282 Recent Liter atui e \j^y 



of birds' eggs exhibiting some abnormalism, Mr. Jacobs presents us with 

 the results of his studies of one hundred and ten sets of eggs varying 

 in whole or part from the normal in size, shape, or color. The four 

 hundred and thirty-three eggs included in the one hundred and ten sets 

 are tabulated in such manner as best to illustrate their departure from 

 the normal, and under the heads of 'Time of Deposition,' 'Age of 

 Females,' and ' Fertilit}' of Contents' the author discusses the proba- 

 ble causes of abnormalism, giving much interesting and suggestive 

 information. The paper is to be welcomed as an effort to raise the 

 standard of contributions to oological literature, which too often consist 

 of mere enumeration of sets and tables of measurements. — F. M. C. 



Rowley's 'Art of Taxidermy.' ' — The origin of the art of taxidermj' 

 in this country could doubtless be traced to the establishment of Henry 

 A. Ward of Rochester. Having among his customers museums, colleges, 

 and other scientific institutions, which both demanded and could afford 

 to pay for high-class material, the specimens leaving his shops were pre- 

 pared after the latest and most approved methods. The house of H. A. 

 Ward & Co. consequently became a school for taxidermists and when 

 our museums first added taxidermists to their corps of assistants the 

 positions were often filled with Ward's pupils. Thus W. T. Hornaday 

 at the United States National Museum, and through him the late Jenness 

 Richardson at the American Museum of Natural History, secured posts 

 where, unhampered by commercial considerations, they could give 

 free rein to their ambition as taxidermic artists. With the results of 

 their work as it is displaced in their respective museums, the interested 

 public is fully acquainted. In Hornaday's case there resulted not only 

 series of beautifully mounted animals but a work on taxidermy^ which 

 adequately represented the development of the subject treated at the time 

 of its publication. 



About these two centers of activity in museum taxidermy there was 

 gathered a force of assistants who were given every opportunity for study 

 and experimentation. Among these was Mr. John Rowley who, as one of 

 Richardson's aids at the American Museum of Natural Historj^, developed 

 such marked talent for his chosen calling that on the lamented death of 

 his chief, in 1893, Rowley was called on to fill his position. 



'The Art [ of Taxidermy | By | John Rowley | Chief of the Department 

 of Taxidermy in the | American Museum of Natural History, New York 

 City; I Member of the New York Zoological Society, etc. | [quotation, seal] | 

 Illustrated with twenty full-page plates | and fifty-nine drawings in the text | 

 New York | D. Appleton and Company | 1898. 12 mo. pp. xi-f-244, pll. xx, 

 cuts 59. $2.00. 



" Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting. Scribner's Sons. 



