NATURE 



[November 3, 1892 



in the main a true rock basin, though its bed no doubt 

 is concealed beneath glacial deposits and the finer mud 

 brought down by rivers. This alluvium has been studied 

 by Prof. Forel, but into the matter we are unable to 

 enter. 



Both the origin of lake basins in general and of that of 

 L^man in particular are carefully discussed by Prof. Forel. 

 He examines, only to reject as attended by insuperable 

 difficulties, the hypothesis that it was excavated by the 

 old glacier of the Rhone. He shows that the subaqueous 

 portion corresponds in its general features with a river 

 valley, and is only a prolongation of that of the Rhone. 

 This valley was first defined at a very early period in the 

 uprisingof the Alps ; its excavation progressed with their 

 growth ; it was practically completed at a time when they 

 were higher, perhaps by some looo m., than at present- 

 Then the iake was formed by a general subsidence of 

 the mountain region, the lowland remaining compara- 

 tively unaffected. The movements of the parts depressed 

 may have been to some extent differential ; but this, in 

 Prof. Forel's opinion, is not a necessary assumption. To 

 us, however, it appears that it would be very difficult to 

 explain the rock barrier at St. Maurice between the upper 

 and lower plains without some amount of differential 

 movement. Prof. Forel's view, of course, is not novel ; 

 for it has been long maintained in England as a general 

 explanation of the greater Alpine lakes by a few geolo- 

 gists, who never bowed the knee to the glacial Baal 

 With their writings, however. Prof. Forel does not appear 

 to be acquainted, though they appeared in publications 

 generally accessible. 



The remainder of the present volume is occupied by a 

 discussion of the temperature, rair.fall, and general hydro- 

 logy of the Lake Leman region. It is full of interesting 

 facts and discussions, which we would gladly notice did 

 space permit. The book is well printed, and contains 

 many illustrations, together with a large map of the lake 

 on which the subaqueous contours are depicted. If the 

 book were less diffuse its scientific value would have been 

 greater, but Prof. Forel pleads in excuse that he aimed at 

 writing a volume which would be also acceptable to the 

 general public, or in other words, would combine meat 

 for men with milk for babes. As a comprehensive 

 history of a lake is a great desideratum, it would be un- 

 gracious to find fault with Prof. Forel's very natural 

 desire to secure a large number of readers and of 

 purchasers. T. G. Bonney. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Horn Measurements and Weights of the Great Game 

 of the World, being a Record for the use of Sportsmen 

 and Naturalists. By Rowland Ward, F.Z.S. (London: 

 Published by the Author, 1892,) 



In these days, when every one is striving to " beat the 

 record," it is only right that sportsmen should have 

 clearly put before them the results already arrived at as 

 regards the size of the trophies and the weight of 

 game-animals already obtained by their brother Nimrods. 

 No one is in so good a position to do this as Mr. Rowland 

 Ward, to whose well-known "jungle" in Piccadilly all 

 the leading shooters of the present day send their 

 " heads '' to be mounted and their " skins " to be stuffed. 

 It is, however, much to be regretted that Mr. Ward did 

 not take into his councils some brother "F.Z.S." more 

 NO. 1201, VOL. 47] 



versed in scientific knowledge than himself when he pre- 

 pared this volume, or at any rate did not have the proof- 

 sheets revised by some zoologist with a good knowledge 

 of the Mammalia. The consequence of this want of fore- 

 sight is that the nomenclature and localities upon which 

 the importance of the records entirely depends are in a 

 very confused state, and in many cases quite erroneous. 



Take the Deer (Cervidae), for instance. Of this family 

 a very correct and accessible list, drawn up by the late 

 Sir Victor Brooke, has been published in the " Proceed- 

 ings " of the Zoological Society for 1878, which Mr. Ward 

 would have done well to follow. But we find under the 

 Sambur {Cervus aristotelis) a head from "Java," where 

 this species certainly does not occur, recorded in the list. 

 Next to this (p. 10) comes the " Central and South Indian 

 Sambur, Rusa hippelaphus" (whatever this may be), but 

 three out of the four specimens assigned to it are from 

 Nepal ! On the other hand, several heads from Java are 

 attributed (p. 22) to Cervus rusa, which is merely a 

 synonym of Cervus hippelaphus. 



The heads of the large Deer of the Caucasus obtained 

 by Mr. St. George Littiedale are assigned (p. 28) to the 

 ked Deer {Cervus elaphus). But we have good reason 

 to know that they really belong to the Persian Deer (C 

 maral), quite a different species. 



Looking over the list of Antelopes, we find similar 

 errors prevalent, though perhaps not quite to so great an 

 extent. The specimens of the Chiru {Fanthalops 

 hodgsoni) are assigned to " India," whereas this Antelope 

 is only met with in the snow-fields of Ladakh and Tibet. 

 Nor can the " Takin " {Budorcas taxicolor) be properly 

 stated to be from " India." It occurs only in the Mishmi 

 Hills on the frontiers of Assam. 



These and many like mistakes are the more serious as 

 Mr. Ward's volume is well got up, nicely illustrated, and 

 likely to be frequently used by the sporting naturalist. 

 But the statements contained in it cannot be relied upon 

 for scientific accuracy. 



Der Pcloponnes. Versuch ciner Landesku7tde auf 

 geologischer Grundlaoe. Von Dr. Alfred Philippson. 

 (Berlin : R. Friedlander and Son, 1891-1892.) 

 Greece has hitherto been interesting mainly to 

 scholars, archaeologists, and lovers of art ; and no doubt 

 it is from their various points of view that the country 

 will always be most eagerly studied. The subject, 

 however, has also elements of attraction for students of 

 natural science, and it is to these elements, so far as the 

 Peloponnese is concerned, that Dr. Philippson has sought 

 to do justice in the present work. His results have been 

 obtained by direct personal observation, and are set forth 

 with admirable clearness. The book is divided into two 

 parts, the first of which is called " special," the second 

 "general." In the "special " part the author deals with 

 particular regions of the Peloponnese ; in the "general" 

 part he presents an account of the peninsula as a whole. 

 Dr. Philippson is a careful and accomplished geologist, 

 and has been remarkably successful not only in throwing 

 fresh light on the geological phenomena of the country, 

 but in showing their relation to the various orders of 

 facts which come more especially within the province of 

 the geographer. He has also excellent chapters on the 

 forms and phenomena of the surface, on climate, on vege- 

 tation, on the animal world, and on the population. In 

 dealing with the last of these subjects he has much that 

 is valuable to say about productive industry, means of 

 communication, density of population, and towns, villages, 

 and other settlements. The interest of the work is greatly 

 increased by maps and profile-sketches. 



Traite Encyclopedique de Photographie. By Charles 



Fabre. (Paris: Gautier-Villars and Sons, 1892.) 

 In a previous number of Nature (vol. xlvi. p. 464) we 

 noticed the first part of the supplement which M. Fabre 



