26 NOVEMBER 1927, Page 44

ESSAYS OF A NATURALIST. By Sir Ray Lankester. (Methuen. Is.

6d.)—" Dragons of the prime," glaciers, bluish- green with dust falling " from interstellar space," the wedding rites of eels " in the dark salt waters of the ocean floor," Felixstowe amber, exuded from pine trees millions of years ago, the way of a Shah with an Astronomer-Royal—with these and many other such things this volume of reprinted articles deals. Sir Ray Lankester is no dry-as-dust recorder of facts. He stands in the tradition of Lord Avebury. School librarians should get this book.