42 



NATURE 



\Nov. 15, 1877 



tiger comes next as " Neofelis," and the illustration is 

 hardly that of the short-legged meek- looking creature in the 

 Zoological Gardens. The jaguar, as drawn in the next 

 page is too long in the neck, but the rounded top to the 

 head is well given ; the anecdotes and general history of 

 this fine South American beast are beyond ordinary praise. 



Brehm has paid unusual attention to the smaller cats, 

 and the pages devoted to them are amongst the most 

 interesting in the book, and when telling of the lynx, he 

 gives a wood engraving by Beckmann of the common 

 form which is wonderful in its details of face- expression 

 and fur (p. 490). The Cheetahs, so interestingly numerous 

 just now in our Zoological Gardens, are fully considered, 

 and in the illustration there is the upward whisk of the 

 tail given to perfection, but the muzzle of the beast is too 

 long, and the fore legs hardly long and stilty enough. 

 Cryptoprocta concludes the Felidse, and Cams primczviis 

 of Cashmir commences a most interesting article on the 

 dogs. Amongst other beauties there is " Der BuUdogg oder 

 Boxer," and Mr. Bill Sykes would have been surprised to 

 have learnt that it is .called Catiis familiaris molossus 

 gladiator. It is "ein wiithendes, unzugangliches und 

 stumpfsinniges Thier." Then there is its relation, Mops, 

 with its sharply curled-up tail and black short nose, the 

 tiny tongue tip not, however, being shown in the engrav- 

 ing, which tells the ladies of the period that Pug's real 

 name is Canis familiaris molossus fricator. Amongst 

 other dogs a sketch of a pointer by Beckmann is capital ; 

 he is pointing, and just a little in doubt, the tail dropping 

 slightly and the head being not over-expectant. The first 

 volume concludes with the natural history of Otocyon and 

 Canis procyonides. 



The second volume commences with a notice of the 

 hyaenas, and although there is not much to be said in 

 praise of this contribution to their literature, still the 

 delineations of H. crocuta and H. briinnea place the dis- 

 tinctions between the species plainly. H. crocuta is 

 admirably drawn and the artist has managed to give it 

 the peculiar weak look of the hind legs and drooping 

 quarters of the caged animal. The Viverridse are shortly 

 treated, and one of the few doubtful drawings of the work 

 is in illustration of Cynogale bennettii. The genus 

 Herpestes, the habits of some of whose species have taxed 

 the imagination of Europeans as well as that of Eastern 

 races, follows ; it is judiciously described and the anecdotes 

 are good. The fur-yielding martens and their allies and 

 other small carnivora valuable to the furrier are well 

 illustrated, but Brehm had not the valuable volume on 

 their natural history, lately issued by the American 

 Survey, to learn from. The bears form a very interesting 

 part of the book, but many of the illustrations have the 

 positions of the animals rendered awkward by the 

 attempt to give prominence to specific and peculiar 

 structural points. Thus the polar bear in the water is 

 wretchedly done, thanks to the endeavour to render the 

 claws and narrowish snout very definitely comprehensible. 

 The moles and hedgehogs are fairly noticed, but want of 

 space begins to affect the treatment of these lower groups, 

 but Galeopithecus, very shortly described, is properly 

 placed at the head of the Insectivora. The Rodentia 

 are of course full of anecdote and light literature, but 

 Brehm's illustrations are by no means as good as those of 

 the other groups ; perhaps the most striking is that of 



Cercolabes prehensilis, A capital plate of the sloth shows 

 the short snout which almost looks moist, and for once in 

 a way amongst books of this kind, there is a truthful 

 rendering of the long narrow wrist with its two claws. 

 The essay on the sloths and ant-eaters is admirable, but 

 the anxiety to show the ipeculiar progression of the last 

 group, on the anterior extremities and the position of the 

 claws, has often led the artist to exaggerate. The Mar- 

 supials are well illustrated and with great ability, but we 

 miss some of Gould's most life-like sketches so familiar in 

 most popular works. The pages devoted to the Mono- 

 tremes contain the usual stories, and unfortunately were 

 written before those important additions to their natural 

 history were published, and which have lately been noticed 

 in Nature. 



The other volume (the ninth of the work) before us is by 

 Taschenberg, of Halle, and is a second edition of the part 

 containing the Insecta, Myriopoda, and Arachnida. The 

 species representing groups are of course well chosen as 

 types, and the author has often taken pains to place novel- 

 ties before the reader, especially in the way of illustration. 

 The short anatomical introduction is sufficient for the 

 general reader, but barely so for the young student. 

 Amongst unusual forms, or rather unusual to the common 

 routine of book making, is Mormolyce phyllodes, from the 

 upper hill country of Java, with its wide leaf-looking elytra 

 and long antennse, and the very common and opposite- 

 looking Scarites pyracmon. The burying propensities of 

 Necrophorus are told and illustrated, and there is a very 

 curious and striking plate of a mole hanging by the neck 

 in a trap, with a crowd of Silphidas (shield beetles) and 

 larvae, besides blow-flies, on and about it, doing their 

 best to turn its protoplasm into theirs. Some pests to 

 museum-keepers and housekeepers are especially figured 

 in the act of working away at a hare's foot which rests 

 on pen, ink, and paper Anthrenus muscermn larva and 

 adult, Attagenus pellio and Dermestes lardarius are 

 there in full enjoyment of their mischievous propensities. 

 The natural history of Lampyris, Meloe, and Sitaris, is cut 

 too short, doubtless for want of space, but their interest- 

 ing life cycles merit more attention than that of many 

 others which are barely more than mentioned by name 

 and might be left out. Apoderus longicollis, a Javanese 

 species looking like a cameleopard amongst beetles, and 

 unfortunately little known, has an interesting engraving ; 

 and equally good is that of the langkafer Brenthus. 

 Amongst the Hymenoptera the habits and nests of 

 Bombus terrestris, of Odynerus parietum, and of the 

 curious Belonogaster and the Sandwasp are very well 

 explained and drawn ; and great praise must be given to 

 the delineations of the life cycle of Othalia and Cimbex. 



The only fault to be found in the treatment of the 

 Lepidoptera is that the article is too short, but the illus- 

 trations are very good. A plate of a rush of a myriad of 

 the maggots of Sciai-a militaris is a strange subject, but 

 very effective, and the long crowd of closely-packed dark- 

 headed long things looks as if short work was to be made 

 of carrion. Amongst the leaf insects there is Mantis 

 religiosa preying rather than praying with a fly in its 

 clasp, and a host of larvae escaping from a mass of eggs ; 

 and there is an equally interesting cut of Bacillus Rossii, 

 one of the Phasmodea. A short chapter on the unsavoury 

 subject of Pediculi precedes a sketch of the Cochineal 



