514 Recent Ornithological Publications. 



birds which we have seen, give promise that the book will be 

 most serviceable. The author shows that he is able to make 

 good use of some of the latest discoveries iu ornithology, such 

 as those of Professors Gegenbaur and Huxley and of Mr. Parker, 

 while there is proof also of his being an original worker iu the 

 same field. The book is well " got up ; " the illustrations are 

 wisely chosen and neatly drawn, though we could have wished 

 they had been on a larger scale. An English publisher looking 

 about for a book on birds generally which would be really worth 

 translating, would do well, if the market be not already stocked 

 (as is to be feared may be the case) with a worse article, to make 

 arrangements with the author for the reproduction of this work. 



Havins; said this much in commendation of Prof. Selenka's 

 performance, we may mention two other publications which have 

 appeared within the last two years and have not hitherto been 

 noticed by us. These are by Prof. Claus, of Marburg, and Prof. 

 Victor Carus, of Leipzig, respectively. The first* is a very difi'er- 

 ent sort of book from Prof. Selenka's ; and though we have no 

 reason to complain of the amount of space devoted to ornitho- 

 logy, the treatise seems to be considerably behind the age, and 

 contains many inaccuracies. The secondf is the product of a 

 transition period — -the author striving to " make things plea- 

 sant " between discordant classifications, and with the usual 

 unhappy result which attends compromises in any but social and 

 political questions. May we venture to rehearse one article of 

 our faith ? No ornithological system can in these days stand 

 the test of time which does not recognize as a cardinal point the 

 primary divisions of the Class as it now exists, the Ratita and 

 Carinata ; and any writer who intercalates the forme^r (call them 

 by what name we please, Struthiones, Cursores, Impennes, or 

 what not) with members of the latter is at variance with the 

 greatest principle that scientific ornithology can teach. 



* Grundzuge der Zoologie ziim Gebrauche an Universitaten und hoheren 

 Lehranstalten. Von Dr. Carl Claus. Marburg und Leipzig: 1868. 

 8vo, pp. 840. 



t Haudbuch der Zoologie. Erster Band. I. Halfte. Wirbelthiere, bear- 

 beitet von J. Victor Carus. Leipzig: 1868. Svo, pp. 432. 



