394 
Notices of Books. [July, 
to the parrot group. The inseCts, curiously enough, are not 
mentioned : this is a very serious omission, not merely from the 
point of view of the scientific naturalist, but from that also of 
the farmer. The flora of the province has also been overlooked. 
Wheat is extensively grown in the lake-distrids at from 1000 to 
2000 feet above the sea-level, but the remark is added that this 
is not to be taken as the limit of its successful cultivation : this 
indicates an agricultural climate very much superior to that of 
England. The forest-line is given at 3400 and the snow-line at 
7500 to 8000 feet. We find, also, some interesting remarks on 
the character of the scenery, which is declared to be eminently 
beautiful. The mountains, which reach an altitude of nearly 
10,000 feet, are exceedingly bold in their outline. “ The lakes 
present scenery unsurpassed probably in the world, for, unlike 
the Swiss lakes, they do not lie outside the principal mountain 
masses, but wind close round their feet.” Waterfalls are few 
and small. 
The work is illustrated with several plates, showing sections, 
See., and with a geological map on the scale of 24 miles to the 
inch. 
Practical Physiology . By Edwin Lankester, M.D., F.R.S., 
Sixth Edition. London : Hardwicke and Bogue. 
This work was originally entitled “ School Manual of Health,” 
and was intended to serve as a reading-book in primary educa- 
tional establishments. The author, however, finding that it was 
principally used “ as a text-book in classes formed for the study 
of physiology in its relations to health and life,” has changed its 
title, and added a large number of illustrations, a series of 
questions, and a glossary. The result is a book containing an 
abundance of sound and valuable practical information, mixed, 
however, with speculative passages of an occasionally question- 
able nature. In the Introduction the author enters upon that 
vexed question, the scope and the character of mental training 
suitable for various classes of the community. Here we are 
struck with the following diCtum : — “ I wish, however, to state 
my conviction as a physiologist that there is no anatomical dis- 
tinction between the brains of rich and poor people !” We have 
rarely seen a truism — admitted everywhere, save, perhaps, in the 
Manchester Chamber of Commerce — enunciated with greater 
solemnity. But this undoubted truth has, after all, little direCt 
bearing on the subjeCt. The question is not to what degree of 
education persons of such and such a class are entitled, but 
what is practically attainable. So long as the majority of youths 
have to enter upon their business at an age below, say, eighteen, 
so long must a broad and thorough mental culture be not the 
