NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 377 
expect that the second volume would be so soon forthcoming. 
With the enthusiasm of a specialist, however, Mr. Boulenger 
has worked so indefatigably at its preparation that it has been 
possible to issue both in the same year, and, but for the limited 
space at our disposal for reviews, Vol. II. would have received 
an earlier notice. It deals chiefly with the Lizards of the New 
World, and, as in the case of the American birds above noticed, 
its importance has been enhanced by the valuable accessions 
derived from the collection of Messrs. Salvin and Godman, and 
the United States National Museum. Some idea of the labour 
entailed in its preparation may be formed from the fact that it 
has necessitated the description with the synonymy of no less 
than 561 species, of which 875 are in the British Museum, 
represented by 2335 specimens. 
So far as it is possible to represent a species without the aid 
of colour, the four-and-twenty plates in this volume, drawn by 
Mr. P. Smit, seem to be very carefully and accurately done. 
Some of them, as, for example, Stenocerus torquatus (pl. vill.) or 
Biocephalus aculeatus (pl. xi.), could perhaps hardly be improved, 
except by the addition of the natural colours, which in some 
cases are very bright and beautiful. 
It is to be regretted that no method has yet been discovered 
of preserving or restoring the natural colours of reptiles (and, it 
may be added, of fishes). As soon as the stuffed specimens are 
thoroughly dried their beauty is as thoroughly destroyed, while 
those which are preserved in spirit scarcely convey any better 
idea of their natural appearance. It is for this reason, we 
presume, that no attempt has been made to give coloured repre- 
sentations in this volume of the species which it has been 
thought desirable to figure. The facilities, however, which are 
now afforded for the transport of living specimens, and the 
favourable conditions under which Reptiles and Batrachians 
may now be kept alive and studied in the new Reptile House at 
the Zoological Society's Gardens, lead us to hope that no oppor- 
tunity will be lost of securing the correct delineation in colours 
of such obtainable species as have not been hitherto depicted. 
Of the numerous works which have been published relating to 
the Reptilia, it is remarkable how few there are which contain 
really accurate and recognisable figures of the species which the 
authors profess to describe. 
ZOOLOGIST.—SEPT. 1886. 2F 
