LITERARY NOTICES. 



709 



of American ornithology is outlined and di- 

 vided off into periods, from its beginning in 

 the seventeenth century to the present time. 

 The first edition of Professor Coues's "Key" 

 appeared in 18*72, in an issue which was not 

 stereotyped, and has been long out of print. 

 It was composed upon the same general plan, 

 and with the design of reaching the same 

 ends, as the present edition, but had an ar- 

 tificial key to assist in the reference of spe- 

 cimens directly to their genera, which has 

 not been found useful enough to justify its 

 retention. It answered its purpose well, of 

 giving such descriptions of species as would 

 enable the student to identify and label 

 them with no other aid than itself afforded. 

 It had a useful career till the issue was ex- 

 hausted and no more copies could be had. 

 During the twenty years that elapsed before 

 the present edition was ready for the press, 

 American ornithology had a great develop- 

 ment. The number of distinguished species 

 increased to nearly nine hundred ; numer- 

 ous treatises were published on the subject ; 

 a distinctly American school grew up, intro- 

 ducing important changes in nomenclature 

 and classification ; and an American Orni- 

 thologists' Union was founded, with mem- 

 bers in all quarters of the globe. In pre- 

 paring this edition, the classification and 

 nomenclature have been modified to suit the 

 growth of the science ; the author's " Field 

 Ornithology," published separately in 1874, 

 has been incorporated in the volume; the 

 outline of "Structure and Classification" 

 has been greatly amplified ; and the descrip- 

 tions of genera, species, and sub-species 

 have been made much more elaborate, with- 

 out loss, the author hopes, of that sharp- 

 ness of definition which was the aim of the 

 first edition and still having prominently in 

 view the main purpose of the identification 

 of specimens. The trinomial nomenclature, 

 for the designation of sub-species and varie- 

 ties — which " lends itself so readily " to the 

 nicest discriminations of geographical races 

 and the finest shades of variation — has been 

 employed with much advantage, but not 

 without a caution by the author against a 

 too free use of it. The references to au- 

 thorities, which were numerous in the first 

 edition, have been omitted, and their place 

 filled with additional notes about the habits 

 and nesting of the species. The present 



edition contains about four times as much 

 matter as the former one, and more than 

 double the number of illustrations. We 

 are sorry to observe that the author has not, 

 in his preliminary chapters, preserved the 

 dignity of style that is becoming in scien- 

 tific works, or in any serious work, but has 

 allowed himself to indulge too often in sen- 

 sational expressions and jokes that are not 

 always new or refined, to the unnecessary 

 expansion of the text, without adding to its 

 lucidity or its interest. The fault is not so 

 obvious in the descriptive part of the book. 



Mental Evolution in Animals. By George 

 John Romanes, F. R. S., author of " Ani- 

 mal Intelligence." With a Posthumous 

 Essay on " Instinct," by Charles Dar- 

 win. New York : D. Appleton & Co. 

 Pp. 411. Price, $2. 

 In these systematic studies into the sci- 

 ence of mind to which Mr. Romanes has re- 

 cently appeared as an original contributor, 

 the course of research breaks into three di- 

 visions. In the first, " Animal Intelligence," 

 which appeared in the " International Scien- 

 tific Series," the author devoted himself to 

 the general data of his subject, or to the 

 statement of the basal facts of compara- 

 tive psychology. The book is chiefly de- 

 scriptive of mental phenomena as ob- 

 served in the lower animals, and aims at 

 greater strictness than has hitherto been 

 attained in determining what is trustwor- 

 thy and what is doubtful among the alleged 

 statements of fact in regard to mental 

 manifestations among the lower creatures. 

 As the volume was, however, a prepara- 

 tion for the study of psychological theo- 

 ries, its facts were chosen with reference 

 to their bearing upon psychological prin- 

 ciples to be subsequently investigated ; the 

 law of evolution was accepted as the guid- 

 ing principle of the investigation, but the 

 elaboration of the theory was postponed 

 to a separate work. It was Mr. Romanes's 

 intention to devote his second volume to the 

 general discussion of evolutionary doctrine 

 as displayed in mental phenomena of all 

 orders ; but, as he proceeded with the in- 

 quiry, materials accumulated, and the sub- 

 ject expanded to such proportions that it 

 became necessary to divide the second part 

 into two treatises — the one devoted to the 

 evolution of mind in the lower animals, and 



