To know that which before us lies in daily life is the prime of
wisdom.
MILTON.
ADAMS, J.H.
Harper's Electricity Book for Boys.
Harper. 1.75
A large part of this volume is somewhat beyond the grasp of the
average boy of fourteen, and parents should look it over carefully
before letting their children carry out the instructions, though we
are told that "there need be no concern whatever as to possible danger
if the book is read with reasonable intelligence. Mr. Adams has taken
pains to place danger-signals wherever special precautions are
advisable, and, as a father of boys who are constantly working with
electricity in his laboratory, he may be relied upon as a safe and
sure counsellor and guide."
Directions are given for making, among other things, push-buttons,
switches, annunciators, dynamos, simple telephones, and line and
wireless telegraphs. There is a chapter on electroplating. At the (p. 217)
end of the volume is an article explaining electric light, heat, power,
and traction, by J.B. Baker, technical editor, United States Geological
Survey; also a dictionary of electrical terms. Many working diagrams
are included.
BAILEY, F.M.
Handbook of Birds of the Western United States.
Illustrated by Louis Agassiz Fuertes.
Houghton. 3.50
Systematically arranged. Descriptions technical but simplified,
and illustrated with cuts in the text, which explain the
technical terms and make it available for students. It has no
color key, but field keys, fully illustrated in the text.
Biographies popularly treated. Intended for students of the life
and habits of the birds of our Western States. The only book of
its character for that region.
AUDUBON SOCIETY.
There are thirty-three full-page plates by Mr. Fuertes, and over six
hundred small illustrations. For the use of beginners a brief field
color key to genera of some of the common Passerine birds is given in
an appendix.
BURROUGHS, JOHN.
Wake-Robin.
Houghton. 1.25
This is mainly a book about the birds, or more properly an
invitation to the study of Ornithology.... I have reaped my
harvest more in the woods than in the study; what I offer, in
fact, is a careful and conscientious record of actual
observations and experiences, and is true as it stands (p. 218)
written, every word of it.... A more specific title for the
volume would have suited me better, but not being able to satisfy
myself in this direction, I cast about for a word thoroughly in
the atmosphere and spirit of the book, which I hope I have found
in "Wake-Robin"--the common name of the white Trillium, which
blooms in all our woods, and which marks the arrival of all the
birds.--_Preface._
The titles of some of the different articles are: In the Hemlocks, The
Adirondacks, Spring at the Capital, and The Bluebird.
CHAPMAN, E.M.
Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America.
Appleton. 3.00
Illustrated with full-page plates from photographs, and many cuts
in the text. Systematically arranged; non-technical descriptions;
both field and color keys. A very complete book for general use,
treating all the birds of the section named, with some account of
habits, etc. It has introductory chapters on Ornithology, Methods
of Study, List of Dates of Spring and Fall migration, and a color
chart to help in identification.
AUDUBON SOCIETY.
DITMARS, R.L.
The Reptile Book.
Doubleday. 4.00
Mr. Ditmars, Curator of Reptiles in the New York Zoölogical Park,
gives us a comprehensive treatise on the structure and habits of the
turtles, tortoises, crocodilians, lizards, and snakes, of the United
States and Northern Mexico. There are eight pages of plates in color
and one hundred and twenty-eight in black and white, from (p. 219)
photographs from life, taken (with six exceptions) by the Author.
In the present work the writer has sought to compile a popular
review of a great fauna--the Reptiles of North America. He has
excluded technical phraseology and tried to produce two results:
1. A popular book, that may be comprehended by the beginner and,
2. A book valuable in its details to the technical
worker.--_Preface._
GIBSON, W.H.
Sharp Eyes.
Harper. 2.50
This rambler's calendar of fifty-two weeks among insects, birds, and
flowers, is made attractive to young children by the unusual quality
of the many illustrations.
GREENE, HOMER.
Coal and the Coal Mines.
Houghton. .75
It has been the aim of the author to give reliable information
free from minute details and technicalities. That information has
been, for the most part, gathered through personal experience in
the mines.--_Preface._
The composition and formation of coal, its discovery and introduction,
are dealt with, and a description of the mine and its dangers, and the
life of the workers therein, is given in this thoroughly satisfactory
little volume.
HARRINGTON, M.W.
About the Weather.
Appleton. .65
Treated from a broad scientific standpoint, much interesting (p. 220)
information is conveyed about the laws which, discovered comparatively
recently, have proved of vital importance and utility to mankind. The
humidity and pressure of the air, the velocity of the wind, rain and
snow, sleet and hail-storms, tornadoes and cyclones, are among the
many topics discussed.
HOLLAND, W.J.
The Moth Book.
