7uly%, 1875J 



NATURE 



183 



Respecting the first of these animals, the statement 

 that " only one species of buffalo {Bubalus caffer) is 

 found in the southern part of Africa," is confirmatory 

 of the results arrived at by all other investigators. Their 

 abundance and ferocity when charging are much empha- 

 sised. 



Our knowledge of the African rhinoceroses is much 

 more imperfect than that of their Indian allies, and Mr. 

 Drummond's remarks on these animals must be looked 

 upon as those of a reliable and acute observer. We read : 

 "As far as my experience and inquiries have gone, I 

 believe, in accordance with the recorded opinions of most 

 travellers and sportsmen who have given any attention to 

 the subject, that there are four — two of the so-called 

 * white,' and two of the ' black.' " The way in which these 

 four species are arrived at, presents one point, at least, of 

 special interest. The first species is the Rhiuoceros 

 bicornis, " borele " or " upetyane," the smallest and most 

 dangerous of the four, it alone being in the habit of 

 attacking man unprovoked. The second is the R. keiiloa, 

 the " keitloa " or " umkombe tovote," the next largest, with 

 the hind horn, which is quite small in all the others, very 

 nearly as big as, or even sometimes bigger than, the fore 

 one. In one specimen " the horns, which were unusually 

 good, measured twenty-four inches for the front one, 

 twenty for the back." The third species is the R. simus, 

 " umkave," or common white rhinoceros, the largest of 

 all ; it is " remarkable for the great length the front horn 

 grows to, as well as for its gentle and inoffensive disposi- 

 tion." With this is united as a variety R. oswellii, in which 

 the front horn is particularly long and turns forwards ; 

 and we are well disposed to agree with Mr. Drummond 

 in thus laying little or no stress on peculiarities in the 

 horns when they are not associated with other characters. 

 For a knowledge of the last species we have to rely 

 entirely on our author. It has an independent native 

 name, which is in its favour, being known as the " Kulu- 

 mane." it " differs from the other species {R. simus) in 

 three important particulars : firstly, in its horns, which^ 

 though following the conformation of A', simus, never 

 attain to the same size ; secondly, in its measurements, 

 which, while considerably inferior to those of the common 

 white, are greater than those of the other two species, 

 while it is to be noted that it possesses, though in a less 

 marked degree, the long and prehensile upper lip which 

 characterises R. bicornis and R. keitloa ; thirdly, in its 

 food, for though preferring, as was to be expected from 

 the formation of its snout, the young tender shoots and 

 leaves of thorns, it also resembles R. simus in consuming 

 large quantities of grass. In its disposition it would 

 seem to combine the characteristics of the other species." 



The author was fortunate enough to capture and keep 

 alive for a short time a very young individual of the last- 

 described species, and he tells us that "if a specimen were 

 really wanted for this country [which most certainly is the 

 case], and there is not a single one as yet, I have no doubt 

 that the difficulty of finding a substitute for its mother's milk 

 — a serious one in a land where cattle do not exist on 

 account of the tsetse— might be got over by the sacrifice 

 of the lives of a few cows, for, as the bite of this insect 

 does not cause immediate death . . . they might be 

 brought down to the plains, and would probably live long 

 enough to take the young rhinoceros to the higher dis- 



tricts, where plenty of milk could be procured." It is 

 much to be regretted that Mr. Drummond was not able 

 to employ the method he thus describes so clearly, and 

 so put us in possession of an invaluable zoological 

 treasure. 



The light thrown on the question as to whether the 

 striped eland is a species differing from the unstriped 

 animal is but small, the author's experience being in 

 favour of there being but one. Both varieties are met 

 with in Amatonga. As to the elephant, its difference 

 from its Asiatic brother in the conformation of its skull 

 produces an important difference in the hunter's point of 

 view also. In the Indian species " the forehead presents 

 a certain mark, while in Africa it is quite impervious." 

 The following observations will also be read with painful 

 interest. " Slowly, but surely, this most useful animal is 

 being extirpated, merely for the purpose of supplying 

 Europe with ivory ornaments and billiard-balls, and be- 

 fore many years are over the inhabitants of Africa will 

 grieve, v/hen it is too late, at the short-sighted policy 

 which has allowed them, for the purposes of immediate 

 gain, to kill down the only animal capable of becoming a 

 beast of burden through the tsetse-infected districts 

 of that continent." The extreme difficulty of taming the 

 animal, the impossibility of breeding it in captivity, and 

 the rapid advance in steam-locomotive power, must, 

 however, be placed in the balance against the advan- 

 tages which the creature offers. 



The portion of the work devoted to the Hon and the 

 leopard abounds in incidents, many of which terminated 

 fatally ; so many, indeed, that we can hardly understand 

 how it is that the author places the upetyane {Rhinoceros 

 bicornis') before the lion in comparing the different shades 

 of danger encountered from the larger varieties of South 

 African animals. 



In conclusion, we strongly recommend this book to all 

 who are fond of sport and who require practical hints on 

 minor details before commencing a similar undertaking. 

 To the student of Natural History it will be equally 

 attractive, because of the clear and pleasing manner in 

 which it depicts the manners and habits of several ani- 

 mals in their native haunts, nothing respecting which can 

 be gained from any amount of study of the dry skins or 

 skeletons. It is by his knowledge of the habits of the 

 creatures which he is accustomed to meet, that the prac- 

 tical naturalist can frequently put the museum-student to 

 shame, and for this reason we think that works hke the 

 one before us ought to be studied by zoologists. 



Some of the illustrations are good, but many of them 

 are quaint and not always accurate. Why the head of 

 a Zebra introduces the chapter on the Eland, and an 

 Aard Wolf does the same with respect to the Leopard, 

 we are at a loss to understand. 



BRUSH'S ''DETERMINATIVE MINERALOGY" 

 Manual of Determinative Mineralogy, with an Intro- 

 duction on Blowpipe Analysis. By George J. Brush, 

 Professor of Mineralogy in the Sheffield Scientific 

 School. (New York : John Wiley and Son, 1875.) 



PROF. BRUSH has endeavoured to make the study 

 of mineralogy lighter than usual, and has in many 

 respects succeeded, but tmfortunately for the modem 



