I900.1 Notes. 249 



SOME RECENT I^ITERATURE. 



Text-book of Zoology, treated from a Biological Standpoint. By 



Dr. Otto Schmeii<. Translated from the German by Rudolph 



Rosenstock, M.A, and edited by J. T. Cunningham, M.A. Part 2. 



Birds, Reptiles, Fishes. Loudon: A. aud C. Black, 1900. Pp. vi. 



and 306. Price 31. 6f/. 



With commeudable promptitude, the second part of Dr. Schmeil's 



work has been issued to English readers, so tliat the whole of the 



Vertebrates have now been dealt with. The same plan is followed as in 



Part I (Mammals) which we noticed last month, a somewhat full account 



of a typical species of Bird, Reptile, or Fish serving as an introduction 



to the study of its Order or family. We notice with pleasure that the 



author advocates the protection of birds. The descriptions of the 



structural details, of the creatures in relation to their mode of life are 



excellent and stimulating, but there is regrettable weakness in the 



systematic treatment of the subject. The Lampreys and Lancelet are 



classed among the Fishes, and the latter animal is stated to occupy " the 



lowest stage in the Vertebrate division of the animal kingdom," while 



the account of " the Chameleon" would inevitably lead the student to 



imagine that there is but a single species of that group of reptiles. The 



numerous illustrations are, for the most part, accurate and attractive. 



G. H. C. 



White Cattle : An Inquiry into their origin ancJ history, 



by R. H. Wai^LACE, Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc, Glasgow, vol. 5 (N.S.), parts 

 2 and 3, 1897-99. 



Mr. Wallace's paper on the origin and histor}- of white cattle is full of 

 interest to Irish naturalists. Although he considers his paper simply as a 

 preliminary collation of data, he devotes over a hundred pages to a care- 

 ful inquiry into the subject, giving also a most useful bibliography at 

 the end. 



IVIr. Wallace seems to us to give satisfactory evidence that the commonly 

 accepted view of the so-called wild white cattle being the descendants 

 of feral prehistoric cattle is incorrect. Wliile his view is by no means 

 new, having also recently been advocated by Prof M'Kenny Hughes, of 

 Cambridge, Prof. Boyd Dawkins, and others, he thinks the origin 'of 

 white cattle can be traced to one or two sources. They come either from 

 white cattle imported in Roman times for sacrificial purposes or from 

 collections of white calves, which, being dropped by dark-coloured cattle, 

 were regarded in those times as a portent of good, and therefore care- 

 fully preserved. 



Throughout this interesting paper we find frequent references to Kerry 

 cattle, which Mr. Wallace considers a ver}- ancient breed, which has 

 remained in the same condition as it is now for a good many centuries. 



R. F. S. 



