536 



NATURE 



[April 5, 1900 



anticipates conditions independently realised later in 

 time by that of certain Cetacea. Equally regrettable 

 is the application of the term " dorsal " to those vertebrae 

 possessed of free ribs. This term is one of orientation, 

 and "thoracic" would have been preferable, except that 

 in Diplodocus all the vertebras between the third or 

 fourth cervical and sacrum are rib-bearing. The old 

 terms " thoracic " and " lumbar " have ceased to be 

 tolerable in their original sense ; and in view of the 

 general presence of lumbar ribs among the terrestrial 

 vertebrata and of the importance, both morphologically 

 and physiologically, of the costal sternum, the suggestion 

 that in the future we must enumerate the parts of the 

 pre-sacral vertebral column of the Amniota in relation 

 to the sternum may be revolutionary, but it will assuredly 

 have to be adopted. 



Zoology is pre-eminently that branch of pure science 

 cultivated in the States, and our American confreres 

 have a partiality for "big" game. It is pertinent 

 to the present occasion, with its allusions to the Cetacea, 

 to remark that rumour reaches us that they have lately 

 come into possession of a complete Zeuglodon skeleton. 

 If so, we can desire nothing better than that it may be 

 monographed either in or on the lines of the memoirs 

 under review ; and we sincerely hope that the treasure 

 in store will prove a more genuine concern than that 

 of the famous giant Cetacean now preserved in the 

 Palaeontological Division of the Berlin Museum, which, 

 having been publicly exhibited in that city as a 

 mysterious creature of some 114 feet in length, was 

 proved by Johannes Miiller to embody the remains of 

 individuals of two distinct species, and by him reduced 

 to the less pretentious proportions of but some sixty to 

 seventy feet. 



We note that in the description of the Tylosaurus 

 limb (Fig. 9) the word " left " should read " right " ; and 

 that in the table on p. 212, the reputed length of 

 Diplodocus in metres is misleading, by omission of that 

 of the caudal vertebrae, which, if added, would more than 

 double the record given. G. B. H. 



A NATURALIST IN CHILE. 

 Temfierate Chile. A Progressive Spain. By W. Ander- 

 son Smith. Pp. x -I- 400. (London : Adam and Charles 

 Black, 1899.) 



MR. ANDERSON SMITH, formerly a member of 

 the Scottish Fishery Board, is well known for his 

 sympathetic descriptions of the wild life of the western 

 highlands of Scotland. In the course of a visit to southern 

 Chile a few years ago, the object of which is not clearly 

 stated, but appears to have been some study of natural 

 conditions, possibly on behalf of the Chilean government, 

 he made notes on the country from many points of view, 

 which are published in the volume before us. 



The author's style is original, and indeed a little difficult 

 on account of the wealth of simile and half-concealed 

 allusion which it displays, so that the reader's mind is 

 every now and then drawn from the matter in hand to 

 think who "Thomas, not the rhymer, but the proser" 

 may be, to marvel why Chile should be termed a " toy 

 repubhc," to recollect where the " comforts of the Salt- 

 market " originated, or even to wonder if " Fresh fields 

 NO. 1588, VOL. 61] 



and pastures new " — applied to a forest country too — ma* 

 after all be the correct quotation. The arrangement 

 of the matter in the descriptive parts is not systematic, 1 

 and one can only gather the dates of the visits to various :■ 

 settlements with difficulty and without precision, whichj 

 in a description of a progressive country is a real draw- \ 

 back. The map of Chile supplied, although clear and i 

 full for its scale, ought to have been supplemented by a ] 

 cutting from the Admiralty chart of the neighbourhood of j 

 Chiloe, the topography of which cannot be found in any ] 

 English atlas ; without a detailed map the description of I 

 the various short journeys is not easy to follow. '' 



Apart from these details of literary form and illustra- ] 

 tiaH^' the book is both charming and valuable. It deals ' 

 with a region of which little or nothing has been written ; 

 in English by any naturalist since Darwin's " Voyage " ; j 

 and it appears at a convenient time, for the Chilean 5 

 government is again exerting itself to induce emigrants ^ 

 from northern Europe to make their home in the new \ 



lands of the far south. 



The descriptions given of the civilisation, social life, J 

 and political systems of the Chileans are not attractive. \ 

 How far they are just we cannot say ; but it would per- | 

 haps be fairer to judge the people and methods of any * 

 republic in Latin America by comparison with those of | 

 the other republics than by any absolute standard or t 

 even by the criteria of Europe. Still, for any one who i 

 contemplates residence in Chile, the opinion of an observer \ 

 so competent and impartial as Mr. Anderson Smith is of J 

 very great value, and should be carefully considered. ^ 



The struggle of high culture with barbarism in southern :, 

 Chili is almost pathetic. Luxurious Pullman cars land t 

 the passenger in the midst of literally pathless forests, | 

 through which a track must be cut before a horse can '% 

 pass. Yet wires fixed to the trees allow of telegraphic ? 

 and telephonic communication with hamlets which lie "I 

 weeks apart for the traveller. One reads with envy of | 

 a postal system so generous that newspapers are carried I 

 free in the mails, and with disgust of post-office adminis- \ 

 tration so hopeless that letters lying in the head-office at \ 

 Valparaiso are refused to the addressee on application, | 

 in order to save the trouble of looking for them, and J 

 afterwards returned to Europe. i 



The thriftlessness of the lower classes, half or wholly \ 

 Araucanian, is horrifying even to one accustomed to the 1 

 not too enterprising crofters of the West Highlands. ^ 

 They live contentedly in houses or huts without furniture % 

 and in matters of food take little thought for the morrow ^ 

 or even for the day. Mr. Smith found a number of well- i 

 housed Indians with boats and fishing tackle at a station * 

 in Chiloe quite without food, and with the utmost difficulty \ 

 induced them to take out a net. The result was good— '\ 

 "A second draw produced a fair supplement, but was X 

 purposely taken by the lazy rascals where the chance was a 

 less. A further draw we could not persuade them to ^ 

 try. Why ? Because they would have required to carry "j 

 the fish to the house, a hundred yards or so from the river, I 

 for there were at least three hundredweight of beautiful \ 

 robalo some 6 to 8 pounds weight each. And yet these i 

 people were starving ! " ' 



The heavy rainfall and mild climate of the south of 

 Chile produces a forest growth of a luxuriance and variety 

 more to be expected in the torrid than in the temperate 



