280 NATURAL SCIENCE [April 



his experiences, but will also prove of much value to those who con- 

 template similar wanderings. 



The greater part of the work is occupied with the narrative, which 

 is illustrated by many beautiful photographs and several outline 

 sketches. Then follows a brief account of the dolmens or cromlechs 

 of the province of Alava, with some sketches and plans, and this 

 chapter concludes with a list of all the known dolmens and similar 

 prehistoric remains in Spain and Portugal. The next 40 pages are 

 devoted to a condensed account of the history of Spain, with special 

 reference to the northern provinces. The final two chapters, occupy- 

 ing 50 pages, are those to which the naturalist will eagerly turn, as 

 containing Dr Gadow's valuable notes on the fauna and flora of the 

 country. These include not only observations on the organisms 

 themselves, but also a record and discussion of the native names for 

 the various plants and animals. These names prove of exceeding 

 interest, for it appears that the languages of the Basques and Celts, 

 the Romans, the Goths, and Arabs have all contributed to the 

 vernacular nomenclature. 



As the result of combined observations up to the present time, Dr 

 Gadow points out that all the animals now confined to the Spanish 

 Peninsula have their nearest allies in other European countries, 

 except a species of ichneumon of the African genus Hcrpcstes. This 

 is supposed by some naturalists to have been introduced by the Moors 

 to kill rats and mice ; but it is specifically distinct from any ichneu- 

 mons now living elsewhere, and there are other considerations which 

 suggest that it is truly indigenous to Spain. Very little is known of 

 the Pleistocene fauna, except from the caverns of Gibraltar ; but there 

 are many indications of a former glaciation of the mountains of the 

 Peninsula, and Dr Gadow himself has contributed an interesting ad- 

 ditional proof of the former prevalence of a colder climate in this 

 part of Europe by the discovery of mummified bodies of the lemming 

 in some caverns to the north of Santarem. 



The collection of plants identified by Mr Burkill comprises only 

 about eighty species, and Dr Gadow's notes only relate to seventy 

 more ; but several hitherto recorded forms are added to the flora of 

 the Asturian and Cantabrian mountains. 



A short appendix contains further etymological notes and a list of 

 works referred to in the text, while the volume concludes with a 

 useful map and index. 



Pkactical Botany 



Das Kleine Botanische Practicitm fur Anfanger. By Dr Eduard Strasburger. 

 Third revised edition. 8vo, pp. viii + 246, with 121 woodcuts. Jena: Gustav 

 Fischer, 1897. Price 6 marks. 



Teachers and students will welcome the third edition of Prof. 

 Strasburger's " Practical Botany." The arrangement is the same as 

 that of the two previous editions, but the results of experience gained 

 in the four years that have passed since the appearance of the second 

 are embodied in the third. The most noteworthy alteration is the 

 reduction in the number of objects to be examined in each lesson, the 

 author wisely remarking that it is better for learners to gain a more 

 complete knowledge of fewer things. Even as it stands at present, 



