Abstract
ALTHOUGH in no sense a scientific naturalist—and, indeed, to a great extent ignoring the work of others —Mrs. Brightwen did good service in publishing firsthand accounts of the habits of animals—both in captivity and in the wild state—and thus helping to stay the flood of rubbishy works, compiled by those who had no real knowledge of their subject, which were only too common some twenty years ago. Perhaps the most remarkable feature in her career is the fact that her first, and apparently most successful, work, “Wild Nature Won by Kindness,” was not presented to the public until its author had attained her sixtieth year. Throughout her life she had, however, devoted all her spare time to learning all that was possible about every kind of animal that came in her way, whether home or foreign, and this volume was, therefore, the result of long and close observation, and this, too, in a thorough and exhaustive manner. When it is added that this, as well as the five other volumes bearing her name, was written in a bright and attractive manner, it is little wonder that it leapt at once into popularity, and also obtained the honour of being translated into Swedish.
Eliza Brightwen: the Life and Thoughts of a Naturalist.
Edited by W. H. Chesson, with introduction and epilogue by E. Gosse. Pp. xxxii + 215; plates. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1909.) Price 5s. net.
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L., R. Eliza Brightwen: the Life and Thoughts of a Naturalist . Nature 80, 426 (1909). https://doi.org/10.1038/080426b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/080426b0