NATURE 
[ NoveMBER 19, 1896 
and nations, movements of population and colonisation, 
products and means of communication, methods of 
teaching and general works. These, however, only 
account for 239 titles; by far the greater part being 
classed under the continents. Europe is apparently the 
subject of the greatest amount of geographical work (the 
entries refer to maps and statistics as well as to written 
memoirs), Africa comes next, and all the rest of the 
world is dismissed in the same space as was required for | 
Europe alone. This is perhaps the result of being 
somewhat more exhaustive in treating the countries of 
the predominant continent. 
The bibliography is well planned, executed with 
praiseworthy impartiality ; but for the language in which 
it is written it might, so far as a reader can detect, have 
been compiled in any capital of Europe or America, and 
considering the keenness of national spirit in many of 
the articles classified, this is high praise indeed. 
Animals at Work and Play; their Activities and 
Emotions. By C. J. Cornish. With illustrations. 
Pp. 323. (London: Seeley and Co., Ltd., 1896.) 
IN a previous little volume Mr. Cornish gave an account 
of life at the ‘‘ Zoo,” in which he called attention to the 
tastes and preferences of animals for colour, music, and 
perfumes. In this volume he deals, for the most part, 
with some of the general activities and emotions of the 
every-day life of some mammals and birds. Most of 
the papers, here collected into a well-illustrated and 
pleasantly-written volume, have appeared from time to 
time in the columns of the Sfecfafor. They cannot be 
said to contain much that is new, but many of the facts 
recorded are placed ina new light. There is a wealth 
of apt quotation, and, without aiming at technical de- 
scription, the main facts are well put. 
To give the reader an idea of what he may find in 
this work, we may refer to the chapters on ‘ Animals’ 
beds.” 
for, without venturing on the somewhat mythical subject 
of the beds said to be built by the anthropoid apes, the 
beautiful nests of the field-mouse might, with others 
omitted, have been alluded to. The “Emotion of grief 
in animals” is another subject admitting of an expanded 
treatment ; indeed, though the chapters are, from the 
point of view of a weekly journal, all that could be ex- 
pected, yet in their new form, and remembering the 
interest of their themes, most of them might most ad- 
vantageously have been added to. 
The full-page illustrations are good; those from a 
Japanese source, such as the one with the “social 
sparrows,” are excellent. 
Model Drawing and Shading from Casts. By T. C. 
Barfield. Pp. ix + 92. (London: Chapman and Hall, 
Ltd., 1896.) 
Ir is hardly possible to draw accurately what is seen 
without knowing why the group or scene being delineated 
presents the appearance it does. This book will give 
students a clear idea of the field of view, and, by 
acquiring from it a knowledge of the laws and limita- 
tions of vision, they will be able to make model drawings 
intelligently. 
A Short Catechism of Chemistry. Part I. 
Wilcox. Pp. 16. (London: Simpkin, 
Hamilton, Kent, and Co., Ltd., 1896.) 
THE worst way to teach science is by catechism, for it 
leads to belief in doctrines on the authority of the book, 
By A. J: 
Marshall, 
More might have been made of this subject ; | 
while experience and demonstration are neglected. For | 
this reason, we think the compiler of these fifty questions 
and answers would have done chemical science better 
service if he had refrained from publishing them. The 
incorrectness of several of the definitions confirms us in 
this opinion. 
NO. 1412, VOL. 55| 
| Sea. 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: 
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 
pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 
to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 
manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. 
No notice ts taken of anonymous communications. | 
The Austro-Hungarian Map of Franz Josef Land. 
WiIrH reference to Prof. Copeland’s letter in your last issue, 
I must say that I am inclined to believe that Austria Sound 
will eventually be found to be more or less as Payer originally 
laid it down. Iam inclined to this belief because it seems to 
me almost impossible that the map of the very track he trod 
should show any great error. Of course, the longitude laid 
down may well be erroneous—considering the circumstances— 
and we may expect rectification of this. 
But I am not disposed to pass over the description which 
Payer gave us of Zichy Land with so light a touch as Prof. 
Copeland. For, however unintentional his error may have 
been, there can be no doubt that Payer has misled Arctic 
geographers into supposing that Zichy Land was a large mass of 
land. And belief in this, derived solely, of course, from Payer’s 
description, induced Jackson to make certain modifications in 
his equipment and plans, which are naturally unnecessary now 
that he has proved Payer’s description of Zichy Land to be 
inaccurate. 
For Payer wrote thus of Zichy Land in his ‘‘ New Lands 
within the Arctic Circle,” vol. ii. p. 206. 
““My attention was directed chiefly to the southern parts of 
Zichy Land, which formed a vast mountainous region beyond 
Markham Sound. Half the horizon was bounded by cliffs and 
heights gleaming with snow. The conical shape of the moun- 
tains prevailed here also; the only exception was Richthofen 
Spitze, the loftiest summit, perhaps, we had seen in Franz Josef 
Land, which rose like a slender white pyramid to the height of 
about 5000 feet.” 
Now, as every one knows, Jackson has travelled north across 
the ‘‘ vast mountainous region” of Zichy Land, and found that 
all the time he was marching on sea-ice. He camped where 
Richthofen Peak is marxed in Payer’s map, and he was sée// on 
sea-ice. Richthofen Peak consequently disappears; but Jackson, 
having robbed Richthofen of his peak, has given him a cape 
(7oo feet high) which is very near the site of the vanished 
peak. 
To put it briefly, in fact, Zichy Land turns out to be a chain 
of small islands, on the west of Austria Sound, and these islands 
are of no considerable height. Westward of the chain, Jackson 
has discovered another Austria Sound, but wider and more 
important, and this he has named ‘‘ the British Channel”; while 
to the north of this channel he has discovered a sea which is 
open both in winter and summer, and which now owns the name 
of ‘* Queen Victoria Sea.” Zichy Land is, in fact, no longer 
existent as a ‘‘ vast mountainous region,” and in its place we 
find a few islands, a wide channel, and a permanently open 
And these, of course, completely alter the complexion of 
Jackson’s work—the first part of which is to explore and map 
the Franz Josef Land Archipelago. 
No doubt, as far as I can gather, has ever been thrown upon 
Weyprecht’s valuable work. Jackson has, of course, not gone 
near the locality where Weyprecht observed, and consequently 
the accuracy or inaccuracy of Weyprecht cannot and does 
not enter into Jackson’s map. But, on the other hand, I do 
not doubt that my absent friend entertains the highest respect 
for him, seeing that he has given to a bay he has discovered in 
the west of the archipelago the name of Weyprecht Bay. 
ARTHUR MONTEFIORE-BRICE. 
157 Strand, London, W.C. 
Tournefort and the Latitudinal and Altitudinal 
Distribution of Plants. 
TourNEFOR? has generally had the credit of being the first to 
indicate a parallelism in the latitudinal and altitudinal distribu- 
tion of plants; yet it would seem without sufficient ground. 
Linnzeus mentions (‘‘ Flora Lapponica,” Proleg. n, 14) that 
certain plants grow on Mount Ararat as well as in Lapland. 
Later (in 1751), in his ‘‘Oratio de Tellure Habitabili” 
(** Amcenitates Academic,” ii. p. 447) he distinctly connects 
Tournefort with latitudinal and altitudinal distribution of plants, 
and in such a way as to convey the impression that it was 
