REVIEWS AND EXCHANGES 
29 
And the snow, winter’s own nursling, how soft and fleecy 
its flakes are, how symbolical of all that is tender and beautiful 
and pure ! But how cruel the juire white snow can be ! It 
can conquer armies, destroy ships by its icebergs, blot out 
villages ; and yet this self-same snow can spread itself on the 
great bosom of mother earth as a blanket, giving warmth and 
protection to that hidden life which, later on, crowns the year 
with a rich harvest of flowers, fruit and seed. 
S. I). W. 
REVIEWS AND EXCHANGES. 
Upper Coquetdale, Northumberland ; its History, Traditions, Folk-lore and 
Scenery. 15 y 1 ). I). Dixon. With illustrations by J- T. Dixon. R. Kedpath, 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 
The author of this goodly volume of local history somewhat disarms the critic 
of his work by announcing it to be “ the ieisuie-hour employment of two village 
tradesmen ” ; but he has indeed but little need to plead for mercy. Were we 
captiously inclined we might insist on the absence of any map of the district dealt 
with, and of any table of contents ; or the very completeness of the work, dealing 
as it does with the fauna and flora and the prehistoric as well as the historic 
records of the area, might make us ask for more and demand some geology. We 
confess we do not comprehend the relation which the list of plants given on 
pp. Io 6'9 bears to that on pp. 493- 8 ; but it is interesting to find some local 
names cited. Among these we note the application of “ Wolfelaw ” to Lycopo- 
dium alpinum, Craacrook ” for Empetrum nigrum, crc\A “Bee Heather” for 
Calluna. This last is probably a corruption of “ He Heather.” A few mosses 
are recorded, and the names are exceptionally accurate as to spelling. With a 
catholicity of taste befitting a thorough-going Selbornian, the author gives us 
many interesting notes on the birds and higher animals ; but he does not touch 
on the fish or mention many of the insects. The main purpose of his work, how- 
ever, is undoubtedly antitpiarian. Camps, stone-circles, early pottery, flint arrow- 
heads, bronze celts and swords, and various methods of burial represent the 
prehistoric ages in the district ; whilst, of the relics of later times, Rothbury 
Church, and especially the beautiful base of a Saxon cross, now the pedestal of 
the font, richly sculptured with figures and knot-work, is undoubtedly the most 
interesting. Even those who have never visited the bleak hills of Northumber- 
land will find much to interest them in Mr. Dixon’s careful pages. 
Eton Nature-Study and Observational Lessons. By M. Davenport Hill and 
W. M. Webb. Part I. Duckworth and Co. Price 3s. 6d. net. 
Messrs. Hill and Webb have accomplished the very difficult task of producing 
a valuable text-book for a study one of the leading characteristics of which is 
that it is independent of books. This book is in fact a laboratory guide for the 
open-air laboratory, having for its prototype, perhaps, that pioneer work of the 
heuristic method, Huxley and Martin’s Elementary Biology. Its object is not to 
give information but to direct enquiry, and in many respects it is a book more 
essential to the teacher than to the student. Sixteen observational lessons are 
outlined, which it is suggested may occupy an hour a week from the end of 
September to the end of February, the subjects being such as can be studied at 
this season, but being otherwise mixed, the dispersal of seeds, the migration of 
birds, the sun, a sun-dial, the clouds and a sea-anemone being taken in succession. 
A full index obviates any difficulty this plan might cause. Many most practical 
suggestions are given as to obtaining material or further information, and as to 
methods of study, and we are glad to see the caution that “ the indiscriminate 
killing and hoarding of creatures, or the taking of scarce specimens just because 
they are rare, is to be avoided and condemned.” Though we are not sure that 
illustrations can be justified in such a manual, those that are present, and they are 
