150 



NATURE 



\_Dec. 13, 1888 



The Philippine " Tamarao." 



In 1878 I reported in a letter to Dr. Sclater, the ex'stence of 

 a species of Anoa in the Island of Mindoro, on the strength of 

 an example of the Tamarao la^:elIed Anoa depressicornis in a 

 Mu«.eum at Manilla. Having since seen living specimens of the 

 Celebean Anoa, I have no hesitation in affirming that the latter 

 animal has not even a sujierficial resemblance to the Tamarao 

 ■which I saw at Manilla. I have now no doubt that the Tamarao 

 of th^ Manilla Museum is a buffalo, — not, however, an immature 

 example of the common buffalo, as has been suggested, but a 

 distinct specie*, with short flattened horns sloping directly 

 backwards. A. H. Everett. 



,4,^ York Terrace, Regent's Paik. 



A Pheasant attacking a Gamekeeper. 



As the keeper was walking home, a distance of half a mile, 

 through the plantations near his cottage, a pheasant flew at him 

 three times, attacking his legs in a most savage manner. The 

 keeper got to his cottage wiih the pheasant after him, and called 

 his wife out to witness the incident. 



The keeper was able to secure the pheasant and return it to 

 the cover. I should be glad to know if such conduct is 

 exceptional on the part of game birds. M. H. Maw. 



Walk House, Barrow, Hull, Novenxber 30. 



THE MORPHOLOGY OF BIRDS} 

 I. 

 'y HIS magnificent work, consisting of two folio volumes, 

 -»• with more than 1700 pages of closely printed text, 

 and illustrated by more than thirty artistically executed 

 plates, is the latest of the '' Bijdragen tot de liierkunde " 

 (" Contributions to the Knowledge of Animals "), published 

 by the Royal Zoological Society, Natura Artis Magistra, 

 of Amsterdam, on its fiftieth anniversary. It is the parting 

 gift to that Society of its grateful author, who, one of 

 Prof Gegenbaur's ablest pupils, now fills the Chair of 

 Anatomy in the University of Jena ; and it is needless to 

 say that the publication of so monumental a work reflects 

 the highest credit upon the Society of Amsterdam. It is 

 monumental not merely from its bulk, but chiefly from the 

 enormous amount of information it contains, much of it 

 bearing upon some of the most deeply-rooted questions of 

 importance to the general morphologist, and above all on 

 tite natural affinities— that is to say, the phylogeny — of 

 birds both living and extinct. 



In what follows I make no attempt at a critical review, 

 bwt give as complete a summary as possible of Prof. 

 Fuerbringer's work, which I trust will be acceptable to 

 English readers, for few of them will have the opportunity 

 of seeing these costly and weighty volumes, or the per- 

 severance to master their contents, and yet it cannot be 

 but that many would like to know the results at which the 

 author's investigations have led him to arrive. 

 . The whole work consists of two parts. 



T/ie special part com\)nse.s the first 837 pages, and is 

 devoted to a minute and most comprehensive description 

 of the bones, nerves, and muscles of the avian shoulder- 

 girdle in the widest sense. The investigations extend 

 over many hundreds of birds of all orders and families ; 

 frequently numerous specimens of the same species 

 hive been examined in order to ascertain the extent of 

 individual variability. 



The author justly asks himself if it is not too much to 

 olpfer such a bewildering mass of mere detail to the public ; 

 byt he considers it indispensable that the reader, who may 

 not easily yield acceptance to the generalizations, should 

 be offered the fullest opportunity to re examine the facts 

 in detail, and to follow step by step the road which has 

 led the author to his conclusions. 



