lOO 



X.-i TURE 



[November 29, 1894 



holds good in the case of the parts already issued, we 

 should like, nevertheless, to see a little more method 

 displayed in the grouping of the species contained in 

 the forthcoming parts. 



In the second place, since more than one species is 

 now for the first time made public property, it may 

 prove as serious an oversight as it is an irreparable one, 

 that the exact date of the issue of the several parts has 

 not been permanently recorded on the title-pages. More- 

 over, these new species, instead of being rendered con- 

 spicuous as such by the familiar symbol n. sp., are ascribed 

 to Dr. Thorell, with the simple addition of the words 

 " Thorell MS." No doubt the considerations of courtesy 

 expressed by this ascription are worthy of all praise ; 

 but it will be as well to bear in mind that the species 

 arc for the first time described and figured in a work, 

 not by Dr. Thorell, but by Mr. and Mrs. Workman. It 

 is, consequently, within the bounds of probability that 

 some of us may feel inclined to question the right of the 

 latter two authors thus to constitute the former the 

 founder of these species ; seeing that his sole claim to the 

 title rests upon an unpublished suggestion respecting their 

 names, coupled with a privately expressed opinion that 

 they were new forms. 



We should also like to suggest that a little more pre- 

 cision in the printing of the figures would greatly add to 

 the value of the plates, without much increasing the cost 

 of their publication. If this and the other alterations 

 we have ventured to propose are adopted for the remain- 

 ing parts, it is certain that the work, when complete, will 

 rank as one of the most important contributions to the 

 natural history of spiders that has appeared in the last 

 quarter of this century. R. I. POCOCK. 



THE PLATEAU REGION OF SOUTHERN 

 FRANCE. 

 The Deserts of Southern France ; an Introduction to tlie 

 Limestone and Chalk Plateaux of Ancient Aquitaine. 

 By S. Baring- Gould, M.A. With illustrations. In 

 two volumes. (London : Methuen and Co., 1894.) 



THE region described by Mr. Baring-Gould, lies, 

 roughly speaking, to the south and south-west of 

 Auvergne, forming a kind of border-land to that country 

 and the Cevennes. .Most of it goes by the name of Les 

 Gausses. This is a limestone region, furrowed deep by 

 gorges, and pierced by caves. On the eastern side it 

 rises, in three steps, from the neighbourhood of the Gulf 

 of Lyons to the central iiuissif of ancient granite and 

 schists and of comparatively modern volcanic-rock ; on 

 the western side it falls, in like manner, to the sandy 

 lowlands on either bank of the Garonne. 



The scenery of these gorges is always striking and 

 often grand ; the finest canons being those traversed by 

 the Lot and the Tarn. Mr. Baring-Gould's first men- 

 tion of the former river may serve as an example of the 

 characteristic scenery. 



" Near its cradle it passes under the frowning Gausses 

 of Sauveterre, then it cleaves the limestone of the 

 Rouergne, and afterwards winds and writhes like a ser- 

 pent through the Gausses of '^uercy. Everywhere, at 

 every stage, it affords surprises ; the scenery is sublime 

 and quaint. On both sides the cliffs arc encrusted with 



VO. 1309, VOL. 51] 



castles and domestic habitations, built half into the crags. 

 Churches and towns stand on the tops of the cliffs, and 

 look down on the boats that glance by. In its sinuosities 

 it washes overhanging scars, without leaving soil at their 

 feet on which to plant a foot, whereas an alluvial meadow, 

 rich and rank, is on the farther bank : then, suddenly, 

 the capricious river turns to the opposite side and treats 

 it as the first. Consequently a road was only to be 

 carried up the Lot valley by means of tunnels and 

 bridges." 



Among the natural wonders of this region, its caves 

 and swallow-holes are not the least. These Mr. Baring- 

 Gould seldom ventured to examine in person, but he 

 quotes extensively from M. E. .-\. Martel, one of their 

 most adventurous explorers, and gives some excellent 

 illustrations. The latter remind us of similar features in 

 the Carinthian Alps to the north of Trieste, and in the 

 Carboniferous Limestone districts of our own country, 

 with which Prof Boyd Dawkins has made us familiar in 

 his book on " Cave Hunting." In exploring these under- 

 ground regions a human interest is not always wanting ; 

 for the investigator may come across the skeleton of a 

 suicide or the remains of prehistoric man, while the 

 stalactites are sometimes remarkably fine. 



It is unfortunate that Mr. Baring-Gould did not get 

 some friend, more expert in geology, to look over the 

 proofs of his book. His references to that subject are 

 often wanting in clearness and precision, and thus arc 

 sometimes rather perplexing. This is perceptible even 

 on the title-page, where he speaks of the " limestone and 

 chalk plateaux." But " chalk " /.f a " limestone," so we 

 conclude that the author uses the term in a limited sense, 

 whether it be the descriptive or the geological. But if 

 the former, then, so far as we are aware, the soft white 

 limestone which we call chalk does not occur in the 

 Cretaceous system of Southern France ; and if the latter, 

 some distinctive epithet, such as "Jurassic," should have 

 been inserted before " limestone." Such a statement as 

 this also is puzzling: "The lowest stage (of the Gausses) 

 . . . is of chalk with a layer of lias above it in places." 

 This is incomprehensible, unless Mr. Baring-Gould uses 

 chalk merely as a synonym for light-coloured limestone 

 (which he often does, unless we misunderstand him), or 

 some strange faulting has occurred (which seems highly 

 improbable). The following passage, also, will hardly 

 satisfy either a zoologist or a geologist : 



" The Dolomitic limestone is held to be coral rock built 

 up under water by the industrious insect that is at jjresent 

 forming reefs and islands in the Pacific. At the time 

 when these tremendous masses were composed, the lias 

 lay at the bottom of a warm shallow sea, and on its 

 banks the coral worm worked. Gradually the bottom of 

 the sea sank, and as it sank, so did the insects build 

 upwards towards the light and warmth. After a lapse of 



ages the whole was upheaved \s the construction 



is vertical, the structure is vertical, and as the coral 

 insects twisted and turned about sponges, masses of sea- 

 weed, and avoided cold currents, the whole mass of rock 

 abounds in hollows in which water accumulates, and in 

 passages through which rivers run. ' 



These, however, are trilling blemishes, which can be 

 readily put right in a second edition. The book is de- 

 lightful reading, and is full of interesting information, at 

 which we have only time to glance. Mr. Baring-Gould, 

 among other things, gives a good account of the curious 

 fire-hills of Gransac, produced by spontaneous com- 



