548 Analyses of Books. [September, 
Here, also, some questions are answered with which the tyro is 
often perplexed. 
In a pleasant sketch of Musbury Castle, redolent of the fresh 
air and the blossoms of a fine May morning, Mr. Allen calls 
attention to the local constancy to be noted in the distribution 
of the fauna and the flora. We are far yet from having mapped 
out the ranges and occurrence of species, even in this limited 
and, to the naturalist, poor country of ours. As for the how and 
the wherefore, they are scarcely yet touched upon. Whilst 
treating of the Guelder Rose, and proclaiming his dislike of the 
double flowers of our gardeners, the author reminds us that “the 
labour of the old-fashioned naturalists has collected an enormous 
mass of faCts as to form and structure ; but as to use and func- 
tion, we have still almost all the work to do.” How sad, there- 
fore, that this particular department of biology is so much 
interfered with and threatened by the hostility of modern senti- 
mentalists. 
In the “ Heron’s Haunt,” the author develops his theory that 
the chromatic tastes of birds seems to get quickened in their 
daily search for food among the blossoms and fruits of southern 
woodlands.” He seems, however, to place the birds of paradise 
too exclusively among fruit eaters. Though partially frugivorous, 
they are like their kinsfolk, the crows and jays, exceedingly fond of 
inseCt larvas, — a class of beings not generally remarkable for brilliant 
colouration, and often found amidst dull sombre-hued materials. 
In a “ Bed of Nettles,” Mr. Allen gives, in his adherence to 
the tradition, that nothing soothes a nettle-sting like dock-leaf, 
to which he, however, adds “philosophy.” We have often been 
nettle-stung whilst poking about after inseCts in the hedges and 
ditches, and have from time to time tried the dock-leaf as a 
remedy ; but we never felt any decided benefit, and to this day 
we are unable to say whether the pain abates more rapidly if the 
wound is rubbed with dock-leaf or if it is let alone. But there is 
a great amount of idiosyncrasy as regards this same sting. We 
know persons who, if “ nettled,” feel the irritation the next day. 
Under the title of the “ Carp-Pond,” the author traces the 
wanderings and distribution of the Cyprinoids from their original 
home in Central Asia. He remarks that we have no Siluroids 
in England, as our streams are too pure and clear and rapid for 
them. Surely the purity of our streams is more a matter of 
tradition than of modern observation, and on the eastern side of 
England the rivers have never been characterised by rapidity. 
Their distribution he justly characterises as utterly unintelligible 
save on evolutionist principles. 
Contemplating a Llyn Gwernant trout, a peculiar and strictly 
local species, found only in one small mountain tarn in Wales, 
the author makes the strange remark : “ I have certain com- 
punctions of my own about the morality of catching a trout for 
such a purpose,” i.e., in order to watch and report upon its 
