NATURE STUDY.*

WREN the first volume of The Book of Nature-Study, which Dr. Bretland Farmer is editing, appeared we pointed out that it was not a te.xt-hook for pupils, but a guide which would indicate to parents and teachers how instruction in natural histoty,should be given. From that point of view the second and third volumes deserve the unstinted praise which we bestowed on the first, , The real object of Nature-study is partly to develop the intelligence, but chiefly to give an accurate general view of the working of natural laws so far as we know them. This may seem a pedantic aim to the ordinary foolish persons who boast that they " love birds and flowers but hate scientific terms and classification." Professor J. Arthur Thomson, in an excellent contribution on the haunts of animal life and the best method of utilising natural history excursions, lays stress on the fact that pupils must make the transition from observing to interpreting. It is no use knowing fifty common shore-animals without inquiring into the significance of their different structures, habits, and distribution. So Miss Charlotte L. Laurie (assistant-mistress at Cheltenham Ladies' College), in a series of admirable notes on plant life and its study, dwells on the importance of making every course of " Nature-study " centre round one main thought. A course on plant life may point out the adaptation of structure to function or manifestations of life common to animals and plants. Dr. William H. Lang (Lecturer on Botany in Glasgow University), in his notes on some common flowering plants, which occupy more than half the third volume, never forgets that the flower is a mechanism for securing pollination. If this view of Nature- study is, as we have said, distasteful to the ordinary persons who "love birds and flowers," but are indifferent to accurate knowledge and scientific systems, there is no lack of writers on Nature who cater for their wants ; in The Book of Nature-Study biology is treated as a serious matter. Mr. Oswald H. Latter has some chapters on -a variety of typical insects and molluscs. An ingenious dissected model of that familiar object in the zoological laboratory, the fresh-water mussel, forms a coloured frontis- piece. The aquarium, which may be so valuable an adjunct to study, but which often proves a failure, is treated of by Miss Marion Newbigin. She deals with many plants and animals, from salt as well as fresh water, and indicates the lessons that may be learnt from them.

The study of Nature is treated in a lighter fashion in The Nature Book, which, according to the title-page, is " a popular description by pen and camera of the delights and beauties of the open air." Here we have a handsome heavy second volume with seven hundred and fifty pages of highly glazed paper. At the same time, we find Nature photography at its very best. Animals and plants, hills and valleys, are admirably photographed. We have also a to ies of unconnected essays or articles on open-air subjects by competent writers. Mr. Douglas English writes on reptiles and amphibians and how to know them. The Rev. Maurice Bird on ornithology, Mr. Walter M. Gallichan on fish and fishing, Miss Maud U. Clarke on grasses, rushes, and sedges, Mr. Martin Duncan on pond and seashcre life, write in pleasant, popular fashion. When we remember that botanists who have devoted their lives to the genus Salix are often puzzled, we may admire the boldness of Mr. Henry Irving, who attempts to teach those who have no knowledge of structural botany how to know the British willows. " The Kinship of Plants to Animals " is an essay that only touches the subject in a very cursory fashion. But in "How Animals should be Handled" we have something thoroughly practical, with photographs of hands bolding pets (from lizards to guinea-pigs) in approved fashion, and on every page there • (1) The Boole of Nature-Study. Edited by J. Bretiand Farmer. Assisted by a Staff of Specialists. Fully Illustrated. Vols. II. and III. London : Caxton Publishing Company. [7s. 6d. net per voi.]—(2) The Nature Book. Vol. IL London Cassell and Co. [12s. net.]—(3). The Bird Life of London. By Charles Dixon. With Illustrations in Colour and Black-and-White. London : W. Heine- mann. [6s. net.]—(4) Birds Useful and Birds Harmful. By Otto Herman and J. A. Owen. Illustrated by T. Csorgey. Manchester : at the University Press- [66. net.]—(5) The British Warblers. Part III. By H. Eliot Howard. Illus- trated by Henrik Grdnvold. London : R. H. Porter. [21s. net.]—(6) British Birds for Cages, Aviaries, and Exhibition. , By Sumner W. Birchley. 2 vols. London: Sherratt and Hughes. [26s. net.]—(7) Birds and their Nests and Eggs. By George H. Vos. Three series in one volume. London : G. Routledge and Sons. [3s. 6d.]—(8) The Sport of Bird-Study. By Herbert Keightley Job. Profusely Illustrated with Photographs from Life by the Author. London : Grant Richards. [7s. 6d. net.]—(9) The Life Story of an Otter. By J. C. Tregarthen. With Illustrations. London John Murray. [6s. net.]-=- (10) The Freshwater Aquarium and its Inhabitants: a Guide for the Amateur Aquarist. By Otto Eggeling and Frederick Ehrenberg. With many Illustrations .from Nature. New York : Henry Holt and Co. [83. net.]

are photographs which are quite the best of their kind. We suspect that more people will look at the pictures than will read the text, for a book of this size and weight dOes riot attract readers. But when it lies on the country-house table those who dip into it on a wet afternoon will find some • quite good reading and much instruction too. We have omitted to

mention the coloured plates, which the publishers themselves on the outside wrapper describe as "exquisite." They are very pretty and very neatly printed in colours. Those who *ant what is called a gift-book" will find nothing more suitable than the two handsome volumes of The Nature Book.

