112 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Mav, 19C2. 



it bus boeu proposed by Dr. Nitshe to j)laco tlio liollow- 

 liorned ruminants (inclusive of the i)rongbuck) and the 

 giraflVs in one group, and the deer in another. Tliis 

 arrangement lias the disadvantage of separating the deer 

 from the giraffes, to whii'h tiiey are evidently nearly 

 related ; and Dr. Gadow has therefore done good work in 

 bringing them more into line. Whether, however, he is 

 right in regarding the hollow-horned ruminants as derived 

 from the )>rimitive deer may, however, lie a matter of 

 opinion. One very important fact — ajtparently unknown 

 to naturalists, whatever may be the case with breeders — 

 recorded by Dr. Gadow, is that calves and lambs shed 

 their horns at an early age. The Bovidiv are thus brought 

 into nearer relationshi]) with the American prongbuck 

 (the (mly living ruminant which sheds its horn-sheath in 

 the adult condition) than has hitherto been supposed to be 

 the case. It is a pity that the editor of the abstract of the 

 paper did not amend such a very German term as " horn- 

 shoe" into "horn-sheath"; and he might also have 

 pointed out to the author that Uintaiherluw, and not 

 Dinoceras, is the proper title for an American group of 

 horned ungulates. 



An exceedingly interesting and suggestive paper by 

 Captain Barrett-Hamiltou written while on active service in 

 South Africa, appears in the February number of the Atinah 

 and Magazine of Natural Hidory. It describes certain inves- 

 tigations into the life-history of the salmou, and their 

 bearing on nuptial and sexual ornamentation in the 

 animal kingdom generally. Briefly stated, the author's 

 views appear to be that at the breeding season both sexes 

 of the salmon develop in their tissues a large quantity of 

 proteids and fats. By the female these are used up in the 

 formation of the ova. The male, however, has no need of 

 such a large amount of these substances, and consequently 

 they are worked up in the development of colour, abnor- 

 mal growth of the lower jaw, etc. On the same principle 

 the author accounts for the develojjmeut of a gorgeous 

 nuptial (or permanent) plumage in the males of many 

 birds, and the development of brilliant patches of colour 

 in certain male apes like the mandrill. The theory also serves 

 to explain the assumption of male characters by old or 

 barren females of many birds. Whether or no we accept 

 the avithor's views, wholly or in part, the paper contains 

 much valuable information with regard to the life-bistory 

 of the salmon. 



The fact that the lancelet (Branchiosfoma) has kidneys 

 apparently indistinguishable in structure from the 

 so-called nephridea of the polychcetous worms lias 

 been recently demonstrated by Mr. Goodrich, of Oxford, 

 the results of whose investigations are recorded in the 

 March number of the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical 

 Science. If, as is probably the case, the two organs are 

 homologous, the discovery has an important bearing on 

 the phylogeny of the vertebrata. 



According to a paper communicated by Miss Donald to 

 the Geological Society, the Palseozoic univalve shells 

 commonly described as Mwrchisonia belong to two distinct 

 types, the one having a slit and the other a sinus in the 

 lip. Whether those with a slit are in any wise related to 

 the shorter-spired and still living genus Fleurotomaria, 

 the author was unable to decide. 



The April number of the Proceedingg of the Zoological 

 Society contains an announcement that a pair of girafies 

 have been jn-omised to the menagerie by Colonel Slahon, 

 Governor of Kordofan. It is hoped that they may arrive 

 in London during the spring. The same number nlso 

 contains Mr. Thomas's description of the " iive-horned " 

 giraffe skins and skulls sent home from JMt, Elgon by Sir 

 Harry Johnston. 



j^otCcee of ISooits. 



