1S98.] Ihe Evohitionist in the Farmya?'d. 13 



in the chapter on the cat is the surmise that the markings of " Tabby " 

 and of some of her wild modern relations, such as the Ocelot, are mimetic 

 of the pattern on the back of a snake, the resemblance being specially 

 striking when the animal lies curled up, asleep, and open to the attacks 

 of large birds of prey. 



In the chapter on Cattle, Dr. Robinson suggests that our milch cows 

 were rendered serviceable b}' the forest-haunting habits of the old wild 

 cattle, whose females hid their calves in thickets while they went in 

 search of food, the milk therefore accumulating during the absence of 

 the mother. The full meal thus provided for the calf is contrasted with 

 the small amount of milk taken at short intervals by the foal or the 

 lamb that follows its mother closely and constantly. The cow's habit of 

 holding the head low is another habit of a forest species, used to peer 

 beneath the boughs of trees, and contrasts with the erect bearing of the 

 horse whose ancestors had to scan the horizon of the open plain. In 

 the Sheep and the Goat we have domesticated two evidently mountain 

 species with widely different effect on the animals themselves. For 

 while the sheep seems to have become so utterly dependent on human 

 care that the whole domestic race would die out were that care with- 

 drawn, the goat, like most of our animal comrades, is readily able to 

 revert to its independent life should the partnership with man be 

 dissolved. The Pig, like the ox, was primitively a forester. The 

 tendency to fatten, so highly esteemed in the domestic race, is traced to 

 the need of the wild swine to make the best possible use of their 

 autumnal feast of beech-nuts in preparation for the winter sleep. 



It is somewhat surprising to find, in the closing chapter, that the 

 explanation of the conspicuous white tail-markings of rabbits and 

 certain deer, as signals to guide the flock to a place of safety, is put 

 forward as an original theory. The meaning and value of such "recog- 

 nition marks" was brought out several years ago by the veteran 

 naturalist, Dr. A. Russell Wallace, in his well-known work on " Dar- 

 winism;" a book w^hich any writer on animal evolution should surely 

 know. 



The author states in the preface that his book is founded on 

 various articles which he has contributed to magazines and reviews, and 

 that though these articles have been entirely re-written, he has thought 

 it well to retain their " somewhat easy and colloquial tone.' Occasionally 

 the tone strikes the reader as decidedly easy and colloquial. " I may 

 just as well hold my jaw" in the donkej-'s imaginary soliloquy is too 

 suggestive of the costermonger. A word of praise is due to Mr. S. F 

 Dadd for the excellent illustrations which adorn the volume. 



G. H. C. 



A4 



