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page 79 that he advocates the use of peat and plaster of Paris, which latter is sure to absorb whatever moisture may remain in the skull, skin, or case, and ultimately crumble to pieces, so spoiling the specimens in which it has been employed. A better method, where the skin is of a very greasy nature, as in dogs, &c., is to mix plaster of Paris with sufficient boiled linseed oil to form a thick putty, which resists all damp, is capable of much finger manipulation, and dries as hard as a stone, besides being non-poisonous and possessing the requisite lightness which, in the ordinary lead putty are still desiderata.

With regard to plaster casts of fruit, &c., (pages 107 and 108,) a much neater and readier method of making the mould is to mix a sufficient quantity of bees' wax with rozin in a pipkin over & slow fire. It must be used whilst just lukewarm, by either dipping the fruit, say an apple, until it is sufficiently coated, or by painting the surface of the apple until sufficient adheres to form a good, strong coating, When cold, (dipping in cold water will readily make it so.) the whole can be cut through with a sharp knife, the halves of the fruit come out easily, and a perfect mould in two halves is thus obtained. Fasten the halves of the mould together with string, and smear a little of the warm material over the joint to hold it together, and cast your model in the usual way with liquid plaster of Paris, When set, place in a little warm water, when the mould easily strips off, leaving a model of the most perfect kind, and at small expense, for the mould can be melted up and used over and over again.

The remainder of the book contains many ingenious suggestions, which the practical taxidermist, as well as the enterprising amateur, would do well to carry out. Altogether, we must congratulate ourselves and Mr. Browne on the effect his book is likely to have upon taxidermy in general. The rubbish which for many years we have endured at the hands of self-styled taxidermists will. we hope, vanish before a more enlightened and careful manipulation of those beautiful creatures whose lives are so often sacrificed to the vanity of the collector, the sportsman's bag, and the follies of fashion. We sincerely hope that Mr. Browne's efforts to bring first-class specimens of his art into the houses of town dwellers will have a beneficial and humanising influence, and that his book, which in this particular branch of literature has no rival, will be well and widely read.—Wright Wilson, F.L.S., &c.

This is a really interesting, well-written, well-printed, and capitally illustrated volume. It is, we think, the twelfth report of the Society, (this should be stated on the cover,) and is not behind any of its predecessors in the additions which it makes to the Natural History of the neighbourhood of Rugby, or in the evidence which it affords of the thorough and interesting manner in which Natural Science is taught in the great School with which the Society is connected. Of fifteen papers read during the year, nine are by present members of the School.