January 7, 1909I 



NA TURE 



275 



book of less importance to the ornithologist — either 

 professional or amateur — for Mr. Stuart Baker has 

 mucli new matter to record concerning many of the 

 species passed under review, while the thirty coloured 

 plates — reproduced from sketches by Messrs. Gron- 

 vold, Lodge, and Keulemans — have a distinct scientific 

 value of their own, altogether apart from their beauty 

 as works of art. 



The origin of the book dates from 1S96, when the 

 author was asked to communicate a series of illus- 

 trated articles on Indian ducks to the Journal of the 

 Ronibay Natural History Society which should in- 

 corporate the numerous notes on the group published 

 in the Indian scientific journals and sporting papers 

 since the issue of Hume and Marshall's well-known 

 "Game-birds of India." These articles were com- 

 menced in the eleventh volume of the aforesaid serial, 

 and the work now before us is a reprint of the series, 

 with such additions and emendations as were necessary 

 to bring them up to date. 



Apart from the flamingoes, which are brigaded with 

 the ducks under the general title of " Chenomorphs," 

 the author recognises no fewer than forty-three repre- 

 sentatives of the group as visiting or permanently 

 residing in India. He is, however, somewhat of a 

 " splitter," and certain of his species, as in the goose- 

 section, would very probably be relegated to a lower 

 grade by many naturalists. We are also inclined to 

 disagree with his views as to the multiplication of 

 generic groups. The division of the flamingoes into 

 two genera, and likewise the splitting of the brent- 

 geese into Rufibrenta and Branta, are examples of 

 what appears to us totally unnecessary complica- 

 tion in this matter. The author has, however, taken 

 Count Salvadore's British Museum catalogue of the 

 group as his guide, and he has adhered religiously 

 to the classification therein adopted. We confess to 

 a feeling that it would have been better to follow 

 the late Dr. Blanford's volume in the " Fauna 

 of British India," whereby greater simplicity would 

 have been secured, and at the same time some 

 advance made towards uniformity in the names of 

 Indian animals. In this connection we may note the 

 urgent need of a proper table of contents at the com- 

 mencement of the volume, the one which does duty 

 iherefor being too absurd for words, two out of its 

 h.'ilf-dozen items being " title-page " and " contents," 

 while a third is " Indian Ducks." 



For a book which must be largely patronised by 

 sportsmen (if it is to make a profit), we also venture 

 to think that too many technical terms, or definitions, 

 are introduced without any sort of explanation. What, 

 for instance, will the sportsman (or, for that matter, 

 the amateur naturalist) make of the bald statement 

 th;it the Chenomorphae are characterised by having 

 the " palate desmognathous," or what will he under- 

 stand by the " neotropical region "? If such expres- 

 sions are used at all, they ought to be adequately 

 explained ; but in our opinion they are altogether out 

 of place in a work of this nature ; the professional 

 naturalist does not want them, and the amateur and 

 the sportsman do not understand them. In the place 

 NO. 2045, VOL. 70I 



of the former a statement to the effect that the palate 

 in the dry skull is of the closed or bridged type, and 

 that the difference between the bridged and the open 

 or slit type may be realised by comparing the skull 

 of a duck with that of a fowl, would have been much 

 more to the point ; while as regards the latter it would 

 have been infinitely better to use the ordinary names, 

 South and Central America, in place of neotropical 

 region. 



With these exceptions — if it be added that the author 

 has an extremely old-fashioned and ob.solete way of 

 spelling Indian place-names — we have nothing but 

 commendation for the volume before us, the species 

 being clearly and carefully described, with full and 

 well-written notices of their distribution and habits. 

 As Mr. Baker observes, the collection and collation of 

 a vast amount of scattered information concerning the 

 Indian Anatids renders it from the first possible to 

 know the extent of our information on the subject, and 

 to realise what gaps require filling up. The book 

 should be in the library of every Indian sportsman, 

 by whom it should be taken into camp in each winter's 

 sporting trip. R. L. 



BIOCHEMICAL MONOGRAPHS. 



The Nature of Enzyme Action. By Dr. W. M. Bay- 

 liss, F.R.S. Pp. ix-l-00. (London : Longmans, 

 Green and Co., 1908.) Price 3^. net. 



The Chemical Constitution oj the Proteins. By Dr. 

 R. H. Aders Plimmer. In two parts. Part i., 

 pp. xii-hioo; part ii., pp. xi + 66. (London: Long- 

 mans, Green and Co., 1908.) Part i., ^s. net; 

 part ii., 2S. 6d. net. 



Neuere Ergebnisse auf dem Gebiete der speziellen 

 Eiweisschemie. By Emil Abderhalden. Pp. 128. 

 (Jena : G. Fischer, 1909.) Price 3.50 marks. 



Intracellular Enzymes. .\ Course of Lectures given in 

 the Physiological Laboratory, L^niversity of London. 

 Bv Dr. H. M. Vernon. Pp. xi + 240. (London: 

 John Murray, 1908.) Price ys. 6d. net. 



THE number of books issued in any particular 

 subject is not always a sure criterion of the 

 importance of that subject. In this particular instance, 

 however, where a shower of five monographs has 

 suddenly fallen, not only is the interest which bio- 

 chemistry is at present attracting indicated, but a 

 perusal of the books themselves shows that they deal 

 with a subject of supreme importance both to the 

 chemist and to the biologist. 



The first three on the list, that by Dr. Bayliss, and 

 the two parts from the pen of Dr. Plimmer, are 

 monographs which are being issued under the joint 

 editorship of Dr. F. G. Hopkins, of Cambridge, and 

 Dr. R. H. .•Xders Plimmer, of University College, 

 London. To some extent the idea is similar to that 

 underlying the issue of the " Ergebnisse der Physio- 

 logic " in Germany, only with this important differ- 

 ence, namely, that the individual monographs or 

 chapters (each written by someone who is master in 

 that particular subject) are issued independently of the 

 others, so that if necessity arises a new edition of any 



