut falls. But here comes the best part of the story. When he is 
about four feet from the ground he jumps out to avoid the bump ! 
Pet Rabbits. — Seeing your correspondent’s account, in January Nature 
Notes, of pet labbits, I think your readers may be interested in hearing of a pet 
rabbit owned by a niece who was living with us at the time. Two small wild 
rabbits were taken out of a nest and given to her. She kept them in her room 
all night ; if cold, the basket containing the babies was put into her bed. They 
were fed with milk and water off a feather, and after a while learned to drink out 
of a spoon. These young rabbits very soon got quite tame, and would play about 
on their mistress’s bed, “ going to ground ” under the clothes if any one came 
near. They played about the room, racing over the floor and furniture. During 
the day they spent much time with their mistress and a colley pup, with whom 
they were great friends, and they used to scamper about and play with him and 
he with them. As the summer went on they were put in a coop on the lawn, 
and one day one got away, so the other was turned loose too. The coop was left, 
and food put for them there, and the rabbits would come out of the bushes when 
