LITERARY NOTICES. 



415 



the knees of the hind legs in a similar man- 

 ner to those of a human being, therefore a 

 backward kick would seem unnatural; but 

 the elephant can kick both backward and 

 forward with equal dexterity, and this con- 

 stitutes a special means of defense against 

 an enemy, which seldom escapes when ex- 

 posed to such a game between the fore and 

 hind feet of the infuriated animal." In Sir 

 Samuel's opinion, the intelligence of the ele- 

 phant has been overrated. It has a wonder- 

 ful power of learning, and hence can be 

 taught to perform a great many acts on com- 

 mand, but it will never volunteer any serv- 

 ice for its master. " There is no elephant 

 that I ever saw," he says, " who would spon- 

 taneously interfere to save his master from 

 drowning or attack. An enemy might as- 

 sassinate you at the feet of your favorite 

 elephant, but he would never attempt to in- 

 terfere in your defense ; he would probably 

 run away, or remain impassive, unless guid- 

 ed and instructed by his mahout" Sir 

 Samuel has evidently been fond of tiger- 

 hunting, for he recounts many exciting ad-, 

 ventures with this dangerous game, the in- 

 cidents of which make up a very full picture 

 of tiger character. He has also hunted the 

 lion, though evidently with less interest, as 

 he says that he does " not consider the lion 

 to be so formidable or ferocious as the 

 tiger." Bears he has hunted in Ceylon and 

 in Wyoming. He apologizes for admitting 

 the crocodile, which he numbers among 

 " vermin," to a place with the other animals 

 that he describes. But he makes a very 

 interesting chapter about them, in which he 

 states that he has slaughtered a vast num- 

 ber of these reptiles in revenge for their 

 killing his men. "On one occasion," he 

 says, "I killed a crocodile which, although 

 not longer than twelve feet three inches, was 

 very thick in the body ; this was proved to 

 be a malefactor by the testimony of two 

 bracelets and a necklace, belons-rina: to a 

 missing girl, which we found within its 

 stomach." Sir Samuel's chapters on deer- 

 hunting take us through Scotland, India, 

 Ceylon, and the Rocky Mountains, and are 

 full of interest, though without the danger- 

 ous situations included in the earlier chap- 

 ters. Besides the ways of wild beasts, some- 

 thing may be learned from this book of the 

 ways of the human inhabitants of the coun- 



tries in which the author has hunted. Judg- 

 ing, however, from the speeches he puts into 

 the mouths of American hunters, he does 

 not attempt to report conversations verbatim. 

 In conclusion, some observations are given in 

 regard to animals that have not been objects 

 of his pursuit monkeys, bats, wild asses, 

 and camels. A number of appropriate full- 

 page illustrations embellish the volume. 



Prehistoric America. By the Marquis de 



Nadaillac. Translated by N. D'Anvers. 



Edited by W. If. Dall. New York : G. 



P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 566. Price, 



$2.25. 



This valuable work was published in 

 French in 18S2, and the translation, modi- 

 fied and revised by Mr. W. H. Dall so as to 

 " bring it into harmony with the results of 

 recent investigation and the conclusions of 

 the best authorities on the archaeology of the 

 United States," was first issued two years 

 later. A popular edition of the translation 

 is now brought out at less than half the 

 price of the former issue. For the benefit 

 of those who have not seen the book, we 

 will say that it is a comprehensive work, 

 describing the human remains and the relics 

 of human workmanship that have been found 

 in both North and South America. Besides 

 the purely descriptive matter, discussions 

 are introduced concerning the origin of man 

 in America, the length of time that he has 

 lived there, etc. Thus, the first chapter is 

 a summary of the evidence tending to show 

 that man lived in America with the masto- 

 don and other gigantic extinct animals. 

 The second chapter sketches the discoveries 

 made in American kitchen-middens and 

 caves. The next two chapters are devoted 

 to the mound-builders and their works, and 

 review the questions that the discovery of 

 these remains has raised. In like manner 

 the relics of the cliff-dwellers and of the 

 denizens of the ancient pueblos are described. 

 Passing from the United States southward, 

 the author gives an account of the ruins of 

 Central America, and finally records the evi- 

 dences of ancient life that have been found 

 in Peru. He then proceeds to draw conclu- 

 sions from the material thus furnished in 

 regard to the physique of the early men of 

 America. The volume contains two hun- 

 dred and nineteen illustrations and has an 

 index. 



