SOME NEW BOOKS. 



Island Life : or the Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras, includ- 

 ing a Revision and attempted Solution of the Problem of Geological Climates- 

 By Alfred Russel Wallace. 2nd edition. 8vo. Pp. 563. London : Macmillan 

 and Co., 1892. Price 6s. 



We can now congratulate our readers on the appearance of a second 

 edition of this well-known book. It is, of course, difficult to criticise 

 a volume by such a master of the subject as Mr. Wallace ; but, not- 

 withstanding this, we feel that it is due to naturalists, who will hope 

 for a third edition, to point out in what respects " Island Life " might 

 possibly be improved. For the general plan and execution of the 

 book we have nothing but praise, and we must thank the publishers 

 for the reduction of the volume to a more handy size than that 

 adopted for the first edition. Those who often use a book of reference 

 such as this, are well aware that weight is a serious consideration, 

 and that it is an undoubted advantage to have the same material in 

 a smaller compass, especially when there is no loss of legibility 

 through the reduction. 



In the new edition of his work, Mr. Wallace has most carefully 

 revised the accounts of the natural history of the various islands 

 described, for eleven years have added considerably to our knowledge 

 of insular faunas. Turning first to Chapter XVI. (the British Isles), 

 as referring to a district especially interesting to home-staying 

 naturalists, we cannot help feeling that Mr. Wallace, with his exten- 

 sive experience of tropical islands and their wonderful endemic faunas, 

 is, perhaps, a little inclined to over-estimate the evidence in favour of 

 the existence of various endemic species in Britain. No doubt we 

 have a few such ; but that fifteen species of freshwater fishes are 

 peculiar to our islands we should be inclined to question, especially 

 when we remember the remarks made by Dr. Francis Day on many 

 of these so-called species. The passage (pp. 341-344) relating to 

 the various forms, of Sahno and Corregoniis remains as it stood in the 

 first edition, but some reference should have been made to Dr. Day's 

 opinion. Nowhere, however, except in the present volume, can we 

 find a list of all the animals and plants peculiar to Britain, and this 

 alone would make it a useful book of reference, whatever may be our 

 opinion as to the validity of certain of the species. 



The large additions which have recently been made to our 

 knowledge of the fauna of Borneo, Japan, Madagascar, the Gala- 

 pagos, and the Sandwich Islands, are all embodied in the present 

 edition. We should like, however, to have seen a fuller account of 

 the Malay Archipelago, and of various islands in temperate and 

 arctic seas, even if to introduce these, without increasing the bulk 

 of the book, it had been necessary to omit the chapters on Glacial 

 Epochs. Chapters VH. to'X. seem to us to be the least valuable 

 parts of the book, and we cannot help feeling that the author's 

 position is often considerably weakened by his excursions into the 



