274 
NATURE 
[JuLy 20, 1899 
by the mountain zebra. The difference in the general 
system of striping between “ Matopo ” and his offspring is 
well brought out in the figures here reproduced, by the | 
courtesy of the publishers, from Prof. Ewart’s work. A 
more special point, but one of great interest, is that ex- 
emplified in the accompanying figures of the brow-stripes 
in “ Matopo,” in “ Romulus,” and in a Somali zebra. The 
numerous rounded arches shown on the forehead of 
“Romulus” are very different from the four or five acutely 
pointed arches of “ Matopo,” and clearly bear a much 
greater resemblance to the corresponding pattern of the 
Somali zebra. It should, however, be mentioned that a 
system of brow-striping not unlike that of “ Romulus” 
occurs in Crawshay’s zebra, a member of the Burchell 
group. 
On one point of special importance the experiments 
have so far given results that, however interesting 
Fic. 5.—Somali Zebra. 
scientifically, are from the practical side disappointing. 
Following a suggestion of Captain Lugard, that zebra 
mules might possibly turn out to be immune to the 
disease communicated by the tsetse fly, and might thus 
help in solving some of the difficulties of African trans- 
port, Prof. Ewart, with great liberality, inoculated three 
of his hybrids with some of the tsetse organism at that 
time under investigation by Messrs. Blandford and 
Durham. The result of this experiment is not given in 
the present volume, but in the recently published Pvo- 
ceedings of the International Congress of Zoology at 
Cambridge it is stated that the inoculated animals, 
though apparently somewhat more resistant than horses, 
all died in about eight weeks. 
The above-mentioned are a few only of the points of 
interest brought out by the remarkable series of experi- 
NO. 1551, VOL. 60] 
ments dealt with in the present volume, but enough has. 
probably been said to show the importance of the 
problems which Prof. Ewart has set himself to solve, 
and the prospects of advance in knowledge which these 
researches hold out. It only remains to say a word in 
commendation of the general get-up of the book, and of 
| the character and accuracy of the illustrations, which in 
many cases are reproduced from actual photographs. 
_ The absence of an index or detailed table of contents is a 
drawback, but this, like the frequent repetition of the 
same facts, is perhaps inseparable from the method of 
publication adopted. A tabular list of the hybrids, giving 
their parentage and the more important features of their 
aspect, might be a useful addition, as the reader finds it 
a little difficult at present to piece together the various 
details, scattered through many parts of the work, under 
their proper headings. But any small defects of this kind 
will, no doubt, be completely remedied in the 
connected and systematic account of the fruit 
of his researches which Prof. Ewart leads us to 
hope for at some future time. Meanwhile, the 
course of his experiments will be watched with 
keen interest by all those who realise the import- 
ance, both scientific and practical, of a right con- 
ception of the laws of heredity. LANG JD), 
PIONEER CLIMBERS. 
OTWITHSTANDING what has been done 
by Coolidgeand Freshfield, by C. E. Mathews 
and F. Pollock, for the pioneers in mountain 
climbing, there is still room for a book so com- 
prehensive as that before us. Mr. Gribble has 
collected a quantity of interesting information, 
and prints at the end of his work several rare 
and curious documents. It is, moreover, not 
wholly restricted to the Alps, for it touches on 
early ascents in the Pyrenees and the Apennines. 
These, however, are distinctly subordinate ; the 
interest, as is only natural, centres on the moun- 
tain backbone of Europe. This is many-sided, 
but on the present occasfon we must restrict our- 
selves to aspects more or less scientific. A wide 
question is suggested at the outset : What caused 
that horror of mountains which was evidently so 
genuine among the chief nations of Europe till 
a period comparatively late in history? It was 
not felt by the Hebrew, as Mr. Gribble shows, 
but the Greek seems to have cared little for them, 
and the Roman detested them. Perhaps the 
practical nature of this people viewed them as 
an impediment to “imperial expansion,” a senti- 
ment hinted at in Napoleon’s question, ‘“‘ When 
will the Simplon be practicable for cannon?” 
Moreover, in Rome’s more luxurious days the 
‘rough roads, hard fare, and bad lodging of a 
journey across the Alps would naturally be ob- 
jectionable. Classical influences, with a certain sympa- 
thetic similarity, may have caused the dislike once so 
general among our own countrymen, which has only been 
changed during the last thirty or forty years. These have 
witnessed a revulsion of sentiment which, whatever be 
its cause, is certainly one of the remarkable features in 
the later part of the nineteenth century. 
But to pass from a general question to more particular 
topics, we can incidentally gather from this volume no 
bad idea of how some parts of scientific knowledge have 
advanced during the last four centuries. Prior to this 
epoch men knew little of science, and less of the 
mountains ; pioneers were few, and the history of climb- 
ing—except when there was no help for it—was almost 
By Gribble. Illustrated. 
1 “The Francis 
Early Mountaineers.” 
(London : 
T. Fisher Unwin, 1899.) 
