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SOME NEW BOOKS. 



223 



which are supposed to justify the removal of the extinct Zeuglodonts 

 from the Whales. 



Beyond the circumstance that a large number of the newly- 

 discovered South American forms are described and figured, the only 

 point in the part devoted to the Ungulates to which we need direct 

 attention is in regard to the classification of the Perissodactyles. 

 Following recent American views, the author adopts a phylogenetic 

 classification, and includes in the same family such widely-different 

 forms as the modern Eqiiits and the Eocene Hyracothermm. On the 

 other hand, Systemodon, which is very close to the latter, is placed in 

 the Tapiridae. That these two Eocene forms may be the ancestral 

 types of the two families to which they are respectively referred, we 

 are not going to dispute for a moment. We do say, however, that to 

 include them in such families, and to separate them from one another, 

 is, to our mind, only confusing classification. Moreover, if we are to 

 have a phylogenetic classification, the author does not go far enough. 



Fig. 3. — Palatal aspect of the skull of Hipparion. 



Surely, seeing that the Condylarthra are admittedly the ancestors of 

 the Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla, there is just the same justifi- 

 cation for putting all three in a single group, as there is for refusing 

 to admit that there may be an Eocene family (Lophiodontidae) which 

 shall include the ancestors of both the modern Equidse and the 

 Tapiridae. As an example of the illustrations among the Equidae, we 

 reproduce one of the skulls of Hipparion. 



That the work (however much we may be disposed to differ from 

 it as regards points of detail) when complete will be of inestimable 

 value to the palaeontologist and zoologist, we have already had 

 occasion to say elsewhere, and our only regret is that the limited 

 cult of the former science in this country forbids the publication of 

 one on the same lines in England. R. L. 



Elements d'Anatomie Comparee. By Remy Perrier. Pp. 1,000. With Illustra- 

 tions. Paris: J. B. Bailliere et Fils, 1893. Price 20 francs. 



Zoological text-books seem at the present time to be multiplying at 

 a rate altogether out of proportion to the numbers of the students for 

 whom they are intended. This is not only the case in this country, 

 but also on the Continent. The commencing student of zoology has 

 so many works to choose from (we cannot, however, justly say that 

 there is an embarras de vichesses) that he probably ends by taking one at 

 random. It would be much better if the elementary student would 

 refrain altogether from purchasing text-books, and trust himself to the 



