REVIEWS AND EXCHANGES 
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animals ? Perhaps something more might be done than has 
hitherto been attempted in the institution of Homes for Stray 
Cats, as well as for stray dogs. Should these lines in any way 
contribute to such an end, I shall be more than repaid for 
penning them. PHiL,r-:LURUS. 
REVIEWS AND EXCHANGES. 
A Practical Guide to Garden Plants. By John Weathers, F. K. II.S. Longmans, 
pp. xii., 1192. Price 21s. net. 
It is not every pocket that can afford the price or every library that has the 
space for Mr. Nicholson’s classic “ Dictionary of Gardening”; but the require- 
ments of the present excellent work are more moderate in both respects. Mr. 
Weathers has economised space by omitting illustrations, with the exception 
of some in the text of his glossary, and the scope of his work is strictly limited to 
hardy plants ; but we do not know of anyone volume which deals in anything like 
as complete a manner with the subject. After the glossary comes a most 
accurately written sketch of the general physiology of cultivated plants. Then 
follow lists of plants suitable for various situations ; over 800 pages devoted to the 
systematic description of the orders, genera and species of the plants of the flower 
garden ; grasses, conifers and ferns occupying about 75 pages ; the fruit garden, 
its operations and its occupants, about as much ; and the kitchen garden nearly an 
equal space. An index of 22 pages, printed in four columns, tenders the work 
most ea.sy to consult for anyone who is not familiar with the natural system 
of classification. Had space permitted we had intended quoting some excellent 
remarks on plant names from Mr. Weathers’s preface, though in calling the saxi- 
frages “ rockfoils ” we do not think he has been quite true to his principle of not 
coining new popular names; but it must suffice to say that, with the help of the 
most competent authorities, Mr. Weathers has produced a volume which every 
gardener will find of value to him. 
An Annotated Calalogtie of Edible British Fungi. By E. W. Swanton, Con- 
servator to the Haslemere Educational Museum, Member of the British 
IMycological Society. With six hand-coloured plates, comprising fifty-two 
figures, by E. W Swanton and Miss Mosley. The Museum Press, Lock- 
wood, Huddersfield. Price 2s. 6d. net. 
Though we are doubtful as to the wisdom of the attempt to learn the edible 
and poisonous British fungi separately, this unpretending little brochure is well 
calculated to serve as a guide to the plants it describes. It is more free from mis- 
spellings than is usual in books of its class : the descriptions, although concise, 
seem to be adequate ; and the illustrations, although wanting in roundness, will 
certainly be of some assistance towards identification. 
Laws Regulating the Transportation and Sale of Game. By T. S. Palmer and 
H. W. Olds. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Biological 
Survey. Bulletin No. 14. Washington, 1900. 
This useful digest of the game laws of the United States deals with big game 
as well as with birds, and gives in tabular form the close seasons for Canada as 
well as those of the States. The want of uniformity in these laws is illustrated 
by nine diagrammatic maps. 
Report of the Hampstead Scientific Society, 1899-1900. S. C. Mayle, Hampstead. 
Price 3d. 
This handsomely-printed but somewhat too tall report of the first year’s exist- 
ence of a new society tells a satisfactory tale of a good start made. Unfortunately 
the most serious difficulties of scientific societies are not those of their initiation, 
but those which arise when, after a few years, zeal begins to flag. Far be it from 
us, however, to prophesy ill concerning the Hampstead Society. 
Received — -The Naturalists' fournal for January and February, The Naturalist, 
The Irish Naturalist, Knowledge, Science Gossip, Humanity, The .Inimal’s 
Friend, Our Animal I'riends, The .Animal IVorld, and The Agricultural 
Economist for Febtuarv. 
