2 i6 
NATURE NOTES 
species are dealt with here ; but each of these is fully described, with its nest and 
eggs, with uncoloured plates of the latter, in addition to some fifty other illustra- 
tions of the birds and their haunts, many of which are excellent pictures, and the 
narratives of the rambles from January to June. Well printed and bound, it is 
certainly a cheap book, and we are glad to note that the author proposes a third 
series dealing with less common birds. 
Trees Shown to the Children. By Janet Harvey Kelman, described by C. E. 
■Smith. With 32 coloured pictures. 6| in. x 4I in. Pp. 131. T. C. and 
E. C. Jack. Price 2s. 6d. net. 
We suppose children prefer pictures badly coloured to those not coloured at 
all, and this must be Miss Kelman’s defence. This volume is cheap ; C. E. 
Smith’s descriptive matter is excellent ; and there is not much fault to find with 
the drawing of the details, leaves, flowers, and fruit. The pictures of the whole 
trees, however, are examples of a “ blotesque ” treatment which, to out mind, 
eliminates all the distinctive characters of the trees. The series to which this 
book belongs is of Scottish origin, so that the somewhat misleading character of 
the following paragraph is not surprising ; “ Near London there grew a famous 
wood called Boxhill, and when the trees in that wood were cut down they were 
sold for £10,000.” It is hardly necessary to tell Londoners that Boxhill, though 
nearly twenty miles from London, still exists, and that its box-trees, though felled 
many years ago, are fine specimens to this day. 
Garden Rockery: How to make, plant, and manage it. By Francis George 
Heath. With 45 illustrations, yf in. x 5 in. Pp. 173. Routledge. 
Price IS. 
In this little volume the veteran author gives us much practical information. 
As might be expected from so well-known a lover of ferns, ferns figure largely in 
his work ; but flowering plants, though not dealt with in the detail of Mr. 
Reginald Farrei’s works, are not overlooked ; while Mr. Heath’s practical 
suggestions as to beautifying walls and constructing rockeries, large or small, 
ab initio, are invaluable. 
The Extinction of Cryptogamic Plants in Ireland. By A. R. Hotwood. 
Reprinted from the Irish Naturalist. 
We hope shortly to print an extract from this interesting interim report 
of a detailed study which Mr. Horwood has undertaken. He speaks with 
approval of the protective legislation proposed by the Editor of Nature Notes. 
and is sanguine enough to follow Professor Conwentz in advocating the 
appointment of a Government Botanist in each county ! 
Ealing Scientific and Microscopical Society : Report and Transactions for 1907-8. 
This Society, which admits the members of our Ealing and Richmond Branch 
to its meetings, is to be congratulated on its thirty-first annual report. In addi- 
tion to the list of members and brief meteorological notes for 1906 and 1907, it 
contains abstracts of the lectures given, the subjects of which are so varied that 
they can hardly fail to yield some interest to every intelligent reader. Whilst 
making no pretence to the first publication of original matter, they in no way 
transgress the subject matter suitable to the publications of a local society. 
Alissouri Botanical Garden : Eighteenth Annual Report. 9^ in. x 6^ in. 
Pp. 256. With portrait and 24 plates. .St. Louis, 1907. 
This sumptuous volume equals any of its predecessors in interest. It contains 
a synopsis of Furcrcea by J. R. Drummond with four plates ; papers on Yucca 
and Eu-agave by the Director, Dr. William Trelease, with six and seventeen 
plates respectively ; the third part of J. W. Blankinship’s enumeration of the 
plants collected by P'erdinand Jacob Lindheimer (1801-79), with a portrait of 
that botantist ; two short pathological papers by Dr. von Schrenk ; and several 
others. 
The Country Home for August, September and October, certainly maintains 
the high standard achieved by three first issues of this magazine. It is difficult 
to make a selection for mention where so many excellent articles compete for 
notice. The interesting home of the Canterbury Weavers and Little Wolford 
Hall, described in the August number ; the magnificent oak carving of Red 
