Messrs. Warne send a stout pocket-volume, The Fishes of the
British Isles, by J. Travis Jenkins. The book gathers together information on the characteristics and habits of salt-water and fresh-water fish that has previously been scat- tered among a score of standard books and monographs. There are almost 150 plates, excellently reproduced : perhaps the colourings are too regular and well demarked to give an impression of life ; but no doubt this makes them easier of identification. There has always been a quarrel between the artist and the illustrator ; Ruskin, for example, com- plained that the accurate and beautifully balanced paintings of flowers and grasses by Sowerby quite misrepresented their appearance in life. But Sowerby's illustrations still remain the most convenient for a botanist to use ; and as mere design they are enchanting.
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