' '■ Untersuchungen zur Morj hologie und Systemalik der Voegel, zugleich 

 ein Beitrag zur Anatomic der Stiietz- und Bewegungsorgane." Von Max 

 J'uerbringer, Professor der Anatomie, und Direkt ^r des anatomischen 

 Inst.tutes und des Museum Vrolik der Universitaet zu Amsterdam. Mit 

 30 Tafe!u. (Amsterdam : T. van Holkema, 1888 ) 



At the same time, it must be borne in mind that the first, 

 part of the work is not merely descriptive, but that it con- 

 tains a series of complete essays on the morphology of 

 the organs under consideration. The treatment of the 

 structure, development, and modifications of the sternum, 

 for instance, takes up not less than 78 pages. In the 

 myological part particular attention has been bestowed 

 upon the proper naming and homologizing of the muscles. 

 The descriptive detail deposited in the special part has 

 been used in the second or generalizing part as the 

 material for reflections. These' lead {a) to' morphological 

 results, which are important chiefly for the phylogenesis 

 of the skeletal, nervous, and muscular systems ; {b) they 

 form a basis for a new systematic arrangement of birds. 

 Physiological questions are less dwelt upon, but there are 

 numerous contemplations on the theory of flight, and a 

 remarkable chapter on cold' and warm-bloodedness. 



The author remarks that the study of the morphology 

 of birds well repays the labour bestowed upon it, not so 

 much because of the great or fundamental variety which 

 this class of vertebrates exhibits, but rather because 

 several organic systems have reached a height of develop' 

 ment which they have not attained in any other class of 

 animals. We often find a richness of organic differentia- 

 tions within the limits of small groups of birds. It is 

 therefore possible to form a judgment, approaching almost 

 to certainty, as to the primary or secondary significance 

 of these differences. It is interesting to follow the steps 

 which lead to such astonishing heights of specialization. 



Pp. 839 996 are devoted to results and reflections of 

 general morphological importance. For instance, the 

 changes in the configuration of the sternum which are 

 brought about by the modifications of the muscles of the 

 pectoral girdle. There is not unfrequently an apparent 

 discord between the passive or skeletal and the active or 

 muscular elements ; of these the latter are by far the more 

 progressive, so that the more conservative skeletal parts 

 have not always kept step with the newly introduced 

 changes of the muscles. An example of this is afforded 

 by the wings. By the reduction of the wing, beginning 

 at the distal tend, those muscles are first affected which 

 arise from the wing bones, next are affected the bones 

 themselves, and lastly those muscles which are inserted 

 on the same (p. 855). 



Syndesmnlogy receives much attention, chiefly by an 

 extensive treatment of the shoulder-joint. Joints are 

 certainly not formed by the action of the muscles during 

 embryonic life, but they are phylogenetically preformed, 

 and only during the post-embryonic stages can the finer 

 configuration of the joints be modelled and influenced by 

 the muscles. 



P. 862. — Questions of the greatest importance are in- 

 volved in the transformation of mere ligamentous con- 

 nections into symphyses and joints, with the accompanying 

 neoblastic appearance of cartilage. This new cartilage 

 is either homoblastic or heteroblastic. It arises from 

 latent cartilaginous cells, as is the case with the addition 

 of new vertebrae at the end of the Ophidian tail, and prob- 

 ably with the multiplication of the Cetacean phalanges ; 

 or the cartilage is due to transformation of periosteal cells, 

 like the patella ulnaris. In such cases the original liga-. 

 ment can be supplanted by bone. On the other hand, the . 

 clavicle is sometimes transformed into a ligamentum 

 claviculare. 



Fasciae are often strengthened into aponeuroses and 

 into tendons ; they are used as such, not only by their 

 own muscle, but also by neighbouring ones, and this leads 

 to the formation of paratcnons or tendinous slips. Birds' 

 afford numerous instances in which muscles have gained 

 extra support by " anchoring " themselves to neighbouring 

 fasciae. 



Pp. 877-82 treat of sesamoid bodies, of which the 

 author recognizes three sorts, (i) Skeletogenoijs sesa- 

 moids, like the pisiform bone, are, strictly speaking, not 



