Abstract
MR. WATSON expresses much contempt for what he calls “the dry bones of science.” We are not sure that we quite understand what he means by this expression, but it evidently does not imply that he dislikes results obtained by careful and exact observation. In the present little volume he gives ample proof that he often brings himself face to face with Nature, and that he knows how to interpret many of the innumerable signs and symbols which are readily misunderstood, or altogether overlooked, by less careful inquirers. Mr. Watson is especially happy in his notes upon the ways of birds; but he has also interesting chapters on mice, voles, and shrews, on red deer, fallow, and roe, on British seals, on British furbearers, and on “Nature by night.” There is not much that is absolutely new in any of the information he has brought together; but his descriptions are so fresh—they suggest so vividly the idea of happy hours spent among attractive scenes in the open air—that they will give genuine pleasure to everyone who reads them. The book will be especially interesting to young readers, who will be glad to learn that it depends very much upon themselves, according to Mr. Watson, whether they shall be on terms of intimacy with the wildest woodland creatures. Mr. Watson thinks that the power of attracting wild creatures was once a much more common possession than it is now.
Sylvan Folk.
By John Watson. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1889.)
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[Book Reviews]. Nature 40, 221 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/040221a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/040221a0