" r>KiTi.-;il TvKoiM.vi'llin i;.'' J5y Albert I). .Midiael, F.L.S., 

 I.Z.S., r.R..M..s., etc. Vohime I. (London : Printed for the Ray 

 Society.) — This latest volume of the Ray Society's famous series 

 of monographs is a detailed description of the habits, structure, 

 life-history and zoological position of a group of animals which 

 is very little known. The most familiar representatives of the 

 '/'!/rii{jli/j)lii<l(i' are the ordinary checsemites ; but the family also 

 includes some eleven other genera which swarm in countless 

 myriads in flour, hay, wooden furniture and dead vegetable 

 matter generally. Duly a few of them reach ^'..tb of an inch in 

 length, and many are considerably smaller. The little creatures 

 here described are in many respects of very simple structure, 

 for they possess no definite organs of respiration, circulation, 

 sight, hearing or smell. They have, however, a marvellously 

 delicate sense of touch. They are of comparatively active 

 habits and are in no sense parasites. One of the most interesting 

 parts of the book is that dealing with development. The 

 Tiirogtyphidir pass through four well-marked stages : the egg, 

 the six-legged larva, the eight-legged nym])h and the adult. In 

 the nymphal stage some genera assume a curious heteromorphous 

 form known as Ilypupus. The hypopi attach themselves to 

 insects and other animals, and thus secure a very wide distribu- 

 tion. Even to those who are familiar with the refinements of 

 modern biological methods this volume will a|)pear a notable 

 record of an amazing amount of technical skill and patient 

 research. It is well illustrated by nineteen full-page plates. 



" The Sacred Beetle : A Popdi-ah Treatise on Eoyptian 

 Scarabs in Art and History." By John Ward, f.s.a. (John 

 Murray.) 10s. Od. net. It is well known that the beetjes, now 

 called Sniriihieux by entomologists, were regarded as sacred 

 animals by the ancient Egyptians. It has been suggested that 

 the habits of these insects in rolling about their balls of dung 

 were considered as typical of the revolution of the heavenly 

 bodies, while the re-appearance of the beetles after a sojourn 

 underground may well have symbolised the resurrection of the 

 dead which formed so important an article of the old Egyptian 

 faith. The scarabs described and figured in a beautiful series 

 of plates by Mr. Ward were representations of the sacred beetle 

 usually cut out of steatite and bearing inscriptions on the lower 

 Hat face. Kings and great men had their peculiar scarabs, and 

 these became the records of royal edicts, marriages or hunting 

 expeditions. The oldest scarab figured is one of Neb-ka-ra, the 

 First King of the Third Dynasty (probably B.c 4-212). The 

 use of scarabs died out after the Persian Period (about 500 B.C.). 

 j\[r. Ward draws attention to the likeness between the old 

 Egyptian " Kheper " whose hieroglyph was a scarabaeus, 

 and the modern (ierman " Kafer,'' our own Chafer, which is 

 commonly applied to such insects of the sacred beetle's family 

 as inhabit our islands, hardly, as Mr. Ward seems to think, 

 to the sacred beetle itself. Probably the earliest of these 

 ''scarabs" were the oldest representations of insects made by 

 man. At any rate, Mr. Ward's book cannot fail to interest the 

 zoologist, the historian, and the theologian. 



" A Text Book of Geology." By Albert Perry Brigham, 

 A.M., f.g.s.a., Professor of Geology in Colgate University. Pp 

 X. and 478. (London : Hirschfeld Bros., Ltd. 1SI02.) "This is 

 an elementary text-book for American schools ; and we may 

 conclude, from the absence of the printer's name, that it has been 

 imported ready printed in sheets into this country. Except for 

 the interesting references to American exam])les and deposits, it 

 would not find sufficient place in England besiiie the equally 

 compact class-books of Geikie, Lapworth and Jukes-Browne. 

 In the United State.s, moreover, physical geology and geography 

 are exceptionally well represented in a handy form by Davis 

 and Tarr, while that charming essay of a distinguished author, 

 Heilprin's " Earth and its Story,'' must already hold a consider- 

 able field. Like its American competitors, the present book is 

 well illustrated from actu.al examples ; the scene of mountain- 

 waste at Guttannen (p. 40), the unnamed delta on p. 68, the 

 author's view of the source of the Aar (p. U)'J\ and the glacial 

 hills and lakelets (pp. 207 and 272), may be cited as of especial 

 service. The book is simple throughout, and cannot lay claim 

 to any novelty of method ; but at the same time it is both clear 

 and accurate. The progress of geology has been watched by the 

 author, who has even given us on p. 1522, quoted from 

 Ruedemann, a "free-swimming colony "of Diplograptus, formed 



