Fan. 26, 1882 | 
NATURE 
287 
lopment of the urinary organs and suprarenal bodies 
(pp. 350, 351) also leaves much to be desired. 
After a chapter on the “ Psychology of the Cat,’ Prof. 
Mivart devotes one to the different kinds of cats, living 
and extinct. Of the living species he recognises fifty, 
forty-eight of which are included in Fe/zs, the other two 
being the two species of Cheetah (Cynelurus). We 
are glad to see that Prof. Mivart does not recognise 
the various genera Leo, Tigris, Uncita, &c., proposed by 
the late Dr. Gray, which have been adopted by some 
recent naturalists. The Ounce (7. wncia) is stated 
(p. 396) to occur near Smyrna; but we believe the sole 
authority for this is the identification by the late Mr. 
Blyth, who was followed by Gray, Jerdon, and others, of 
the Felis tud/iana of Valenciennes with the true /. wucza 
of the central tablelands of Asia. According to the latest 
authorities 7. zu//iana is certainly zo¢ the Ounce, and is, 
in all probability, only a long-haired and pale-coloured 
Leopard (F. pardus). 
Chapter XIII. is devoted to the “Cat’s Place in 
Nature,’ a consideration of the relationships of the 
Felide to other Carnivora, and organic forms gene- 
rally. In the enumeration of the characters of the 
three great groups of Fissiped Carnivora, we miss any 
allusion to their well-marked cerebral differences, clearly 
pointed out by Prof. Flower, and on which the late Prof. 
Garrod laid so much stress. “ Aard-vark,’’ we may 
mention, is the Dutch name for the Oryctevopus, not for 
Proteles, as stated on p. 483. The cat’s hexicology (or 
its relations to its environment) occupies the next chapter, 
and the concluding one deals with the problems of the 
origin and pedigree of the animal. In treating of the 
main zoological regions of the globe (pp. 497-500) it is not 
clear by what exact criterion Prof. Mivart has been 
guided in selecting forms representative of those regions. 
Neither mules (why introduce such artificial products as 
hybrids at all in such a connection ?) nor chameleons can 
be considered as specially characteristic of the “ Palz- 
arctic” region, nor should we have noted the absence 
of “true grouse”’ or the presence of “ the mocking-bird ”’ 
as peculiarities of the ‘‘ Ne-arctic’”’ one. Why, too, call 
Hyomoschus the “aquatic musk-deer”’ (p. 498), when on 
p. 467 Prof. Mivart has correctly characterised the chev- 
rotains as “ very small animals, commonly called 27 evror 
musk-deer’’? 
_ The book, we must add, is on the whole got up in very 
good style, both as regards type, paper, and illustrations, 
Of the latter there are over 200 woodcuts, many of them 
original, and including a nice series of figures of some of 
the less known species of /e/id@, as well as of skulls of 
some of the more remarkable North American extinct 
4: luroidea. It is to be regretted, however, that the volume 
should be disfigured by numerous misprints, most of them 
of well-known names. Thus we have Pofama gale and 
Potomogale, Arctitis, Mustilide, Aniphinama, “ Horned- 
senamer’’ (for -screamer), Zezéada, Gregorinide, &c. 
Fort Bridger, a locality in Wyoming Territory, well known 
for its vertebrate remains, appears as Fort Bridges (p. 
512) and also as “ Fire Bridge” (p. 506)! Prof. Mivart, 
too, is not consistent in his spelling ; thus we have Bali 
and Bally, and Azlurus, Azluropus, &c., succeeded almost 
immediately by Aeluroidea, Pseudelurus, &c. Lastly, it 
ences in full, or even get the titles of the journals quoted 
correctly : thus on p. 331 we notice the “ Quarterly Journal 
of Microscopze Science, and Schiafer’s Proceedings of the 
Royal Society”’ (szc). W. A. FORBES 
CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 
Rammelsberg’s Handbuch der Krystallographisch-Physt- 
halischen Chemie. Vol. 1. (Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 
1881.) 
“ue volume may to a certain extent be regarded as 
the first part of a new edition of Prof. Rammels- 
berg’s two previous works on the same branch of science 
(Handbuch d. Kryst.-Chemie, 1855 ; and “Die Neuesten 
Forschungen im Gebiete der Kryst.-Chemie,’’ 1857). The 
development of its plan and the wealth of material entitle 
it, however, to rank as a new work, and has necessitated 
its division into two parts, of which the present one deals 
with the elements and inorganic compounds. Of late 
years much work has been done in the investigation of 
the physical properties of the artificial substances ob- 
tained in our chemical laboratories, the account of which 
is dispersed through the various scientific periodicals 
often in such a way as to render it all but impossible to 
find out whether any investigations have been made of 
the physical properties of a particular substance. The 
present work will therefore be highly welcome to both 
chemists and physicists who are interested in this their 
common province, and as a book of ready and easy refer- 
ence will be a great boon to all researchers. The aim of 
the book is to give in as condensed a form as possible all 
the physical properties of artificial substances as far as 
they have been determined, in addition to the crystallo- 
graphic characters which are often the only ones known. 
Thus the optical constants, the dilatation under change 
of temperature as determined by Fizeau, the electrical, 
magnetic, and other properties of each substance are 
given wherever known. In fact it aims at doing for 
artificial substances what has been already done for 
minerals in Miller’s and Des Cloizeaux’s ‘‘ Treatises on 
Mineralogy.’ In addition the references to the original 
memoirs on each property are placed directly after the 
account of this property. Prof. Rammelsberg’s reputa- 
tion for the thoroughness of his work has been so long 
established that it seems almost impertinent to praise the 
exceilent way in which he has here carried out his inten- 
tion. He has produced a book which will not only be in 
every chemist’s and physicist’s library, but one which will 
be continually consulted by them. After dipping into the 
book in numerous places only one substance has been 
met with which seems inadequately treated, and this is 
antimony iodide, than which few substances are more 
interesting to the crystallographer. The account of the 
modifications and their relations is in this case scanty 
and imperfect, and the reference to Prof. Cooke’s elegant 
research on them is wanting in precision. 
Prof. Rammelsberg adopts the Weissian system of 
notation in his Crystallography, but this not in its entirety, 
as he uses sub-multiple—and not multiple—indices, as 
was done by Weiss. In the last paragraph of his intro- 
duction he states his opinion that the Weissian system is 
superior to those both of Naumann and of Miller, and he 
is a pity that the author does not always give his refer- | ends by declaring that crystallography would have been 
