over many of the most pictorial areas of 

 Spain, including Madrid, Toledo, Se- 

 govia, Sevilla, Granada, Pamplona, 

 Llivia, Montserrat, Barcelona, and the 

 north coast. 



November 25 — New Zealand 



Nicol Smith 



In May of this year Chicago Natural 

 History Museum opened a new hall de- 

 voted to the cultures of the Polynesian 

 and Micronesian areas of the South Pa- 

 cific. Outstanding in the hall are the 

 exhibits of rare materials from New 

 Zealand, including intricately carved 

 objects made by the original inhabitants 

 of the area, the Maoris. In this final 

 program in the Museum's fall lecture 

 series on travel and natural history, it is 

 the islands of New Zealand that are ex- 

 plored by Nicol Smith. The country's 

 scenery, its resources, its industry, and 

 its people all are subjects of his roving 

 camera. From the luxuriant forests to 

 the mountains that provide a play- 

 ground for skiers, to the maze of moun- 

 tain lakes and valleys known as fiord- 

 land, "New Zealand" is sure to charm 

 its audience with a brilliant proces- 

 sion of scenes. Many viewers will want 

 to complete their "journey" to the 

 islands by visiting the Museum's new 

 hall (Hall 7, ground floor, east), where 

 they may enjoy a closer look at the art 

 and industry of the Maori people. 



M. K. JINDRICH 



Guide Kiri gives Nicol 

 Smith a warm Maori 

 greeting. From "New 

 Zealand." The Maori 

 council house in the 

 background is similar 

 to the one on display in 

 the Museum's Hall of 

 Polynesian and Micro- 

 nesian Cultures (Hall 

 7) . To greet Museum 

 visitors, there stands 

 just within the council 

 house the life-like re- 

 production of a Maori 

 chief, who wears, like 

 Kiri, a colorful feather 

 cloak. 



F 

 R 

 O 



M 



HE 



Book Shop 



Living Amphibians 



of the World 



By Doris M. Cochran. Doubleday and Co., 

 Inc.: New York, 1961. 199 pp., 77 

 photographs in color, 143 in black and 

 white. $12.50. 



This is the most recent volume in 

 The World of Nature Series. The dust 

 jacket claims that the book includes 

 "... the most beautiful and informative 

 pictures of amphibians ever assembled." 

 For once I find myself agreeing with the 

 superlatives in an advertisement. As a 

 coauthor (with the late Karl P. Schmidt) 

 of Living Reptiles of the World in the same 

 series, I can testify that the photographs 

 sell these books. Why else would so many 

 people tell an author, "Your book is 

 beautiful"? If the pictures sell these vol- 

 umes, then Dr. Cochran's book should 

 have an outstanding sale, for the photo- 

 graphs are both spectacular and esthet- 

 ically pleasing. 



The text prepared by Dr. Cochran, 

 who is Curator of Reptiles and Amphib- 

 ians at the United States National Mu- 

 seum, consists of a survey of the families 

 of living amphibians of the world, a spe- 

 cial section on the biology of amphibians, 



and a section on the keeping of amphib- 

 ians in terraria and aquaria. The survey 

 is indeed world-wide and Dr. Cochran 

 has attempted to discuss the way of life 

 of not only common creatures such as 

 the tiger salamander and bullfrog, but 

 also many little-known groups of am- 

 phibians, such as the limbless, burrow- 

 ing, worm-like caecilians. 



Unfortunately the text is marred by 

 many minor errors. The professional 

 herpetologists will be aware of these mis- 

 takes but the lay reader will not. Despite 

 this defect the general reader will find 

 this a useful as well as beautiful book 

 because the amount of information far 

 outweighs the misinformation. 



ROBERT F. INGER 



Curator, Amphibians and Reptiles 



How to Know the 



American Marine Shells 



By R. Tucker Abbott. Signet Key Books 

 (No. 375): New York, 1961. 222 pp., 

 12 color plates, numerous text figures. 

 Paperbound, 75c. 



Two innovations distinguish Abbott's 

 pocket-sized volume from the seemingly 

 endless parade of shell books appearing 

 on the market. First, among the twelve 

 well-reproduced color plates are four de- 

 voted to illustrating living mollusks in 

 their natural habitat. Second, for the 

 first time in any shell book that I am 

 aware of, a digest of shellfishery laws is 

 included. The amateur collector needs 

 to be aware of the fact that in some states 

 the collecting of any live mollusks, whether 

 of commercial importance or not, with- 

 out a license is forbidden by law. 



Dr. Abbott, who is Curator of the Mal- 

 acology Department of the Philadelphia 

 Academy of Sciences, has managed to 

 pack a surprising amount of information 

 in his 222 pages. Included are 31 pages 

 on the natural history of mollusks; 16 

 pages on collecting, identifying, and ar- 

 ranging a shell collection; six pages on 

 how to organize a shell club; 135 pages 

 of descriptions of 403 of the more com- 

 (Continued on next page) 



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