88 REPORT — 1875. 



2, The European Subbegion. 



To discuss, or even to give the titles of all the works that have been published 

 on the Vertebrates of Europe would extend this address to far beyond its proper 

 limits. I must content myself with a few words on the principal works which 

 have appeared of late years, first, upon the zoology of Europe generally, and, 

 secondly, upon the faunas of its chief political divisions. 



A. Mammals of Europe. 



To begin with the Mammals, our standard authority upon the European mem- 

 bers of this class is Blasius's ' Naturgeschichte der Saugethiere Deutschlands und 

 der angrenzenden Lander ' (23); and an excellent work it is. Unfortunately, how- 

 ever, it does not extend into Southern Europe, where alone many of the more in- 

 teresting forms of European Mammal-life make their appearance. A work founded 

 on Blasius's volume and embracing the additional species of Mammals to be met 

 with in Spain, Italj^ and Turkey is very desirable ; and it is with great pleasure that 

 I have been informed that an energetic Member of this Association has already set 

 some such undertaking before him. The only work of reference of this extent that 

 I am at present acquainted with is Lord Clermont's useful ' Guide to the Quadru- 

 peds and Reptiles of Europe,' published in 1859 (24). 



As regards the constituent countries of the European Subregion, there are but few 

 recomniendable works devoted to the illustration of their Mammal-faunas. In 

 England we have Bell's 'British Quadrupeds,' belonging to Mr. Van Voorst's excel- 

 lent seiies (25). This remained long out of print, until its recent reissue in 1874 

 by the author (26) with the assistance of Mr. R. F. Tomes and Mr. Alston. For 

 France, M. Gervais's ' Zoologie et Paleontologie Fran^aise ' (27), enumerates both 

 recent and fossil Mammals, though most regard is paid to the extinct Fauna. As 

 regards Spanish Mammals, almost the only authority I am acquainted with isRosen- 

 hauer's ' Thiere Andalusiens ' (28), which, however, is very defective, the author 

 having devoted himself principally to the study of the Invertebrates. Capt. Cook 

 (afterwards Widdrington) was the original discoverer of several of the rarer 

 Mammals of Spain ; but the account of them in his ' Sketches ' (29) is very meagre. 

 A bare list of the Mammals of Portugal is given by Prof. Barboza du Bocage 

 in the ' Revue Zoologique ' for 1863 (30). Passing over to Italy, Bonaparte's 

 ' Fauna Italica ' (31) and Costa's ' Fauna del Regno di Napoli ' (32) must be men- 

 tioned, though both are somewhat out of date. But the former work is still the 

 only authority on certain of the rarer Italian species and local forms. A recent 

 summary of Italian Mammals has been given by Prof. Cornalia in ' Italia ' (33) ; 

 but on the whole it must be allowed that a good work upon the Mammals of the 

 Italian peninsula is still a desideratum. Of the Mammals of Switzerland, on the 

 other hand, we have an excellent recent work by Dr. Fatio, forming the first 

 volume of his ' Faune des Vert^br(5s de la Suisse ' (34 ), in which special attention 

 is devoted to the difficult groups of Rodents and Insectivores. No student of 

 the European Mammal-fauna should omit to consult Dr. Fatio's work. 



Passing to Eastern Europe, we find our state of exact knowledge as to the 

 Mammals very defective. As regards Greece, we may refer to the French ' Ex- 

 pedition Scientifique en Morde,' in which there is a memoir on the Mammals by 

 Geoftroy St.-Hilaire (35), and Erhard's 'Fauna der Cykladen ' (36) and Unger 

 and Kotschy's volume on Cyprus (37), which give some details on the Mammals 

 of the Greek archipelago. Of Turkey we find little or no information, and there 

 is certainlj' still much to be done as regards the smaller Mammals of this part 

 of Europe. In Southern Russia we have Menetrids's Catalogue of the Animals 

 of the Caucasus (38), and P. D(5midoff"s ' Voyage dans la Russie Mdridionale 

 (39), and perhaps other works in the language of the comitry, which I am not 

 acquainted with. But there can be no doubt that it is" in South-eastern Europe 

 that our knowledge of the Mammal-fauna of this continent is very defective, 

 and that most remains to be done in order to complete our acquaintance with 

 this branch of Em-opean zoology. 



In Northern Europe, which we now turn to, the case is quite different. The 

 highly cultivated and laborious naturalists of Scandinavia have for many years 



