NATURE 



423 



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1910. 



THE MAMMALS OF MANITOBA. 

 Life-histories of Northern Animals: an Account of 

 the Mammals of Manitoba. By Ernest Thompson 

 Seton. Vol. i., Grass-Eaters. Pp. x.\x + 673. 

 \'ol. ii., Flesh-Eaters. Pp. xii + 674-1267. (Lon- 

 don : Constable and Co., Ltd., 1910.) Price 

 £2 135. 6d. net. 



SO far as this country is concerned, it is a great 

 pity that Mr. Seton did not include in his admir- 

 able life-histories the whole mammalian fauna of 

 North America, as the restriction of the species to 

 those inhabiting a particular area can scarcely fail to 

 be faulty in the eyes of English readers, who will miss 

 such well-known animals as the big-horn sheep, white 

 goat, Columbian black-tailed deer, and the brown 

 bears and caribou of Alaska. It is likewise a matter 

 for regret that the whole of the table of contents is 

 included in the first volume, instead of the portion 

 relating to the Carnivora being reserved for the second. 

 Except this very small modicum of fault-finding, 1 

 have nothing but commendation to bestow on these 

 handsome volumes, which, it may be presumed, are 

 an English edition of the work issued last year in 

 America under the same title. 



The mammals of Manitoba are fifty-nine in number, 

 and of these the author describes the life-history in 

 his own inimitable manner, and with a wealth of 

 detail that leaves little, if anything, for future field 

 naturalists to record. The great feature of the work 

 is, of course, that it is the result of personal observa- 

 tion and first-hand knowledge, acquired during wan- 

 derings extending over a long series of years, and 

 embracing a very large portion of the North American 

 continent. The map of his travels shows, in fact, 

 that Mr. Seton has explored the whole of the United 

 States, from ocean to ocean, so that the red lines 

 which mark his route form a perfect network. South- 

 ward he has touched the Mexican border, while north- 

 ward he has visited Labrador on the east, and on 

 the west has made a single traverse to the heart of the 

 Mackenzie district. .And it is these extensive journeys, 

 with the knowledge thereby acquired, that intensifies 

 our regret that he did not see fit to make his work 

 cover the whole North American mammal fauna. In 

 spite of the almost omniscient character of his per- 

 sonal knowledge of the habits and distribution of the 

 animals of which he writes, the author has been at 

 the pains to quote the names of observers by whom 

 special traits were first recorded. 



In addition to his well-known power of conveying 

 important scientific information in most attractive and 

 popular language, Mr. Seton enjoys the great advan- 

 tage of being a skilled artist, so that he is able to 

 present to his readers portraits of the animals in the 

 particular pose which he considers most characteristic 

 and interesting. The amount of labour he has ex- 

 pended on artistic work may be inferred from the fact 

 that the whole of the 560 illustrations were drawn 

 with his own pencil. Such sketches are, in my 

 opinion, infinitely superior to photographs, which too 

 NO. 2136, VOL. 84] 



frequently do not bring out the characteristic features 

 which the describer desires to emphasise. That many 

 of these illustrations, if I mistake not, have appeared 

 in other publications, testifies to public appreciation of 

 their artistic merit. 



In the space at my disposal it is quite impossible 

 to attempt anything in the way of a critical review of 

 these two bulky quarto volumes, and I shall therefore 

 content myself with noticing some of the author's 

 observations relating to the larger species which 

 appear of special interest. 



By far the most characteristic American type of 

 big game is undoubtedly the prongbuck, a species the 

 distributional area of which has been reduced by about 

 one-half, and the numbers of which were estimated 

 by the author in 1900 not to exceed, at most, 100,000, 

 of which half must be in Mexico. And yet from the 

 accounts of travellers of no earlier date than 1868 

 it seems probable that these graceful antelopes, as 

 they are locally called, actually outnumbered the bison 

 in the days of its prime. Taking the number 

 observed in one particular district as a basis, the 

 author calculates that, on a low estimate, there must 

 have been over 40 millions on the great plains. Since 

 1900 these antelopes, in spite of reported local in- 

 creases, have probably suffered a further serious de- 

 crease, the number in Wyoming in 1905 being esti- 

 mated at not more than one-fourth of what it was 

 five years previously. 



As regards the extermination of the bison, Mr. 

 Seton, although as a naturalist regretting the event, 

 takes what may be called the practical view of the 

 subject, and declares it to have been absolutely in- 

 evitable. The plains were required by the advance of 

 civilisation, and the supporting of vast herds of stupid 

 bison, ready to stampede in an overwhelming mass 

 on the slightest alarm, was not the best use to which 

 they could be put. On the testimony of two inde- 

 pendent observers, he asserts that blizzards, especially 

 those of 1871-2 and 1S80-1, had a share in the exter- 

 mination of the bison, one of the two witnesses stating 

 that the Dakota blizzard was more destructive to the 

 herds than the Indians. Since, however, blizzards 

 are only occasional events, Mr. Seton doubts if their 

 destructiveness was equal to that of agencies work- 

 ing with greater regularity. 



In concluding this brief notice of a first-class work, 

 it may be noted that the author is a firm believer 

 in the evolution of the mind of man from that of 

 animals below him in the zoological scale. 



R. L. 



THE CARE OF TREES. 

 The Care of Trees in Lawn, Street, and Park. By 

 Bernard E. Fernow. Pp. x + 392. (New York: 

 Henry Holt and Co., igio.) 



ALTHOUGH there is scarcely a garden or park 

 of any pretensions in this country which does 

 not contain within its boundaries one or more trees 

 particularly valued for their interest, beauty, or asso- 

 ciations, how rarely do their owners ever take any 

 steps to keep them in health, and thus prolong their 

 term of years. The care of trees, indeed, more 



