308 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 974 



Howard on the Britisli warblers, have shown 

 that these spreading movements are typically 

 reflex, and that they are common to many 

 periods of excitement, so it is probable that 

 they really have nothing to do with " charm- 

 ing " the female, in the sense in which this 

 word is commonly understood. Even the dull 

 cat-bird can be seen to spread before a pros- 

 pective mate, and as Howard has shown, the 

 presence of the female is not always necessary 

 to excite such behavior during the mating 

 period. Essentially the same movements are 

 executed at the instance of sudden sounds, or 

 of fear, not to speak of the spontaneous antics 

 of the turkey gobbler, or even of the gaudy 

 peacock, which, as Darwin acknowledged, will 

 spread in the presence of poultry and swine. 



In a chapter on Reptiles and their Prog- 

 eny, the author refers to the ancient story of 

 the viper " swallowing " her young in times of 

 danger, with the remark that since this reptile 

 is viviparous, many persons who had supposed 

 that they had taken its young from the ali- 

 mentary tract had really assisted at their 

 birth. Whether there is any germ of truth at 

 the root of this hoary belief, or whether it 

 rightfully belongs among the vulgar errors to 

 which Thomas Browne consigned it in the 

 seventeenth century, we do not 'pretend to say, 

 but the author's suggestion does not remove all 

 the diiEculties. Many American naturalists of 

 repute have supported the contention that cer- 

 tain snakes do occasionally refuge their young 

 in the throat or esophagus, and numerous 

 American species, both venomous and non- 

 yenomous, are included in the list. It is a 

 matter of some historical interest that the 

 American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, which met at Portland, Maine, in 

 1873, held in one of its sections a sort of con- 

 vention, on snakes. G. Browne Goode, who 

 afterwards became the head of the United 

 States National Museum, led the discussion, 

 and E. W. Putnam, secretary of the Associa- 

 tion, Theodore Gill, and other prominent 

 naturalists took part in it. Goode's paper, 

 which was suggested by a still earlier one by 

 Putnam, in the American Naturalist for 1869, 

 and was published in full in the Annual Re- 



ports of the society, was an attempt to show 

 that many snakes give temporary refuge to 

 their young, much as certain fishes are known 

 to carry about and protect their eggs in their 

 mouths. He received the support of all these 

 men, in addition to that of one hundred other 

 witnesses whom he considered reliable, includ- 

 ing Sidney J. Smith, noted for his accuracy 

 as a marine zoologist, and Edward Palmer, of 

 the Smithsonian Institution. So strongly was 

 this " viperine " story supported that Dr. Gill, 

 in summing up the evidence, declared it was 

 " sulEcient to set the matter for ever at rest." 

 This will illustrate in still another direction 

 the difficulties of interpretation in animal be- 

 havior, whether actual or visionary. If such 

 competent witnesses and judges were deceived, 

 it must be due to some other cause than that 

 which the author of " The Infancy of Ani- 

 mals " has adduced. It may be that the young 

 of many snakes — and this is an idea which 

 we owe to a somewhat old but excellent work 

 by Miss Hopley— respond instinctively to the 

 calls of their parent by running towards her 

 head and afterwards concealing themselves 

 under her body. If young snakes were thought 

 to be seen running into the mouth, it would 

 require but little imagination to see them pop 

 out again, the mind having already, perhaps, 

 pictured such a scene in advance. Otherwise, 

 so far as we can see, if we discredit all these 

 accounts, we must continue to regard the 

 snake as the fruitful cause of all moral 

 obliquity. 



The author's illustrations, particularly the 

 photographs, are excellent, and add distinc- 

 tively to the attraction of a valuable and 

 interesting work. 



Erais^cis H. Herrick 



Lausanne, 

 June 20, 1913 



Explosives. A Synoptic and Critical Treat- 

 ment of the Subject as gathered from Vari- 

 ous Sources. By Dr. H. Brunswig. Trans- 

 lated and annotated by Charles E. Monroe, 

 Ph.D., LL.D., and Alton L. Kibler, M.S., 

 Ph.D. 

 The excuse for producing a new book in the 



