334 



NATURE 



[January 12, 191 1 



the first of a party of three young girls walking in 

 single file through the jungle was seized and carried 

 off by a tiger. Nothing daunted, the second girl, 

 seizing a chopper from the onfe behind her, rushed 

 in pursuit, and actually killed the striped marauder 

 by a rain of blows on its head. It is true that both 

 anecdotes rest on native testimony, but they seem to 

 )iave the impress of truth. 



Mr. Wilson's book is, however, by no means con- 

 fined to tigers, and will be found to contain a number 

 of more or less interesting observations on the habits 

 and character of many denizens of the Burmese 

 ju'rigles, from meloks 'downwards to snakes and 

 lizards. 



(2) Colonel Mockler-Ferryman's volume, on the 

 other hand, is a " tiger-book " pure and simple, and 

 for those who enjoy animal " autobiographies " is an 

 excellent example of that class of literature, for the 

 author appears to be thoroughly well-acquainted with 

 the habits of the striped tyrant, and records the 

 history, in what are supposed to be the animal's own 

 words, of a member of the race from cubhood to 

 mature age. Incidentally he mentions that there are 

 " castes " among the species, and that the sleek hill- 

 tiger, with a fully-striped coat, is an altogether supe- 

 rior class of animal to its fat, and often sparsely 

 striped, brother of the lowlands. An attractive feature 

 of the volume is formed by the eight coloured plates, 

 reproduced in excellent style by the tricolour process 

 from sketches by Mr. Harry Dixon. Whether when 

 a tiger has knocked over a sambar stag by a vigorous 

 rush, its mate would take a flying leap on to the 

 victim in the manner shown in the plate on the cover 

 of the volume, I am not competent to say, but the 

 action certainly looks like a somewhat unnecessary 

 display of energy. In the plate representing a tiger 

 clinging to the shoulders of a tame buffalo in the 

 arena of a native chief, the horns are of somewhat 

 antelope-like type, but we are told on p. i6 of the 

 text that the bufifalo in question, together with its 

 fellows, possessed horns of abnormal shape. R. L. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Anton Dohrn : Geddchtnisrede gehalten aiif dem In- 



ternationalen Zoologen-Kongress in Graz am i8 



August, 1910. By Prof. Th. Boveri. Pp. 43. 



(Leipzig : S. Hirtel, 1910.) Price 1.25 marks. 



Although the labours and personality of the late 



Anton Dohrn have been strikingly presented in this 



journal, the motives that led him to found the 



" Stazione Zoologica " and the influence he has exerted 



are matters of great interest, not to be exhausted by 



a single article. In a wonderfully artistic manner 



this aspect of Dohrn 's life is made clear in a speech 



delivered by Prof. Boveri during the Graz Zoological 



Congress last August, and now published by Hirtel, 



of Leipzig. 



In that pure, nervous German to which he has 

 accustomed us. Prof. Boveri sets forth the inspiration 

 that led Dohrn to undertake his life-work, the capacity 

 that enabled him to overcome difficulties of the severest 

 nature, and to win support of the most international 

 character. Now that it is done we are apt to forget 

 the originality, the clear-sightedness, and the zeal 

 which underlaid such a splendid success ; and it is 

 well that the man himself should be known who has 



NO. 2150, VOL. 85] 



raised on alien territory buildings that cover 2000 

 square metres, that enclose 250 rooms, and employ 

 fifty officials. The international value of such a 

 laboratory is imrnense, and the work is that of one 

 man who faced the forebodings of failure from his 

 father, friends, and colleagues, who strove against 

 misfortune upon misfortune, and who, in spite of this, 

 staked his whole interest in the ultimate success of 

 the scheme- The speech is one of lasting value. 



Fly-Leaves from a Fisherman's Diary. By Captain 

 G. E. Sharp. Pp. xi+175. (London: Edward 

 Arnold, 1910.) Price 5s. net. 

 Books about fishing, and above all about drj-fly fish- 

 ing, are so constantly appearing that the reader tends 

 to become critical, not to say fastidious. Yet we do 

 not think that the most fastidious will complain of 

 Captain Sharp's little book. The writing of it has 

 obviously been a labour of love undertaken by a keen 

 sportsman, and an ardent lover of nature and open- 

 air life. The episodes described are ordinary, and, we 

 had almost written, commonplace, but they are set 

 forth with the charm which is inseparable from the 

 descriptions of the really sympathetic student of the 

 life of a river. 



It has been the good fortune of the author to find 

 employment in a country town within bicycling dis- 

 tance of the water that he fishes, and, month by 

 month, he has been able to spend his days and half- 

 days of leisure by the river. Month by month he has 

 described his days, or some of them, for, "Even in 

 fishing there are sometimes evil days, but they are 

 not the days which we remember." The book is 

 illustrated with three really admirable pictures of 

 stretches of a chalk stream and a charming view of a 

 nameless Wiltshire village. L. W. B. 



Mating, Marriage, and the Status of Woman. By 

 James Corin. Pp. xii+182. (London and Felling- 

 on-Tyne : Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd., 19 10.) 

 Price 2S. 6d. net. 

 In an essay of considerable interest, the author re- 

 views the causes which have led to the development 

 of the relations existing between the human male and 

 female. 



The phenomenon of a relatively inferior female 

 bound to a relatively dominant male is peculiar to 

 man. The contention is that the marriage system is 

 the cause of human progress while at the same time 

 it affords an explanation of woman's physical and i 

 mental inferiority. Progress depends on the birth- | 

 rate. If woman is to be a highly developed breeding 

 machine she must occupy an inferior position, being 

 economically dependent on the male. Centuries o.f , 

 selection, for breeding purposes, of the feeblest, most ; 

 submissive, and patient of women have had a marked j 

 efTect. ' 



Mating, in which the woman was free, belongs to | 

 the first period of human affairs, and marriage tothe i 

 second. In the opinion of the author, the marriage | 

 system, fostered by militarism, has developed from the | 

 practice of communal rape, and the relation of vie- j 

 torious soldiers to captive women. According to Skeat. ! 

 the word wife is allied to vibrare, to tremble; hence! 

 wife means a trembling thing, a captive. The essay. 

 is interesting and the argument is well sustained. | 



Mother and Child. Being Letters from an Old Nurse \ 

 to a Young Mother. Bv L. M. Marriott. Pp. 126.^ 

 (London and Felling-on-Tvne : Walter Scott Pub- 

 lishing Co., Ltd., iqio.) Price is. _ I 

 In a small volume of 120 pages much sound advice 

 is given about the management of pregnancy, the' 

 health of voung mothers, the care of infants, the early 

 training of children, and other domestic matters. 



