Jan. 8, 1880] 



NA TURE 



>33 



illustrations should be of the very best kind, so as fully to 

 exhibit the beauty, the variety, and the intricacy of nature. 

 The present volume lays no claim to such complete- 

 ness ; yet it is far superior to the mere popular natural 

 history, inasmuch as it gives a considerable amount of 

 accurate information both on the anatomy and physiology 

 of the chief types of the animal kingdom, and on the 

 geographical distribution of the chief families and genera 

 of the higher animals. It also deserves great credit for 

 the completeness of its review of the vertebrata, every 

 well-established family group being referred to, and its 

 more prominent characteristics usually described ; so that, 

 so far as this sub-kingdom is concerned, the book is a 

 compendium of information well worthy of a place in the 



library of every natural history student. With the 

 invertebrata a very different plan has had to be followed, 

 only the more important orders being noticed, and a few 

 typical forms selected for description and illustration ; 

 yet even here we are glad to meet with some account of 

 the most recent discoveries among marine animals, and 

 some illustrations which offer a welcome relief from the 

 usual stereotyped forms of most popular works. 



We shall best exhibit the character of Dr. Wright's 

 volume by laying before our readers a few passages with 

 their accompanying illustrations. 



Under the mouse family (Muridae) we have twenty 

 species described or noticed, and these are illustrated by 

 eight excellent figures. The beautiful illustration of the 



I 



i 



harvest-mouse nest building accompanies the following 

 descriptive passage : — 



" The Harvest Mouse (Mus miniilus) is found probably 

 all over Europe. It is not common in England, and is 

 more frequent in Belgium. White, of Selborne, in 

 writing to Pennant, says : ' They build their nests amidst 

 the straws of the corn above the ground, and sometimes 

 in thistles. They breed as many as eight at a litter, in a 

 little round nest composed of the blades of grass or 

 wheat. One of these I procured this autumn, most arti- 

 ficially platted, and composed of the blades of grass or 

 wheat, perfectly round, and about the size of a cricket- 

 ball, with the aperture so ingeniously closed that there 

 was no discovering to what part it belonged. It was so 

 compact and well-rilled that it would roll across the table 



without being discomposed, though it contained feight 

 little mice that were naked and blind. As this nest was 

 perfectly full, how could the dam come at her litter so as 

 to administer respectively a teat to each ? Perhaps she 

 opens different places for that purpose, adjusting them 

 again when the business is over, but she could not possibly 

 be contained herself in the ball with her young, which, 

 moreover, would be daily increasing in bulk. This won- 

 derful procreant cradle — an elegant instance of the efforts 

 of instinct — was found in a wheat-field suspended in the 

 head of a thistle.' The food of this little mouse consists 

 of corn and grass seeds, insects, and earth-worms. Of 

 insects it is very fond.'' 



Of the ravages of another British species we have the 

 following interesting account : — 



