OcTOBER 23, 1902] 
633 
Shells,” facing p. 14, it will be seen that in place of | 
this species the author has actually had figured the | 
marine shell commonly known as Pileopsis hungaricus / 
Nor is this all, for in the same plate an Ampullaria 
does duty for Paludina (or Vivipara) ; while instead of | 
the freshwater Thames Neritina we have the marine 
West Indian Weritina radiata depicted. Comment is 
superfluous ! 
Neither is Mr. Cornish less unfortunate when, in the 
chapter on “London’s Buried Elephants,” he essays to | 
enlighten his readers on the fauna of the Thames valley 
in Pleistocene times. Passing over his misuse of the 
term “ Prehistoric” as equivalent to “ Pleistocene,” which 
in a work of this nature may be regarded as a venial sin, 
we find on p. 234, in connection with the discovery of 
mammalian remains during the excavations for the 
foundations of the Victoria and Albert Museum at South 
Kensington, the following sentence :— 
“So on the London ‘veldt’ there were lions, wild 
horses (perhaps striped like zebras), three kinds of | 
Fic. 1.—Otters. 
rhinoceroses—two of which were just like the common | 
black rhinoceros of Africa, though one had a woolly | 
coat—elephants, hyenas, hippopotami, and that most 
typical African animal, the Cape wild dog!” | 
The author may well place a note of admiration at the 
end of this sentence, for it is in truth a most remarkable 
one. To begin with, Mr. Cornish is apparently unaware 
that the domesticated horse, with which the Pleistocene 
race agrees in every particular as regards its skeleton, 
differs remarkably from the asses and zebras in regard 
to the proportionate size of the front and hind hoofs ; and 
from this essential difference we are entitled to argue 
that even in Pleistocene times it was most certainly not 
striped, such striping as occurs on the legs of certain 
domesticated horses being probably due to a cross. A 
certain degree of obscurity veils the part of the sentence 
referring to the Thames rhinoceroses, but it may be con- | 
fidently stated that neither was exactly like the living 
African é/ack species, while the woolly-coated kind was 
a relative of the living w/z/e rhinoceros! But the most 
NO. 1721, VOL. 66] 
NATURE 
astounding statement is the one relating to the occurrence 
of the Cape wild, or hunting, dog in the Thames valley 
deposits. It is true, indeed, that the present writer has 
ventured to refer, provisionally, a single lower jaw from 
a cave in Glamorgan to the same genus as the animal in 
question, but that appears to be the only evidence of the 
former existence in Britain of any representative of the 
genus Lycaon; and we are informed by Mr. Cornish 
that the Cape sfeczes once lived in London ! 
But this is not all, for on p. 235 we find it stated that 
among the London Pleistocene fauna are included “‘the 
pika, a little steppe hare, and an extremely odd antelope 
now found in Thibet. This is a singularly ugly beast 
with a high Roman nose, and a wool almost as thick as 
that of a sheep when the winter coat is on. It must have 
been quite common in these parts, for I have had two of 
their horns brought to me during the last few years.” 
From the second sentence in this quotation it is quite 
clear that by the ‘‘ extremely odd antelope” the author 
means the saiga. That animal, however, is not an in- 
habitant of Tibet, where it is represented by 
its distant cousin the chiru, with which it has 
evidently been confounded by the author. 
With reference to the statement that it was 
formerly common in the Thames valley, we 
venture to differ from the author. A frontlet 
has been obtained at Twickenham, and we 
believe one or two other specimens are known 
from British deposits, but these are all that 
have come under the observation of persons 
competent to decide the affinities of animals 
represented by fossil bones. 
If the two chapters we have been com- 
pelled to criticise thus severely have been 
before the public previously, the repetition 
of such absurd mis-statements is the more 
unpardonable. 
In his proper sphere Mr. Cornish is an 
entertaining and pleasant writer, and it is 
therefore the greater pity that he is so ill- 
advised as to attempt subjects of which he 
has no practical knowledge. Roe 
MR. BALFOUR ON TECHNICAL 
EDUCATION AT MANCHESTER 
S announced in these columns last 
week, the Prime Minister opened the 
new Manchester School of Technology on 
Wednesday, October 15. For many year; 
past, the provisions for technical education 
in the city of Manchester have been re~ 
markable for their excellence, and an ac- 
count of the successful efforts made by the Technical 
Instruction Committee of the City Council, the School 
Board and other educational authorities to educate 
Manchester citizens was given in an article published 
in our issue for January 31, 1901. One cause among 
many of the high state of development of education 
in Manchester is the broad view of its duties taken 
by the Technical Instruction Committee. On _ several 
occasions the Committee has arranged for the present 
principal of the school, Mr. J. H. Reynolds, to visit 
foreign countries to study other systems of technical 
instruction. In this way the Manchester educational 
authorities have become practically acquainted with 
German and American methods of education, and though 
they have not slavishly followed these ideas in organising 
their new school, they have not hesitated to adopt 
ideas they consider suitable for the peculiar needs of 
their own district. For the following extracts from Mr. 
Balfour’s speech at the opening of the new school we 
| are indebted to the 27es. 
