1898] SOME NEW BOOKS 127 



This is the more to be regretted, seeing that while the occurrence 

 df birds in particular areas must, in many cases, be a mere matter 

 of chance, the presence <>(' ether non-volant vertebrates, depending 

 as it does on quality of soil or water, temperature, dampness or dry- 

 ness, open country or forest, flatness or hilliness, will often illustrate 

 genuine differences in the natural characters of the areas treated of. 

 Therefore, working up from county faunas, we may hope to see in 

 time a scientific classification of British faunal areas, a work which 

 can only be done satisfactorily when the terrestrial vertebrates have 

 been very much more studied than is now the case. 



The book before us deals with the vertebrates, other than birds, of 

 the county of Essex ; and we may congratulate the Field Club of the 

 county on the charming little work its vice-president, Mr Laver, has 

 produced under its auspices, and may hope that so attractive a book 

 may influence other Kssex naturalists to take up the study of the 

 groups it treats of. 



According to the author's present knowledge Essex possesses 38 

 terrestrial and 10 marine mammals, 4 reptiles, 6 amphibians, and 113 

 fishes, but he expects this number to be considerably increased so far 

 as the marine mammals and fish are concerned. 



More than half the book is devoted to the mammals, and Mr 

 Laver has given us a number of interesting notes on the habits and 

 local distribution of the smaller members of the class, as yet so 

 insufficiently studied from the field-naturalist's point of view. This 

 seems to be the most original part of the work, not depending, as so 

 much of the remainder necessarily does, on 'records,' but on the 

 author's personal observations, and the qualities here shown lead us 

 to hope that we may see further contributions from his pen in this 

 direction. 



In his nomenclature Mr Laver has wisely followed Mr Boulenger 

 for the lower vertebrates ; but in the mammals, with a certain per- 

 versity, he tells us that he has accepted the rather out of date Bell 

 and Southwell for the seals and cetaceans, while he has consulted 

 our greatest authority on those very groups, Sir W. Flower, for the 

 ( 'arnivora, Rodentia, and ungulates, with whose nomenclature Sir 

 William has seldom had need to trouble himself. It is not Mr 

 Laver's fault that his book was written just before Mr Miller's 

 researches caused such a bouleversement in the nomenclature of our 

 bats, but we may hope that in any future contributions from him a 

 more modern system of nomenclature may be followed. 



A last word of commendation must be said for the printing, get-up, 

 and arrangement of the book ; while many of Mr Henry A. Cole's 

 Illustrations — notably the "Badger Earth, Epping Forest" (p. 42) 

 — are quite charming. < >. T. 



WlEDERSHEIM'S ANATOMY OF VERTEBRATES 



Grukdriss deb Vergleichenden Anatomie hi k Wirbelthiere. By Dr Robert 

 Wiedersheim. Fourth Revised Edition. Jena : G. Fischer, 1898. 8vo, pp. xxiv, 

 560. Price, unbound, 11 Marks: bound, 16 Marks. 



Both students and teachers of the anatomy of vertebrates will 

 welcome the fourth edition of Trot'. Wiedersheim's well-known 

 " Grundriss." Although the presenl volume is smaller than that 



