Welsh Journals

White's Natural History of Selbourne. (A facsimile of the 1860 illustrated edition of the Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White.) Gresham Books (1979), pp 428, £ 4.25. Gresham Books are to be congratulated for reviving this illustrated edition, annotated by the Rev. J.G. Wood who also edited it by removing a few minor passages "which might have offended young minds". The views and observations of an 18th Century clergy man might be thought distant and trivial by today's standards but White's book is one which should be read by all who profess to be naturalists, whether amateur or professional. F.M.S. The Environmental Revolution. H.R.H. Prince Philip, Andre Deutsch (1978), pp 156, £ 4.95. This is a very readable collection of 35 of Prince Philip's speeches on conservation made between 1962-77. In each of the three sections of the book, The Natural Environment, The Human Environment and Man and His Environment the speeches are arranged chronologically so that the development of his ideas can be traced. In his usual direct way he demonstrates that, in his own words, "a concern for any part of life on this planet is a concern for all life". F.M.S. Handguide to the Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe. M. Blarney & R. Fitter, Collins (1979), pp 127, £ 1.95. Illustrations mainly excellent but in 127 pages a book cannot do justice to all Northern Europe; in fact distribution references to Britain are few and to Northern Europe non-existent. Although scientific names are in the text there is no generic key and the beginner will not find his first sundew, spurge or balsam in the illustrated but largely superfluous contents list. Nevertheless at £1.95 it is probably a good buy. F.M.S. Mushrooms and Toadstools. R. Rayner, Hamlyn Nature Guides (1979), pp 128, £ 1.95. Although many nature guides based on colour photographs are now available (and most, like this one, are of excellent quality), many fail because of the method of selection of species for inclusion. Ronald Rayner succeeds because he based his selection of 370 species on a statistical survey over 18 years of records from 250 plus sites. So from Conway to Caldey this may well be the fungus book for you. F.M.S.