200 [March. 



SOME NEW BOOKS 



"Paekee and Haswell" 



A Textbook of Zoology. By Professors T. J. Parlcei- and W. H. Haswell. 2 vols. 

 8vo. Pp. 1400, with 1173 figs. London : Macraillaii & Co., 1897. Price, 36s. net. 



There appears to be no end to the making of Textbooks of Zoology, 

 of one kind or another, to suit all sorts of readers. At one period 

 Germany was manufacturing them one after another ; at the present 

 time the French zoologists are bringing out three or four textbooks, 

 each on its own peculiar lines ; and now it seems that we are to have 

 a succession of similar productions by English authors. The generality 

 of these last have been translations, or adaptations, or compilations, 

 and if we except the " Cambridge Natural History " — which appeals, 

 perhaps, to a different public — we have had no really original English 

 textbook dealing with the entire animal kingdom in an adequate 

 manner since Huxley's two small volumes on the anatomy of the 

 vertebrata and of the invertebrata were published in 1871 and 1877 

 respectively. 



It is, therefore, not surprising that " Parker and Haswell " has been 

 looked forward to with expectation for some time. We welcome it 

 gladly now that it appears : it should be in the hands of all students, 

 and even teachers will find it of value. But a feeling of sadness and 

 regret cannot fail to come over us, as we open the book, and re- 

 member that one of tlie two authors did not live to see the issue of 

 his work. 



The first volume deals with the invertebrata, the second with the 

 vertebrata — in all there are 1400 pages and 1173 figures; and the 

 craniata alone occupy 523 pages and are illustrated by 450 figures — 

 which is sufficient to show the thoroughness with which the group is 

 dealt with. 



There is a good index at the end of each volume, and the whole 

 book is attractively got up ; the printing is clear, and the figures are 

 mostly good, many original and some excellent. We are warned, in 

 the preface, that we must not expect a very " up-to-date " book, for it 

 is two years since the proofs were finally corrected by the authors, 

 who lived 1200 miles apart, and were separated from their publisher 

 by half the circumference of the globe. 



The plan of the work reminds one of Huxley's once much-used 

 Manuals. A ' type,' or, as our authors prefer to call it, '* an 

 example," of each class is described in detail ; this is followed by the 

 " characters " of the class, and of the orders and suljorders into which 

 the class is divided ; the systematic position of the ' example ' is then 

 pointed out (too insufficiently to be of use, we think) ; and the general 

 structure of the entire class is discussed ; together with habits, dis- 

 tribution, and the relations of the orders and classes of the phylum. 



There may be two opinions about this plan, but as the book is 

 specially intended for a beginner, who has no previous knowledge of 



