230 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly Aug. 



The Field Naturalist's Library. 



Reviews of Books, Periodicals, Etc. 



Mammalia. By Frank Evers Beddard, M.A., F.R.S. London: 

 Macmillan & Co. Vol. x. The Cambridge Natural History. 

 Price 17s. net. 

 In our last issue we drew the attention of our readers to volume viii. of 

 this series, Dr Gadow's excellent 'Amphibia and Reptiles.' Volume x. 

 on ' Mammalia ' has now appeared, and it may be said at once that Mr 

 Beddard has produced, as every one expected he would, a most attrac- 

 tive account of this class. One would naturally suppose that Mr 

 Beddard's position as vice-secretary and prosector to the Zoological 

 Society of London would ensure due attention being paid to the habits 

 and characteristics of animals in their living state, as well as careful 

 study of their structure. The result is one all too rare in zoological 

 textbooks, a judicious combination of the morphological and physio- 

 logical aspects of mammalian life. Whatever morphological specialists 

 may think, the result from the field naturalist's point of view is most 

 pleasing. Not that morphology is neglected in this work, far from it, 

 but that in addition the reader gets an adequate idea of the distribution, 

 habits, and evolution of the more important animals of the class. 



Discussing the interesting question of the possible forerunners of the 

 mammalia, Mr Beddard concludes that " we shall probably not go far 

 wrong in the present state of our knowledge if we assign the origin of 

 mammals to some type which would be included in the order Therio- 

 dontia, or at least in the sub-class Theromorpha," reptiles belonging to 

 the extinct Permian and Triassic group. The question of telegony, on 

 which so much has been written in recent years, is not discussed at 

 length, Mr Beddard contenting himself with one reference to it as " that 

 rather doubtfully-occurring phenomenon." He might have gone further 

 and said that experimental evidence seems to point to its non-existence. 

 With the exception of this question, the section on the Ungulates is very 

 thoroughly done, for, as our author says, "a book upon the history of 

 mammals would be incomplete without some account of that well- 

 ascertained series of forms which seem to connect the primitive 

 Perissodactyles with the modern horse." 



Possibly the price of the volumes in this series may be a bar to many 

 field workers becoming possessed of them all, but as works of reference 

 for the field club library they are to be highly recommended, and all 

 secretaries of such societies would do well to advise their committees to 

 obtain the two volumes we have referred to for the benefit of members. 



The Face of Nature. By Rev. C. T. Ovenden, D.D. London: 

 John Murray. Home and School Library. Price 2s. 

 " The main object of this book is to afford recreation and instruction 



