VIII 



Supplement to "Nature," February 5, 1903. 



the four months February, May, August and November, 

 and also mean monthly charts of the North Atlantic for 

 each month, showing the pressures for every five-degree 

 square. 



Not only do the charts give information on the numer- 

 ous meteorological elements such as temperature, wind 

 tracks of storms, rain, &c, but they refer to the depths, 

 temperature at different depths, specific gravity, currents, 

 &c, of the water in this ocean, the magnetic elements 

 for the year 1902, mean ship routes for two seasons of 

 the year, and the distribution and chief hunting grounds 

 of the most important species of whales. 



A word further may be said in praise of the reproduc- 

 tion of the maps, which are all neatly and distinctly 

 coloured, and on scales which are sufficiently large for 

 the purposes for which they are intended. 



Both the distinguished director of the Deutsche 

 Seewarte and his co-workers are to be congratulated on 

 the completion of this important work, and for their 

 successful efforts in bringing before the world in such a 

 concise form the results of so many observations. British 

 meteorologists and sailors will certainly find this work 

 of great utility, and they, like the present writer, will no 

 doubt appreciate the service that has been rendered by 

 their German confreres at the Seewarte. 



W. J. S. L. 



THE WANDERINGS OE A NATURALIST. 

 A us den Wanderjahren eincs Na/urforsc/iers, Reise?i und 



Forscliungen in Afrika, Asien und Amerika, nebst 



daran ankniipfenden meist ornithologischen Studien. 



Von Ernst Hartert. Pp. xiii + 329. (Berlin : Fried- 



I.uider und Sohn ; London : Porter, 1901-2.) 

 A SHORT time ago (Nature, vol. Ixiv. p. 249, July 

 1 *■ Hi '9 OI )i we called attention to the scientific 

 work carried on at the Tring Museum and to its excellent 

 results as regards the advancement of zoology. In 

 Novitates Zoologicae, the organ of that institution, has 

 been lately published a series of articles written by Mr. 

 Ernst Hartert (one of Mr. Rothschild's staff of naturalists, 

 whose name is well known to all zoologists), containing 

 an account of the various expeditions which he has made, 

 in the intervals of a very busy life, to the tropics of three 

 continents. These articles are reprinted in the volume 

 now before us, and are accompanied by some excellent 

 illustrations. 



Before noticing this work, we may express some regret 

 that Mr. Hartert did not write it in English, with which 

 language, we believe, he is quite as familiar as with his 

 native tongue. All educated Germans can read English ; 

 but it is a fact, we regret to say, that many highly 

 educated Englishmen do not read German with facility, 

 although they may be able to comprehend its general 

 meaning. By writing in English, we believe, Mr. 

 Harlert would have secured a much larger number of 

 readers for his interesting narrative. 



Mr. Hartert is so fortunate as to have visited the 

 tropics of Africa, Asia and America in the course of his 

 wanderings — a feat which we suppose few other naturalists 

 have achieved. In April, 1885, he left Hamburg as a 

 volunteer zoologist in company with Flegel's Niger- 

 NO. 1736, VOL. 67] 



Benue Expedition, to an account of which the first 

 section of this work is devoted. From Loko, on the 

 Benue, a successful journey to Sokoto and Kano was 

 made across Hausaland, but the talented leader of the 

 expedition lost his life on the way back and others were 

 very sick. Various zoological notes will be found in the 

 text of the narrative of this excursion, and special chap- 

 ters on the birds of the Canary Islands and of Hausa- 

 land are added. 



In August, 1887, our author turned his face to a very 

 different part of the earth's surf ice, and started for Penang 

 and Sumatra, with the object of making entomological 

 collections for the late Dr. Richter's cabinets. The 

 journey was subsequently extended to the attractive 

 island of Salanga, on the coast of the Malay Peninsula, 

 and to the British Protectorate of Perak, where both 

 fauna and flora seem to be of the richest and most 

 varied character. An account of these journeyings, inter- 

 spersed with zoological notes, and of the return home 

 through British India occupies the second section of our 

 "Naturalist's Wanderings." Special chapters are de- 

 voted to an annotated list of the birds of Deli, in Sumatra, 

 where examples of 212 species were met with. In this 

 exuberant avifauna, the hornbills, of which no less than 

 nine species are enumerated, must form an attractive 

 feature. 



In the third section of his journal, Mr. Hartert takes 

 us across the Atlantic, and tells us of Venezuela and its 

 islands, which he visited in 1892, accompanied by his 

 wife, who, we have been informed, is an accomplished 

 collector of birds and insects. The principal exploit of 

 the journey was the complete ornithological exploration 

 of the three Dutch Caribbee Islands of Curasao, Aruba 

 and Bonaire off the coast of Venezuela, of which very 

 little was previously known. Mr. Hartert published his 

 account of this excellent piece of work in the Ibis for 

 1893. He now adds many details about his adventures 

 and experiences of all kinds. He has come to the con- 

 clusion — no doubt correct — that, though many West 

 Indian forms are represented in Curacao and "its 

 satellites, 1 ' the greater part of their fauna has been 

 acquired from the neighbouring continent. 



In the fourth and concluding section of his volume, the 

 author takes us back to Africa, not, however, to the fever- 

 stricken banks of the Niger, but to the wholesome 

 and charming sea-board of Morocco, which, according 

 to Hooker and Ball, will ultimately become one of the finest 

 winter-resorts of the Eastern Hemisphere. It is remark- 

 able that a fresh and wild land so easily accessible to 

 Europeans is not more frequented. Mr. Hartert descants 

 fully upon the birds met with in the vicinity of Mazagan, 

 whence he crossed the sea to Teneriffe and returned 

 home by Madeira. 



AN ASPIRING GLACIALIST. 

 Tlw Cause of the Glacial Period. By H. L. True, M.D. 

 Pp.162. (Cincinnati: Robert Clarke Company, 1902.) 



GEOLOGISTS and physicists have been at their 

 wits' end to discover the cause of the Glacial period. 

 They may now cease from cudgelling their brains — Dr. 

 True, of McConnelsville, O., has finally solved the mystery. 

 The explanation is so simple that all who have meddled 



