NATURE 



441 



THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 1907. 



THE CONSTITUENTS OF THE EUROPEAN 



FAUNA. 



European Animals: their Geological History and 



Geographical Distribution. By R. F. Scharff. 



Pp. 14 + 258; illustrated. (London: .\rchlbald 



Constable and Co.. Ltd., 1907.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 



CHOOSING a suitable and e.xpressive title is not 

 unfrequently one of the most difficult tasks (next 

 to writing- a preface) in preparing a work relating to 

 natural history, and in this particular instance we 

 venture to think that the author has not done himself 

 anything like justice in the one he has selected. 

 " Animals " in popular estimation are still regarded 

 (and to a certain e.xtent we think justly so) as form- 

 ing only one section of the animal kingdom ; while, 

 altogether apart from this, the title, " European 

 Animals," which alone appears on the cover, sug- 

 gests a work of a nature totally different from the 

 one before us. At any rate, such was the impression 

 in our own case, and we expected to find something 

 in the shape of a text-book of at least the mammalian 

 section of the European fauna. When the full title 

 is read the situation is of course changed, although 

 even then there seems something lacking. .\s a 

 matter of fact, the volume, which is based on a 

 course of (we believe much appreciated) lectures de- 

 livered at South Kensington, may be regarded as a 

 sequel to and amplification of the author's previous 

 work on the " History of the European Fauna." 



After an introductory chapter, in which general 

 matters affecting zoological distribution and the 

 value of land mammals and molluscs as a basis for 

 zoological geography are discussed, the author, as 

 perhaps in duty bound, commences with Ireland, 

 directing special attention to and attempting to 

 account for the absence in that island of manv types 

 common in Great Britain. Scotland, England, and 

 Wales form the subject of the next two chapters, 

 after which the Spanish peninsula, the Alps, eastern 

 Europe and the Caucasus, the western plain of 

 Europe, and, finally, the east and west Mediterranean 

 provinces are discussed in turn. Having expressed 

 his belief in the supreme value of mammals and land- 

 snails to the student of distribution, the author, 

 as might be e.xpected, takes these groups as 

 his text, using other sections of the animal kingdom 

 as collateral evidence whenever occasion mav require. 

 A special feature is formed by a series of maps of 

 the geographical distribution of a number of mam- 

 mals and land-molluscs, these being illustrated by 

 insets displaying a portrait either of the animal 

 itself or of its shell. .Assuming these maps to be 

 trustworthy (and such of them as we have examined 

 appear to be so), they have a very considerable value, 

 for few things are more difficult than to obtain accu- 

 rate information in such matters. 



The mention of the insets in these maps naturally 



leads to a few words with regard to the illustrations 



generally. Where photographs of shells, like the one 



of Clausilla on p. 95, have been reproduced, nothing 



NO. 1974, VOL. 76] 



can be better than the result. With regard to most 

 of the other illustrations, we regret, however, that we 

 are unable to .congratulate the author. They start 

 with the disadvantage that they are taken from 

 stuffed specimens — a style of illustration which does 

 not appeal to our taste, .\dded to this is the circum- 

 stance that they have been largely " faked " by the 

 addition of false backgrounds. The least unsatisfac- 

 tory is the frontispiece, representing a group of blue 

 hares and grouse in the Dublin Museum, but even 

 this is blurred and indistinct; while the group of 

 badgers on p. 24, taken from a case in the British 

 Museum, with an added background, is hopelessly 

 bad. \\'orst of all is the portrait in the inset to the 

 map on p. 78 of an apparently enraged hippopotamus 

 careering on a mountain-top ! 



Lack of space prevents detailed reference to the 

 views of the author as to the factors which have com- 

 bined to form the modern fauna of Europe ; but this 

 is a matter of less moment since most of these arc 

 familiar through his previous work. An especially 

 interesting chapter is the one dealing with the 

 Caucasus and east Europe, in which the view of a 

 former connection between the polar ocean and the 

 .\ralo-Caspian svstem is stoutly maintained ; much 

 importance in this respect being attached to the crus- 

 taceans of the genus Pontoporeia, which are common 

 to the Caspian and the Arctic Ocean. The distinct- 

 ness of the fauna of the Caucasus from that of south 

 Russia generally (due, it is supposed, to a connec- 

 tion between the Caspian and Black seas) and its 

 affinity to that of Asia Minor is another feature on 

 which special stress is laid. 



In conclusion, we may endorse the opinion of 

 Sir E. Ray Lankester, that the lectures (whether or 

 no we accept all the views therein expressed) 

 on which this volume is founded contain so much 

 valuable information that their publication was prac- 

 tically a dutv owed by their author to the scientific 

 world. The volume should bo in the library of every 

 naturalist. R. L. 



THE GEOGRAPHY OF AUSTRALIA AND 



NEW ZEALAND. 



Stanfotd's Compendium of Geography and Travel. 



(New issue.) .Australia. Vol. i. .Australia and New 



Zealand. Second edition, re-written. By Prof. J. W'. 



Gregory, F.R.S. Pp. xxiv+657. (London : E. 



.Stanford, 1907.) Price 15s. 

 /^NE of the characteristics of the age of synthesis 

 ^-^ in which we live is a desire on the part of the 

 people of Great Britain for a better knowledge of the 

 Britains beyond the seas. Hence spring Imperial con- 

 ferences and schemes for reciprocal education ; hence, 

 also, a crop of volumes dealing with the geography, 

 history, and conditions of the colonies. .Among these 

 not one has been written with a deeper insight into 

 the problems which confront a young nation than 

 Prof. Gregory's work on Australia and New Zealand. 

 It is too much the custom for writers to judge the 

 measures of a new country by old-world standards, 

 and to commend or condemn them according to the 

 degree of their correspondence. But a moment's 



