Abstract
ENCYCLOPÆDIAS in one volume are not much in vogue in England, and this one needs but a short notice. It embraces the whole range of zoology, botany, and mineralogy, and seems to be the result of much laborious compilation and condensation. But surely such labour is all but thrown away; such a book can never really interest young people, or train them in the habit of attention and observation. If a new butterfly or fossil be met with, the book may perhaps be consulted, but will in all likelihood be found either to have omitted the species altogether, or to have given so inadequate a description as to make identification a mere guess-work. This is no fault of Dr. Griffini, who has worked conscientiously, and has been obliged, as he says with a sigh, to suspend all his scientific research during the composition of the book: it means simply that it is impossible in the given space to deal with any one species in a way that can be called either scientific or interesting. Here is an example—a description of one of the most singular and beautiful birds in Europe:—
Storia Naturale, per la gioventù Italiana.
By Achille Griffini, Assistant at the Royal Zoological Museum, University of Turin. Pp. 720. (Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1898.)
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Storia Naturale, per la gioventù Italiana. Nature 58, 389 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/058389b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/058389b0