24 THeEt vAsU Dsl BON @BvUsin ieee 
Among the naturalists and scientific contributions mentioned are: 
Thomas Hariot and his detailed report of wildlife and vegetation in Virginia 
in 1585; Carl Linnaeus and his revolutionary system of naming plants; John 
Bartram and the first botanic garden in America; Jane Colden, the first 
American woman botanist; Peter Kalm and his sixty new species of plants; 
Andre Michaux and the Spanish Conspiracy; Thomas Nuttall and his West- 
ern adventures; David Douglas, for whom the Douglas fir was named; Lewis 
and Clark and their famous plant collection; Amiel Weeks Whipple and 
the petrified forest in Arizona; Frederick Vandeveer Hayden and the Teton- 
Yellowstone wilderness; Leo Lesquereux and his fossil plants (some from 
Mazon Creek); Henry David Thoreau and his trip to northern Maine; John 
Muir and his explorations, and many others. 
It is with regret that one finds that the end of the book has come only 
too soon, but this is to be expected if one has any of this author’s previous 
books. Mrs. Ejifert’s experience over 25 years as editor of the Illinois State 
Museum publication, “The Living Museum,” as well as her service as author 
of some of their publications, stands her in good stead in the writing of 
this absorbing book. 
The photographs were taken and the many delightful line drawings 
were prepared by the author. There is an 8-page index and a generous 
5-page bibliography for those whose interest has been whetted by this 
engrossing book. 
Paul A. Schu!ze, 622 South Wisconsin Avenue, Villa Park, Illinois 60181 
FI ft ft fT 
PATTERNS IN THE BALANCE OF NATURE, by C. B. Williams, Academic 
Press, London and New York, 1964; 6% by 9% in., 324 pp., 124 figures 
and 145 tables. $9.50. 
It is the function of a book review to call attention of interested people 
to books which they can use and enjoy, as well as to point out occasional 
errors or lapses by the author. “Patterns in the Balance of Nature” should 
be of great interest and value to Illinois naturalists and bird clubs, especially 
because use is made in it of four Illinois Audubon Christmas counts. 
The Illinois Christmas Counts, as reported in the AUDUBON BULLETIN 
for 1954, 1955, 1956, and 1957, are summarized in Appendix C, and form the 
basis of an extensive discussion of statistical ecological principles (pp. 50- 
54), distribution in relation to abundance in one year (pp. 273-276), dis- 
tribution in relation to abundance in several years (282-284), and the effect 
of aggregation and migration on seasonably changing populations (p. 63). 
The mathematics of the book are not beyond understanding and use by 
anyone with high school education in the subject, and is carefully explained 
in Chapter 2. 
Williams used many kinds of organisms in addition to birds, to illustrate 
such subjects as the measurement of diversity, the frequency distribution 
ot parasites in or on their hosts, intra-generic competition, and other pro- 
blems in statistical ecology. Williams commits himself to educated guesses 
based on extensive work at Rothamsted, on the number of living organisms 
in the world, and the number of species in the world. These guesses are 
