76 
NATURE NOTES. 
apposite quotations, and beautiful legends are arranged as a sort of running 
commentary on the Calendar for the Naturalists’ Year. But what will give it 
special value in the eyes of our readers is this, that it is so thoroughly imbued with 
the spirit which ought to animate the members of the Selborne Society, that 
it might be distributed to young naturalists as a “ Manual of Selbornian Principles.” 
Take as an example the following pronouncement on collecting, which bears hard 
on the mere predatory and acquisitive instinct which is by many mistaken for a 
love of Nature. “ The mere mania for collection is a very low ambition indeed, 
and leads to the ruthless destruction of every rare bird or insect, the uprooting of 
every rare plant, in order that they may minister to the vanity of the collector. 
Such an one had far better turn his thoughts towards the collection of crests or 
postage stamps, or, as one amiable enthusiast we know, make a list of the names 
of the locomotives on the London and North-Western Railway.” On the cruelly 
of caging birds Professor Hulme writes as follows : — “ To anyone who knows 
what the true home of a lark is, it is a really touching sight to see it shut up with 
a small piece of turf, and striking itself time after time against the roof of its 
prison, in the vain attempt to soar upward into what should be the pure heaven, 
the great vault of cloudless blue. It is one of the few birds that sing on the 
wing, and no other bird does so to anything like the same extent ; imprisonment 
to the skylark is therefore a peculiar hardship. One of the delights of a spring 
walk is to see these birds rising from the ground with their peculiar spiral flight, 
and to hear the burst of song growing richer and richer, until at length the birds 
are lost ‘to sight altogether, and the sweet notes pouring down to earth seem 
to issue from the great dome itself. Those who have been entranced with this 
flood of melody will sympathise with the captive beating its wings against its 
confining cage, and feel with us how sad the change from the breezy downs to the 
close city court. No native bird should ever be held in bondage, but least of all 
the skylark.” 
Our author is thoroughly sound on the Primrose Question, which has lately been 
discussed in the pages of Nature Notes by G. S. R., Mr. Britten and others:— 
“Whatever one’s political feelings may be, all lovers of Nature will regret that 
the primrose should have become a party emblem. Its tender beauty should 
endear it equally to all. The Radical should not feel that he dare but admire it 
by stealth and under protest, nor the admirer of Lord Beaconsfield feel bound at 
least one day in the year to wear its delicate blossoms, less for their own attractive- 
ness than as a party symbol. The primrose is a very freely growing plant, 
fortunately; but even then the amount of the destruction of the roots, as they are 
recklessly torn up for ‘ Primrose Day ’ each year, will tend to ultimately render 
the plant much scarcer than it is at all pleasant to contemplate.” 
We regret that considerations of space do not allow us to quote other passages 
from this charming little book, but we feel bound to call attention to the admirable 
index with which it is provided, prefaced by a quotation which we would gladly 
see translated from a “pious aspiration” of Lord Campbell’s into an actual 
ornament of the statute-book. “So essential did I consider an Index to be to 
every book, that I proposed to bring a Bill into Parliament to deprive any author 
who published a book without an Index of the privilege of copyright, and, more- 
over, to subject him to a pecuniary penalty. — Campbell’s Lives of the Chief 
Justices of England 
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge is to be congratulated on the 
admirable manner in which the book under notice is produced, bound and printed. 
We well remember the time when the stock in trade of that venerable Society con- 
sisted of doctrinal treatises frequently dull, and didactic stories not unfrequently 
dismal. Under its present management it vies with the leading publishers of the 
day in the interest of its books, and of these some of the most interesting are 
those which deal with scientific subjects and the study of Nature. 
SHORT NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
We have received from Mr. David Douglas one of the pretty little shilling 
volumes of essays by Mr. John Burroughs, who may be styled the American 
Jeffries. Winter Sunshine, in spite of its name, is not at all confined to wintry 
