60 The Ottawa Naturalist. [June-July 



BOOK NOTICE. 



Animal Communities in Temperate America. A study 

 in animal ecology — designed to serve as a reference work and 

 text-book. By Victor E. Shelford, Ph.D., of the Department of 

 Zoology of the University of Chicago. Illustrated with 300 

 figures, maps and diagrams; 380 pages, 8 vo, cloth; price, post- 

 paid, $3.22. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 111. 



A copy of this recently published book has been received. 

 Following the introduction, the work is divided into fifteen 

 chapters, in addition to which there is an Appendix (methods of 

 stud}"), a Bibliography, an Index of Authors and Collaborators 

 and an Index of Subjects. The chapters are again divided into 

 sub-sections, as, for instances, Chapter I on " Man and Animals" 

 — i, Introduction; ii. The Struggle in Nature; iii, Man's Relation 

 toNattire; iv. The Economic Importance of Animals. Chapter II 

 on ''The Animal Organism and the Environmental Relations" — 

 i. Nature of Living Substance; ii, The Relation of Form or 

 Structure to Function; iii. The Basis for the Organization of 

 Ecology; iv, Scope and Meaning of Ecolog}^; v. Communities 

 and Biota; and so forth. 



The book, which is designed to serve as a reference work 

 and text-book, is indeed a most valuable contribution to the 

 subject of field ecology. The material used by Dr. Shelford in 

 the preparation of the volume has been accumulated during ten 

 years of field-study, from the view-point of modern ecology, in 

 various parts of the United States, though most of the material 

 is drawn from the Chicago region. The habitat records include : 

 Lower Invertebrates, 32 species; Mollusca, 95 species; Crustacea, 

 54 species; Spiders and Arachnids, 80 species; Insects, 457 

 species, divided as follows: Aquatic Insects, 52 species; Orthop- 

 tera, 53 species; Hemiptera, 100 species; Coleoptera, 175 

 species; Lepidoptera, 30 species; Diptera, 47 species; Fishes, 

 75 species; Amphibia and Reptiles, 2 7 species; Birds, 85 species; 

 Mammals, 28 species. 



Much care has been exercised by the author in choosing 

 good illustrations to represent the various types of animal com- 

 munities and their characteristic modes of life. The printing 

 and the paper used in the book are excellent and the whole 

 subject matter presented in a most interesting manner. 

 Canadian students should find this book of much value in con- 

 nection with their work. 





A. G. 



