January 6, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



27 



Ernest Seton Thompson has won distinction in 

 all three roles. As a naturalist he has enjoyed 

 opportunities for study and observation both in 

 Canada and the United States, chiefly in On- 

 tario, Manitoba and New Mexico. As a writer 

 he is known as the author of ' Birds of Mani- 

 toba,' ' Mammals of Manitoba,' and numerous 

 articles contributed to magazines and scientific 

 journals. As an artist he is perhaps still more 

 widely known through his 'Art of Taxidermy,' 

 and work in illustrating several popular books 

 on natural history, more especially on birds. 



His latest book is original in conception and 

 execution. Here he has brought together some 

 of his most interesting adventures and field ex- 

 periences, woven them into entertaining and 

 instructive stories, and illustrated them in a 

 manner entirely unique. Under the title of 

 ' Wild Animals I have known ' Mr. Thompson 

 has departed from the beaten path of natural 

 history description, and given us an insight 

 into the habits and daily lives of some of the 

 lower animals with which he has been on more 

 or less familiar terms. He describes his friends 

 from what might be termed the human stand- 

 point, i. e., not as mere objects, but as individ- 

 uals endowed with personality and reason. 

 " What satisfaction," he asks in the prefatory 

 note, "would be derived from a ten-page sketch 

 of the habits and customs of Man '? How much 

 more profitable it would be to devote that 

 space to the life of some one great man. This 

 is the principle I have endeavored to apply to 

 my animals." 



The book consists of eight stories detailing 

 the adventures of Lobo, King of Currumpaw ; 

 Silverspot, a crow ; Raggylug, a rabbit ; Bingo 

 and Wuily, two dogs ; The Springfield fox ; the 

 pacing mustang ; and Redrulf, a partridge. 

 Lobo was a large wolf well known to the cat- 

 tlemen of northern New Mexico who suffered 

 from his depredations ; Silverspot, an old crow, 

 has received his name on account of a con- 

 spicuous white spot on the side of his head ; 

 Raggylug, a rabbit with a ragged ear. Each 

 animal and bird had some peculiarity by which 

 it could be readily distinguished and thus kept 

 under observation, sometimes for several years. 

 The stories are told in a delightfully interesting 

 style and contain many new facts and observa- 



tions. Nearly all end tragically, for, as the 

 author explains, the end of a wild animal is usu- 

 ally tragic. The book is not, and is not intended 

 to be, a scientific treatise on mammals. The 

 reader is assured that the stories are true, but 

 this does not necessarily imply that every de- 

 tail was based on actual observation. In fact, 

 it would be practically impossible to observe 

 some of the scenes depicted in the biographies 

 of the rabbit and the fox. In describing the 

 habits of a particular animal there is little more 

 than a skeleton of fact on which to build. The 

 record is so fragmentary that an author is com- 

 pelled to fill in the gaps from his general 

 knowledge of the species and to represent the 

 characters as he conceives them to be. Such 

 descriptions are of necessity composite and 

 subject to personal equation and imagination. 

 The book is copiously illustrated with 29 half- 

 tone plates and a large number of marginal 

 sketches. The type bed is narrow and the mar- 

 gins are utilized for sketches which are some- 

 times mere outlines or suggestions, but so skill- 

 fully executed as to make it possible to follow 

 certain parts of the story merely by the illus- 

 trations. No one can fail to notice the author's 

 careful attention to details and his skill in 

 woodcraft. The student of natural history will 

 find many things of interest in the descriptions 

 and illustrations, and the general reader will 

 not regret an introduction to some of the ani- 

 mals Mr. Thompson has known. 



T. S. P. 



Human Anatomy. Edited by Heney Moeeis, 

 M.A. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston's Sons & 

 Co. 1898. Second Edition. 

 The appearance of a revised and enlarged 

 second edition of this work within less than six 

 years from its original entry into the arena is in 

 itself a sign of success. The well-known text- 

 books of human anatomy which have held 

 almost undisputed sway since the memory of 

 the oldest teacher, continually enlarging their 

 field with the lapse of years, are so strongly in- 

 trenched that the prospects of a new rival at 

 first can hardly have appeared hopeful. Not 

 only have they done their work very well, but 

 their methods have become so familiar to teach- 

 ers, and the latter have got so habituated , to 



