JUIiluujniphicul Xuticcs. 405 



chosen. One or two small oviTsij^'hts \vc notice; lor iiistiince, 

 refrreiico niijjhf have been made to Howitson's figure of the egj; of 

 till' ('reain-coloiiretl Courser — the first over given — in 'The Ibis' 

 for ISoK, |)1. ii. fig. 3 ; and with regard to Dann's communication 

 to Yarrell respecting the nesting of the Broad-billed Sandpiper, 

 the 1st edition of ' JJritish liinls,* vol. ii. p. (J.Sl), and ]). (542 (fig. of 

 c^'^), should have been (juoLed rather tiian the 4th, in order to 

 mark the early date of tlic discovery. On the whole, however, the 

 •work is as nearly ])erfect as any book can be, and, although neces- 

 sarily costly, no ornitlinlogist would willingly dis])ense with it. We 

 are ghid to hear that Mr. roynting is j)rcparing a similar work 

 on the eggs of the British llaptores, and we trust that he may be 

 further encouraged to give illustrations, with eciually good letter- 

 press, of the eggs of all the birds in the British List. 



TrouessarCs Cutalorjue of Mammals. 



C'iit((hii/iiii Mammalium, (am Viventium cjiiam Fu.ssilinin. ]5y Dr. E. S. 

 Tkoi'kssakt. New Edition. Easciculi I. and 11., containing the 

 Orders rrimato.-!, Prosimitc, Chiroptera, Insectivora, Carnivora, 

 rinni^jcdia, and Uodentia (part). Berlin, 1897. 8vo. Eried- 

 liinder and ijon. 



Stock-taking is an important operation in all trades, and in no case 

 is it more urgently wanted than in Zoology, especially in Mammals. 

 Few qualified zoologists would, however, care to undertake the 

 enormous labour involved in the preparation of a systematic cata- 

 logue of all the known genera of Mammals, both recent and fossil; 

 and the thanks of all interested in this ])articular brunch of natural 

 history are therefore due to the author of this mar/num opus, Avho, 

 it may be hoped, -n-ill enjoy the health and possess the patience 

 and perseverance necessary to comi)lete his sell-imposed task. 



With the changes that are daily taking place in our conceptions 

 of zoological classification, and the perpetual emendations of nomen- 

 clature and descriptions of new forms that within the last few years 

 have almost revolutionized the study of Mammals, and have 

 rendered out of date almost every work on the subject before it has 

 left the press, it cannot be expected that any sort of finality will be 

 attached to the work before us. Indeed, although it is thoroughly 

 well up to date, it may be observed that several important modifica- 

 tions have already been suggested in the classification of more than 

 one group since the work went to press. 



With the general scheme of classification adopted by Dr. Troues- 

 sart — that is, the division of the class into orders and families — we 

 have no special concern, particularly as it is in the main that followed 

 by most English writers on the subject. Of far more general 

 interest are the author's modes of dealing with the burning questions 

 of nomenclature, orthography, and the limitations of species and 

 subspecies. 



