420 



NATURE 



[June 26, 1913 



THE ANIMALS OF THE ANCIENTS. 

 Die antike Tierwelt. By Otto Keller. Zweiter 

 Band : Vogel, Reptilien, Fische, Insekten, etc. 

 Pp. xv + 618 + 2 plates. (Leipzig: W. Engel- 

 mann, 1913.) Price 17 marks. 



EVERYONE interested in the identification of 

 the species of animals known to the ancients 

 should be grateful to Dr. Keller for carrying to 

 completion an exceedingly laborious task, the diffi- 

 culties and perplexities of which can only be real- 

 ised fully by those who have essayed investiga- 

 tions of a kindred nature. Exception may indeed 

 be taken to some of his conclusions — as was 

 pointed out in our review of the first volume — but 

 the general results of the work are of the highest 

 value and importance, and form a solid foundation 

 on which superstructures may be laid later. 



As the first volume was devoted solely to 

 mammals, all the other groups of animals have 

 had to come in the one now before us. Anything 

 like a detailed review of such a work is manifestly 

 impossible in the space at our disposal, and it 

 must consequently suffice to refer to a few points 

 of special interest. Among such is the statement 

 that the golden pheasant, which was occasionally 

 brought from China to ancient Greece and Rome, 

 was identified, doubtless on account of its rarity, 

 with the mythical phoenix (phoinix) of the 

 Egyptians. And this leads to the query whether 

 there is any connection between phcenix and Phce- 

 nicopterus (phoinikopieros), the name of the 

 flamingo, and between both and Phoenicia — the 

 land of the palm-tree (phoinix). 



Dr. Keller has, of course, much to tell us about 

 snakes, and it is interesting to note that, in addition 

 to the cobra and the horned viper, he has been 

 able to identify the /Esculapian snake among the 

 species familiar to the ancients. Incidentally it 

 is mentioned that viper (Vipera) is an abbreviated 

 form of vivipera, that aspis comes from sepa 

 (doubtless connected with seps), the name of a 

 very poisonous snake ; and that coluber and colu- 

 bra are derivates from scolopendra, a name 

 now assigned to the centipedes. The blind-snake 

 (Typhlops) of the ancients appears to have been 

 the amphisbsena, and not the wormlike species 

 now classed under the former name. Crocodile 

 (or "korkodile") appears to have been used in 

 early days in a more elastic sense than at present, 

 having been applied, with the prefix "land," to 

 the great monitor-lizards, as well as to the animals 

 to which it rightly pertains. 



From the section on insects we learn, with 

 regret, that the melolontha of Aristotle is neither 

 the cockchafer nor the rose-chafer, bul , as demon- 

 strated by the statement that its grubs feed on 

 NO. 2278, VOL. 91] 



dung, the dor-beetle, and therefore a near relative 

 of the sacred scarab, of which a full account is 

 given. Did space permit, we would fain quote 

 the author's observations on the pearls and pearl- 

 fisheries of the ancients, particularly the famous 

 pearls of Cleopatra ; but as it is, we must refer 

 the reader to the book itself, which is a very mine 

 of etymological and antiquarian information. 



R. L. 



MOSQUITOES. 



Tiie Mosquitoes of North and Central America 

 and the West Indies. By L. O. Howard, H. G. 

 Dyar, and F. Knab. Vol. i., pp. vii + 520. 

 Vol. ii., pp. x + 150 plates. (Carnegie Institu- 

 tion of Washington, 1912.) 

 IT is with pleasure that we are able, at last, to 

 announce the appearance of this work. Its 

 publication was expected some few years ago, but, 

 as stated by the authors in their introduction, the 

 material accumulated at this time was by no means 

 complete, and, in order to enhance its value, in- 

 vestigations were continued over a considerably 

 extended period. 



Under the title of " A General Consideration of 

 Mosquitoes, Their Habits and Their Relationship 

 to the Human Species " we have in vol. i. a very 

 comprehensive work relating to the subjects under 

 this heading. At the outset, however, we regret 

 to note that the well-known scientific names of two 

 common disease-bearing forms have undergone 

 drastic treatment — Stegomyia fasciata, Fabr., being 

 referred to as Aedes calopus, Mg., and Culex 

 fatigans, YYied., as Culex quinquejasciatus, Say. 

 It is indeed unfortunate that this should be the 

 case with these important species, as much con- 

 fusion inevitably arises, and it is a question 

 whether, as regards the specific names, the law 

 of priority should be so rigidly adhered to in such 

 circumstances. The validity of the genus Stego- 

 myia is a point for the systematist to decide, but 

 at present its abolition appears to be somewhat 

 premature. The authors direct attention to these 

 changes, and also state that Anopheles maculi- 

 pennis is confined to the Old World, and does 

 not occur in America, the form previously known 

 under this name not being referable to the species, 

 and, in fact, comprising two distinct species, viz. 

 A. quadrimaculatus and A. occidentalis. 



The text very suitably opens with an interesting 

 resume of the earlier literature and work concern- 

 ing these insects, and is followed by some eighty 

 pages relating to the morphology of the adult and 

 other stages in the life-cycle. This is entered 

 into in detail, and includes an extensive account 

 of the thoracic structure of the adult ; it also con- 



