MiscELLaNnous.—Pleasant Odes. By T. W. H. Crosland. (J. W. Arrowsmith,
Bristol. ls.)—Mr. Crosland is clever and amusing, though we do not see hOw we are to make this known to our readers except by asking them to take our word for it.— The Story of Bird Life. By W. P. Pycraft. (G. Newnes. Is.) —This is one of the "Library of Useful Stories," a series of which we have always had occasion to speak well. As Mr. Pycraft puts it, it would have been " wearisome in the extreme" to deal with individual species,—there are thirteen thousand of them known to naturalists. What has been done is to give some general information on the structure, plumage, &c., and to classify. We have, for instance, a highly interesting chapter on "Flightless Birds and their Fate." Mr. Pycraft, among other notable things, gives us some instructive examples of the work of evolution.— Hospitals and Charities, 1900. By Sir Henry Burdett. (Scientific Press. 5s.)—Here is an authoritative account of what hospitals and similar charities, at home and abroad, are doing, and what is the cost of their working. It is not too much to say that any one intending to benefit any such institution by gift, subscription, or bequest should begin by consulting this manual, and should certainly be cautions, if not hostile, if he finds it backward in giving information. If the public will co- operate with the editor in this—boycott the institutions that refuse publicity—they will have the reward of knowing that their gifts are well spent.
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