Doubleday. 4.00
An intelligent boy or girl of fourteen, with a real interest in the
subject, will enjoy this fine work on the moths of North America north
of Mexico, though it is written more from the standpoint of the
student than are most of the series to which it belongs. There are
fifteen hundred figures in the forty-eight colored plates, and three
hundred black and white text figures, illustrating a majority of the
larger species.
JORDAN, D.S., and B.W. EVERMANN.
American Food and Game Fishes.
Doubleday. 4.00
These two distinguished scientists have given in this treatise on
ichthyology a popular account of the species found in America north of
the Equator, with keys for ready identification, life-histories, and
methods of capture. There are ten lithographed plates in color, and
sixty-four in black and white from photographs from life taken by (p. 221)
Mr. Dugmore, these being the first really successful photographs of
live fish ever secured.
KEELER, H.L.
Our Native Trees, and How to Identify Them.
Scribner. 2.00
A guide to the identification of the trees of the United States,
with three hundred and forty illustrations, more than half of
them from photographs. The book is the work of one who is a
tree-lover as well as a botanist, and besides being
scientifically accurate the book has a distinct literary flavor.
Invaluable as an aid to firsthand acquaintance with the
trees.--_Prentice and Power._
The volume is not too large to be easily carried while walking.
LUCAS, F.A.
Animals of the Past.
Illustrated by C.R. Knight and Others.
Doubleday. 2.00
The object of this book is to tell some of the interesting facts
concerning a few of the better known or more remarkable of these
extinct inhabitants of the ancient world.--_Introduction._
"Mr. Knight ... is the one modern artist who can picture
prehistoric animals with artistic charm of presentation as well
as with full scientific accuracy."
While Mr. Lucas did not, in this instance, write for children, they
greatly enjoy his descriptions, and are captivated by Mr. Knight's
pictures of the strange creatures. There is a very interesting chapter
on The Ancestry of the Horse.
"Said the little Eohippus (p. 222)
I am going to be a horse
And on my middle finger-nails
To run my earthly course."
NEWCOMB, SIMON.
Astronomy for Everybody.
Doubleday. 2.00
When a work, by an authority as eminent as Professor Newcomb, is
interesting to young people, and is to a sufficient degree within
their comprehension, it should certainly be put into their hands, even
if, as in the present case, it was not specially prepared for them.
PARSONS, F.T. (S.) (formerly Mrs. W.S. DANA).
How to Know the Ferns.
Scribner. 1.50
This companion to How to Know the Wild Flowers gives in convenient
form a great deal of pleasantly told information as to the names,
haunts, and habits, of our common ferns. They are arranged in six
groups, the classification being based on the frond differences. In
almost all cases the nomenclature of Gray's Manual has been followed,
and in parentheses, that used in the Illustrated Flora of Britton and
Brown is given. Indices to the Latin and English names and to
technical terms are included. The many illustrations are helpful.
ROGERS, J.E.
The Shell Book.
Doubleday. 4.00
Every person interested in shells has felt the need of a (p. 223)
manual of the shell-bearing animals of sea and land, comparable
to the comprehensive manuals provided for those who wish to study
birds or insects or trees.... The plan and nomenclature of this
book follow the accepted standard, The Manual of Conchology, by
Tryon and Pilsbry.--_Preface._
Miss Rogers has made an extensive study of conchology on the east and
west coasts of North America. The result is this popular guide to a
knowledge of the families of living mollusks, which is also an aid to
the identification of shells native and foreign. There is a chapter on
the maintenance of aquariums and snaileries. Eight of the plates are
in color, and ninety-six in black and white for the most part from
photographs by A.R. Dugmore.
ROGERS, J.E.
The Tree Book.
Doubleday. 4.00
Most of this volume is devoted to teaching us in an interesting manner
how to know the trees of North America. There are, in addition,
articles on Forestry, The Uses of Wood, and The Life of the Trees.
Sixteen of the plates are in color and one hundred and sixty in black
and white from photographs by Mr. Dugmore.
ST. JOHN, T.M.
Wireless Telegraphy.
St. John. 1.00
Theoretical and practical information, together with complete
directions for performing numerous experiments on wireless
telegraphy with simple home-made apparatus.--_Title-page._
SHARP, D.L. (p. 224)
A Watcher in the Woods.
Illustrated by Bruce Horsfall.
Century. .84
These talks about our small animal neighbors are full of descriptive
interest, and the accompanying black and white illustrations are
beautiful.
Mr. Burroughs says: Of all the nature books of recent years, I look
upon Mr. Sharp's as the best.
VOOGT, GOSEWINUS DE.
Our Domestic Animals.
Translated by Katharine P. Wormeley.
Ginn. 3.50
While this large volume gives much information in regard to the
habits, intelligence, and usefulness, of those animals which have
helped man's civilization forward, the text is not nearly as
interesting as it might have been made. The many illustrations,
however, are very satisfactory.