CURRENT LITERATURE.
GIFT-BOOKS.
Hidden Beauties of Nature. By Richard Kerr, F.G.S. (R.T.S.) —This book contains the main points of lectures delivered to
scientific societies, colleges, upper-class schools, and popular audiences in England. The standpoint of the author is that of reverent orthodoxy ; as he puts it, " believing that the interpre- tations of the Creator's plans in Nature are too frequently left to those who disbelieve in the existence of an all-wise God, it behoves those who see God in Nature to make the fact known, whether by lectures or in their writings, and to point out to young people that all the great problems in creation are the result of divine wisdom." The title, Bidden Beauties of Nature, expresses fairly well Mr. Kerr's general purpose, which is to set forth in plain and popular language certain of the less-known features and peculiarities of natural history. The titles of several of the twenty chapters of the book, " The Sea-Urchin," " Radiolaria," " The Proboscis of the Blow-Fly," " The Comatula; or, Rosy Feathered Star," " Snow," " Fresh-Water Rhizopods," and " Foraminifera," will give an indication of the varied character of Mr. Kerr's studies. He is evidently a careful investigator, and the information be supplies is thoroughly reliable. Very welt and abundantly illustrated, beautifully printed, and crisply written, this is a very good volume to place in the hands of a boy with a turn for a science.
Atalanta, from October, 1894, to September, 1895, is a very
handsome and readable volume. The characteristics of this magazine, since it became a high-class periodical for young folk, and more particularly for girls, are well known. The present editor, Mr. A. Balfour Symington, has done his best to preserve them, and has added new features. Among the artists who con- tribute to this volume are Mr. Alma Tadema and Mr. Briton Riviere ; while among the authors, either of stories or of mis- cellaneous articles, are Mr. R. D. Blackmore, Mr. Baring-Gould, Professor Church, "Maxwell Gray," Mr. James Ashcroft Noble, Mr. A. H. Japp, and "John Strange Winter." A most interesting series of papers is that bearing the title " Authors' Counties." Mr. Blackmore's Devonshire is treated by Mr. Baring-Gould, and Mr. Hall Caine's Cumberland and the Isle of Wight by Mr. Ashcroft Noble.
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