December 19, 1918") 



NATURE 



its plates, which arc charmingly reproduced direct 

 from drawings by the besl bird artists of the day, 

 the extensive series of photogravures engraved 

 from the author's photographs of the haunts of 

 the various species, and the graphic and popular 

 descriptions of their habits from studies made 

 amid their native wilds. These and other features 

 render the work far in advance of all other books 

 written on the subject, and make it welcome alike 

 to the ornithologist, the aviculturist, and the 

 sportsman. 



In oidei- to carry out the author's ideals oi 

 whal a monograph should be, an expedition was 

 lised to visit the metropolis of pheasantdom 

 in temperate and tropical Asia, when-, in Ceylon, 

 India, Burma, China, Japan, the Malay States, 

 Borneo, and Java, seventeen months in all were 

 spent. That such an expedition should have been 

 possible was due to the generosity of Col. 

 Anthony R. Kuser, of Bernardsville, New Jersey, 

 to whom and his wife the work is fittingly 

 dedicated. But this is not all. With the view of 

 supplementing first-hand knowledge, Mr. Beebe 

 visited a number of the leading museums in 

 Europe in order to stud\ specimens in their 

 cabinets and to consult their libraries. 



The scope ol the work may well be described 

 exhaustive. The introduction embraces a 

 general account, including the historical aspect 

 of the subject from the earliest times, classifica- 

 tion, distribution, comparative abundance, voice, 

 (light and gait, daily round of life (food, roosts, 

 friends and foes), protective coloration, home 

 life, and relation to man. Under the last heading 

 it is distressing to learn that even in their remote 

 haunts amid tin- highest mountains of the Old 

 World these birds, mainly from the remarkable 

 beauty ot their plumage, are rapidly becoming 

 extinct through persecution. Mr. Beebe tells us 

 that for many vears they have paid a heavy toll 

 to the milliner) trade. It is known, for example, 

 that some years ago 45,000 Impeyan pheasants 

 had been slaughtered; Mi. Beebe himself has 

 seen huge bales of leathers of the silver pheasant, 

 and Nepal and China still export large quantities. 

 Nov. that the Chinese have adopted a meat diet, 

 pheasants are no longer immune, save where 

 Buddhists and Hindus hold sway, and they are 

 everywhere trapped, snared, pierced with poisoned 

 arrows from crossbow or blowpipe, or slain by 

 repeating shot-guns. It is gratifying to know that 

 m the British-governed regions they are protected 

 by well-regulated game laws, and the brooding 

 hens and chicks are free from persecution. In 

 this connection it is important to learn that the 

 birds do very little damage to crops, and when 

 they appear among them it is insect life which 

 is tin- main attraction. 



As regards the classification of the family, the 

 grouping of the numerous genera under sub- 

 families has never been satisfactory. Mr. Beebe, 

 however, alter much careful study, discovered a 

 new character namely, the "regular sequence in 

 the moulting of the tail leathers," which holds 

 good throughout the life of the bird, and agrees 



NO. 2564, VOL. I02] 



also with "assumed relationships which had 

 hitherto been taken for granted." The following 

 are tin- subfamilies adopted : l'erdicina», Phasi- 

 anina?, Argusianina-, and Pavoninae; and the vari- 

 ous genera grouped under them are indicated. 

 Since our author includes the Perdicinae in his 

 scheme, yet treats of only two of its genera, 

 namely, Ithagcnes and Tragopan, omitting many 

 others, the work can scarcely be regarded as a 

 complete treatise of "The Pheasants of the 

 World." It will deal, however, with nearly one 

 hundred forms. 



The systematic treatment of the subject is on 

 the same exhaustive lines. The volume already 

 issued treats of twenty-one species: the blood 

 pheasants (Ithagcnes), the Tragopans or horned 

 pheasants (Tragopan), the Impeyans (Impeyanus), 

 and the eared pheasants (Crossoptilon). For each 

 ot these Species are given the generic and specific 

 characters; scientific, English, native, French, and 

 German names; full descriptions of the various' 

 stages of plumage, moults, variation, hybrids, 

 parasites, internal anatomy, characteristics as 

 observed in their haunts, geographical distribu- 

 tion, migrations, food, nests and eggs. It is em- 

 bellished with twenty-two coloured plates by 

 Messrs. A. Thorburn, G. E. Lodge, C. R. Knight, 

 and H. Gronvold, fifteen photogravures, and five 

 maps. 'J'he volume is sumptuous in all respects 

 except the binding, which does not come up to the 

 standard of the rest. 



While Mr. Beebe's fine work merits the highest 

 praise, it is greatly to be regretted that its price 

 (50Z.) places it beyond the reach of the vast 

 majority of those who "would appreciate and 

 use it. ' W. E. C. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 

 .In Elementary Treatise on Curve Tracing. By 



Dr. P. Frost. Fourth edition, revised by Dr. 



K. J. T. Bell. Pp. xvi + 210. (London: Mac- 



millan and Co., Ltd., 1918.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 

 Every mathematician will welcome this new edition 

 of a classical work if only as an indication that the 

 demand for it has not diminished since it was 

 originally published, forty-six years ago. Although 

 the modern tendency is away from the excessive 

 zeal for examples and exercises of a past genera- 

 tion, the mathematical student will derive much 

 benefit from excursions on this "very pleasant 

 path, on which he may exercise in an agreeable 

 way all his mathematical limbs," especially as 

 curve plotting is a necessity in all branches of 

 modern science. A valuable feature of the book 

 is the sketch of the inverse process of finding the 

 equation of a curve the graph of which is given. 

 Further work on this branch of the subject would 

 be very useful. 



This is the first revised edition ; the second and 

 third issues were mere reprints of the first edition. 

 The editor has discharged his duties with restraint, 

 and he has introduced several improvements. The 

 printing is more compact and the use of leaded 

 type conduces to comfort in reading. Additional 