We pass on now to several recent volumes which deal exclusively with birds. One opens Mr. Charles Dixon's new book, The Bird Life of London, with curiosity to see what he means by the elastic word "London." The area includes all within a radius of fifteen miles from St. Paul's. This exceedingly wide sweep of the net gives him over one hundred and thirty species to write about. Mr. Dixon is a trained ornithologist who has devoted a great part of his life to observing birds. His book may be recommended to those whose eyes have not been opened to the variety of birds dwelling in London, and to the pleasure of watching for migrants there. We think, however, that he might have done better had he restricted himself to London proper, and written in much greater detail of the birds in our parks and squares. It is of little interest, also, to mention that ravens have bred at Enfield, and Dartford-warblers at Hampstead, without stating the year. In spite of these and many other small criticisms which we have noted, one may welcome a book by a writer who really knows his subject. Mr. Dixon devotes about a couple of pages to the distribution, habits, and appearance of each species, and quotes no authorities. The little uncoloured plates by Mr. Duncan, with which we are already familiar, are very clever work, inspired apparently by Bewick. The coloured plates are less effective. We should be glad to think that Mr. Dixon's book might have a chance of being used by teachers in the London elementary schools.

The economic value of birds in relation to agriculture is an important matter, and the "Hungarian Central Office for Ornithology" may be doing good service to mankind; but the attempt by an English bird-lover to adapt a Hungarian work by M. Otto Herman to the conditions existing in England is not successful. The result of "J. A. Owen's" collaboration with a Hungarian naturalist is Birds Useful and Birds Harmful, a pretentious volume which is destitute of value. The second line of chap. 1 contains an obvious misprint, and, were it worth while, there would be no difficulty in filling a column with inaccuracies, omissions, and graver mistakes. It is hard to find anything to say in praise of ill-informed and slipshod work like this. It is no pleasure to condemn a book so completely ; but a reviewer who failed to do so in this case would not be performing a duty to his readers.

We pass gladly to a work in which text and illustrations combine to give us pleasure, and form a beautiful but some- what expensive monograph. The third part of Mr. H. Eliot Howard's fine work on The British Warblers deals chiefly with the blackcap. The life-history and habits of that excitable little songster have never been dealt with so minutely. Mr. Howard, whose painstaking observations have resulted in establishing several interesting facts, doubts whether sexual selection explains the beautiful rich and liquid notes of the male bird. He finds that during courtship, which he has most closely watched, the male does not use his power of song to the best of his ability. Mr. Henrik GrOnvold's plates, both coloured and uncoloured, are admirable. They include, besides nine devoted to the blackcap, coloured figures of two rare stragglers, Pallas's willow-warbler and Radde's bush-warbler.

The next book is a very different sort of work intended for bird fanciers and exhibitors. British Birds for Cages, Aviaries, and Exhibition consists of two stately red volumes with numerous fairly good uncoloured illustrations. A portrait of ' Midland Chief,' a celebrated hawfinch, " the property of Mr. H. J. Chick, Nottingham," forms the frontis- piece. The author, Mr. Sumner W. Birchley, is an enthu- siastic and experienced member of " the Fancy," who tells us that he has 'kept and exhibited every recognised British • me and eh seie ez a Short History of Mental Healing. By cage bird, with less than half's-dozen exceptions. He has prank rs"weeljere. Vontioa 2tfethtlert and Co. [10s. 64. net.] even successfully • catered for wallows, martins, wryneeks, and woodpeckers. The eruelties done by bird-catchers are difficult to defend, and a freshly caught wild bird is a sad sight. Mr. Birchley writes: " I am not one to suggest that you do any bird a kindness by depriving him of his liberty

but I take it that birds, beasts, and flowers were seht for the use and joy of man." The text contains a mass of practical information on every subject that can be of interest to fanciers. It is written in a homely style which cheerfelly disregards grammar and repetition.

Before leaving the subject two popular books on birds may be shortly described. Birds and their Nests and Eggs, by Dr.

G. H. Vos, deals with species found in and near great towns.

Photographs of stuffed specimens cannot compete in these days with the genuine article, and the text, by an ardent lover of Nature, suffers by comparison with many excellent books of the same kind. For a young boy or girl who does not know much about birds, and would like to learn what can be seen near London or any other big town, Dr. Vos's book

might prove suitable. The Sport of Bird-Study, by Mr. Herbert K. Job, a well-known American writer, is intended for the young, and gives an exceedingly lively account of bird-life in Connecticut, U.S.A. It contains a profusion of very good photographs of birds and nests.

To those who enjoy reading the minute biographies of animals The Life Story of an Otter, by Mr. J. C. Tregarthen,

may be recommended. It is a charming little book and extremely well written. The otter is a mysterious beast, and probably few persons know more about its habits than Mr. Tregarthen. He begins with the birth of the cubs, and tells a complete story of wild life in the West Country. The mother otter falls a victim to the hounds ; and the hero of the book, after one escape from otter-hunters and another from the gun of an old marshman, shares the same fate. The great hunt is finely described. We observe that Mr.

Tregarthen believes that otters pursue fish only by sight, but that they have the power of detecting the presence of fish in a stream or pond by sniffing the surface of the water. The scenting powers of animals are little considered by those who are not minutely acquainted with their habits. The scent of the otter itself is strong and lasting, yet it is hardly ever owned by hounds that have not been entered to otter-hunting.

We may mention one book more which deals with natural history before ending this disconnected review. The Fresh- water Aquarium and its Inhabitants, by Mr. Otto Eggeling and Mr. Frederick Ehrenberg, is a volume that has recently appeared in the " American Nature Series." It is (so we are told in the preface) " the result of the careful collaboration of a professional aquarist and a very enthusiastic amateur." The illustrations are numerous, and the subject is treated in a thorough and practical fashion. But as many of the animal and vegetable inhabitants of the aquarium are not European, the book can only receive a qualified recommendation as far as the English " aquarist " is concerned.