February 4, 1892] 



NATURE 



317 



ones could not be made. Some are excellent, and most 

 of the others are quite up to the level which ought to be 

 maintained in so important an undertaking. Of the 

 typographical style, it may be enough for us to say that 

 the publishers have succeeded in giving what they desired 

 to produce — a page in which the matter is at once con- 

 densed and legible. 



Altogether, the work deserves to be warmly welcomed 

 in England. Those who possess it will have within reach 

 the best results that have hitherto been attained as to the 

 meaning, the evolution, and the affinities of all classes of 

 English words. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 List of the Snakes in the Indian Museum. By W. L. 



Sclater. 

 This list contains the names of 350 species of snakes 

 represented in the collection of the Indian Museum, Cal- 

 cutta. Of the 350 a large majority, 210, are from the 

 Indian Empire (inclusive of Burma and Ceylon), leaving 

 6S forms that are known to inhabit parts of British India 

 unrepresented in the collection. When it is remembered 

 how rare and local many snakes are, how many species 

 are known by a single specimen, and how seldom oppor- 

 tunities of collecting occur in such tracts as the remoter 

 hills of Southern India, the Assam ranges, the forests of 

 Tenasserim, &c., which abound in peculiar forms, those 

 who have had charge of the Indian Museum may be con- 

 gratulated on having succeeded in bringing together 

 representatives of so large a proportion of the Indian 

 Ophidian fauna. The number of species represented in 

 the Museum of the Asiatic Society, the nucleus of the 

 Indian Museum, Calcutta, when the reptiles were cata- 

 logued by Mr. \V. Theobald in 1865, was about 120, so 

 that there has been an increase of 75 per cent, in 26 

 years. Altogether, as regards Indian snakes, the Cal- 

 cutta collection is probably only inferior to that in the 

 British Museum. 



The publication of the present list has naturally been 

 greatly facilitated, if indeed it may not be said to have 

 been caused, by the appearance, in 1890, of Mr. Bou- 

 lenger's work on Indian Reptilia and Batrachia, to which, 

 in his introduction, Mr. Sclater fully acknowledges his 

 obligation. A i&w species have been added by Mr. 

 Sclater to those described by Mr. Boulenger as inhabitants 

 of British India. 



This is probably the last contribution to Indian geo- 

 logical literature that may be expected for the present 

 from its author, who has, according to an announcement 

 in NATUREfor January 21, received an appointment at Eton 

 College. During his brief tenure of the Deputy Super- 

 intendentship, Mr. Sclater has done some useful work for 

 the Indian Museum, especially in completing the cata- 

 logue of Mammalia commenced by Dr. J. Anderson. 



W. T. B. 



The Living World : Whence it Came and Whither it is 

 Drifting. By H. W. Conn. (New York and London : 

 G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1891.) 

 In this book Prof. Conn undertakes to present a review 

 of the speculations concerning the origin and significance 

 of life, and of the facts known in regard to its develop- 

 ment, with suggestions as to the direction in which the 

 development is now tending. The subject is certainly 

 large enough, but the author has prepared himself for 

 dealing with it by careful study of the highest authorities 

 in biological science, and he succeeds in giving a clear, 

 impartial, and interesting account of the main lines of 

 inquiry connected with the theory of evolution. He 

 begins with a general chapter on the sources of " bio- 



NO. I 162, YOL. 45] 



logical history," indicating the meaning of evidence from 

 fossils, from embryology and anatomy, and from other 

 departments of research. He then expounds the various 

 ideas which have been suggested as to the origin of life, 

 bringing into prominence two propositions which may be 

 distinguished from mere hypotheses. These are (i) that 

 life arose in the ocean, and (2) that the first form of life 

 was the simplest possible condition of living matter, cer- 

 tainly simpler than any living organisms with which we 

 are acquainted to-day, and very likely simpler than the 

 simplest mass of diffused protoplasm. Next comes a 

 summary of the leading facts and speculations about the 

 origin of the animal kingdom ; and this is followed by a 

 chapter setting forth " the record from fossils." The work 

 is completed by a general view of the course of animal 

 evolution, a sketch of the history of plants, and a dis- 

 cussion of various questions relating to the probable 

 future of the living world. A Hst of references is added, 

 which will be of considerable service to readers who may 

 desire to study more minutely the philosophy of evolu- 

 tion. 



Adventures amidst the Equatorial Forests and Elvers 

 of South America J also in the West Indies and the 

 Wilds of Florida. To which is added "Jamaica 

 Revisited." By Villiers Stuart, of Dromana. With 

 many illustrations and maps. (London : John 

 Murray, 1891.) 



A GREAT part of this book relates to travels which took 

 place more than thirty years ago. The work is not, 

 however, less interesting on that account, for the im- 

 pressions recorded in it are reproduced from letters and 

 journals written at the time and on the spot. The author 

 writes without pretension, and has much that is attractive 

 to say about Surinam, Cayenne, Demerara, the Orinoco, 

 Trinidad, Martinique, and Florida. In the chapters on 

 Jamaica he combines the impressions obtained during 

 his first visit with those made upon him in 1891, when 

 he was present at the opening of the Jamaica Exhibition. 

 Mr. Stuart writes of this island with the strongest en- 

 thusiasm. " It is impossible," he says, " to exaggerate 

 its loveliness. The most skilful writers must despair of 

 conveying any adequate idea of its fairy-like charms." 

 He gives an excellent account of the progress made by 

 the people of Jamaica in the interval between his two 

 visits. On all sides he was struck in 1 891 by evidences 

 of industry and improvement ; and of the coloured 

 population he asserts that they seemed to him the 

 merriest and happiest peasantry he had met with in any 

 part of the world. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold hiviself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of ifiklXJKV.. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications.'] 



Cirques. 



From two or three of the criticisms of the views in my volume 

 on " The Ice Age in America," concerning cir(/ttes, I concluded 

 that there was some misunderstanding as to the thing signified 

 by the word, and accordingly wrote to Mr. Russell, of our 

 Survey, whose views I had adopted, and who has had wider 

 acquaintance with the facts concerning them than anyone else 

 in America, I send you his reply, which you are at liberty to 

 publish if you wish. I am sure all mterested in glacial matter* 

 will value a communication from so eminent an authority, and 

 will find that much light is shed upon the subject by his recent 

 explorations in the Mount St. Elias district of Alaska. 



G. Frederick Wright. 



Oberlin, Ohio, U.S.A., December 16, 1S91. 



