474 



NATURE 



{Sept. 30, 1875 



a few chapters. These, however, are of less interest as 

 not embodying the results of his personal observations, 

 but being a discussion of the various well-known moral, 

 mental, and physical characteristics of mountaineers. 

 To these follow chapters on the influence of mountain 

 travelling on health, and detailed experiences of the appli- 

 cation of artificial rarefaction of the air in disease. 



With the desire of making the work as complete on 

 the subject as possible, the author has compiled a large 

 part of it from well-known writers, and recapitulates 

 much that is of everyday observation ; and these parts 

 have naturally less interest than those which deal directly 

 with his Mexican experiences. The whole of the facts, 

 however, which bear upon the question discussed are 

 conveniently collected together and put in an interesting 

 form for the perusal of the general reader, for whom, 

 however, much of it has too medical an aspect. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



The Royal Tiger of Bengal : his Life and Death. By 

 J. Fayrer, M.D. (London : J. and A. Churchill.) 



In this small work Dr. Fayrer gives a popular description 

 of the zoological relationships, anatomical structure, geo- 

 graphical distribution and habits of the tiger. Accounts 

 are also introduced of tiger-hunts, which well exemplify 

 the dangers to be feared and the precautions to be taken 

 in the pursuit of that large game, which even under 

 the most favourable circumstances cannot be followed 

 without a great amount of risk. The author's con- 

 siderable Indian experience gives great weight to his 

 opinions on many of these points, especially with refer- 

 ence to the nature of the wounds inflicted by the enraged 

 creature. 



Anatomically Dr. Fayrer brings to our notice a point 

 in the disposition of the claw-bearing or ungual phalanges 

 of the digits in the cat-tribe, which is not without interest. 

 In the fore-limbs, as is well known, these bones, when the 

 claws are fully retracted, bend extremely backwards in 

 order to allow of the claws themselves being protected 

 during progression. To so great an extent is this retrac- 

 tion carried, according to Prof. Owen, that the bone 

 passes back to the side of the second phalanx in the 

 same way that the blade of a clasp-knife may be said to 

 do the same with reference to each lateral portion of the 

 handle. In the hind limb of the tiger. Prof. Owen re- 

 marks that they are retracted in a different direction, 

 "viz., directly upon, not by the sides of the second 

 phalanges, and the elastic ligaments are differently dis- 

 posed." Dr. Fayrer finds that in the smaller Felidse, as 

 the Ocelot, the hind claws are constructed and retracted 

 on exactly the same principle as the fore. Such being 

 the case, either the tiger differs from its smaller con- 

 geners, or Prof. Owen is wron^. Till Dr. Fayrer proves 

 the latter, we prefer to assume that the former is the case. 



" Contrary to custom, I propose to give him (the tiger) 

 precedence of the lion. He is generally described as 

 inferior, though nearly equal, to the so-called king of 

 beasts ; but in size, strength, activity, and beauty he 

 really surpasses him ; and therefore, though he may 

 neither be so courageous nor so dignified, he is entitled 

 to the first place — at all events in India." Thus says 

 our author, and many of his descriptions fully exemplify 

 all the animal's best points. Nevertheless, though he 

 may be slightly greater in length, and is perhaps more 

 active, we considerably doubt his greater strength, and 

 as the work before us fully proves, we cannot say of him 

 as a recent writer tells us of the lion, that " it should 

 always be recollected, before meddling with lions, that if 

 you do come to [close quarters with them death is the 



probable result,'' the tiger having a much less dignified 

 habit, an example or two of which we quote with reference 

 to a case in the Madras Presidency, where a sportsman 

 wounded the creature more than once. " It charged and 

 seized him by the loins on one side, gave him a fierce 

 shake or two, dropped him, and then seized him on the 

 other side, repeated the shaking and again dropping, left 

 him and disappeared." In a second instance a military 

 man, " a most distinguished soldier and sportsman, when 

 following a wounded tiger on foot in the long grass, was 

 suddenly seized and carried off by the animal he was 

 seeking. He managed, however, to effect his escape 

 without having received any serious injury, and rejoined 

 his companions, who had deemed him lost." 



When so acute an observer as the late Mr. Edward 

 BIyth, with his great experience, expresses uncertainty as 

 to whether the lion or the tiger is the larger animal, Ave 

 may be certain that there is no great difference either 

 way. Dr. Fayrer tells us, " I have been informed by 

 Indian sportsmen of reliabiUty, that they have seen and 

 killed tigers over twelve feet in length." In none of the 

 special instances he mentions, in which careful measure- 

 ments were made, did the length exceed ten feet by more 

 than an inch. We quite coincide with the author in look- 

 ing with doubt on Bufifon's statement that one has attained 

 the length of fifteen feet. 



For further information on the above and kindred 

 points with reference to the Royal Tiger of Bengal, we 

 cannot do better than recommend the reader to glance 

 through the small work under review. 



A)i Introduction to Animal Physiology. By E. Tulley 

 Newton, F.G.S. (Mumby's " Science and Art Depart- 

 ment " series of Text Books.) 

 In more than one of the Science Primers which we have 

 lately had occasion to look through and notice, it has 

 been painfully apparent that the author is not nearly so 

 well grounded in the subject he is endeavouring to teach 

 as even some of his probable pupils. Some write on 

 human physiology without having studied human anatomy ; 

 others even do not know their physiology. The author of 

 the work before us is not one of these. It is accurate, 

 and therefore reliable. The descriptions are precise and 

 clear. The limits of space within which the author is 

 confined have, in some of his descriptions, made it neces- 

 sary for him to sacrifice clearness to a certain extent, but 

 this cannot be avoided. A novel feature of the work is 

 the addition to each chapter of a practical section, in 

 which directions are fully given for study, by the student 

 himself, of the more simple physiological and anatomical 

 points referred to. These directions are particularly 

 clear, and if carefully worked out by everyone who reads 

 the book, will be found to lead to a sound knowledge of 

 the first principles of physiological science. The illus- 

 trations, which are numerous, though mostly to be found 

 elsewhere, are well selected, and sufficiently large to be 

 distinct. 



Abstracts and Results of Magnetical and Meteorological 

 Observatio7is at the Magnetic Observatory, Toronto, 

 Canada, from 1841 to 187X. (Toronto, 1875). 

 In this thick pamphlet of 24.9 pages, Professor Kingston 

 gives the results of an elaborate, able, and discriminative 

 discussion of the magnetical and meteorological obser- 

 vations made at Toronto during the thirty-one years 

 ending with 1871, in a series of fifty-one tables. To these 

 are appended the daily observations from January 1863 

 to December 1871. While all the results of the obser- 

 vations, devised and carried out with so much care, and 

 extending over so long a period, are of very great value, 

 we would point to the wind observations as regards the 

 diurnal changes, but particularly in their relations to 

 differences of temperature, pressure, humidity, and cloud, 

 and to light, moderate, and heavy falls of rain and 

 snow respectively, as affording, from the fulness and 



