SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



49 



among others a chapter on the " Psychology of the 

 Lamb," and comparison between the brains of tiger 

 and cat and wolf and dog, especially with reference 

 to the evolution of the higher qualities in the 

 domesticated animals. 



Amphibia and RejMles. By Hans Gadow, 

 M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S. xii + 668 pp., 9 in. x 6 in., 

 with 181 illustrations. (London and New York : 

 Macmillans. 1901.) 17s. net. 



This is vol. viii. of the " Cambridge Natural 

 History," and more than maintains the high 

 scientific reputation of this series. The herpe- 

 tologists or students of the amphibia and reptiles 

 have now a standard work of the highest class, 

 and the general reader can from this book obtain, 

 without being deterred by too much terminology, 

 a general idea of the class which is not to be 



from drawings on wood, and are nearly all by Miss 

 M. E. Durham, mostly from living specimens, 

 which is a very important point with regard to their 

 accurate representation. We all know that pictures 

 made from specimens in spirit naturally lack truth- 

 fulness when they depend on the imagination of 

 an artist who has never seen the creatures alive. 

 By the courtesy of the publishers we reproduce one 

 of the illustrations, showing a neotropical tree 

 snake, arranged with all the elegance of these 

 beautiful animals. The natural colour is of a 

 golden green, with white underside. They live 

 chiefly upon small birds and their eggs. When 

 disturbed they have the peculiar habit of coiling 

 the whole body like a watch-spring and when 

 alighting on the ground upon the spiral, suffer- 

 ing no inconvenience through its breaking the 

 fall. 



Lwi'OPHis liocerus. (From Amphibia and Reptiles. By Hans Gadow.) 



readily attained elsewhere. Of course the author 

 deals with the subject at large. The geographical 

 distribution of habitat is illustrated by the 

 coloured map of the world which forms the fronti- 

 spiece. By this we know at a glance whence come 

 the various groups inhabiting tropical forests with 

 continuous vegetation, deserts, prairies, and tem- 

 perate wooded zones. In fact, the work is in- 

 tended to appeal to two classes of readers : the 

 field naturalists who are interested in life histories, 

 habits, geographical distribution, beauty, and 

 strangeness of forms, and to the morphologists. 

 Though the interests of these two kinds of 

 naturalists have little in common, such a work as 

 this teaches the former nmch that they usually 

 neglect, and makes the latter realise that the 

 creatures they anatomatise were once alive and 

 possessed other interests besides structure. To both 

 these types of students the book is full of learning, 

 and will form a valuable addition to their libraries. 

 The illustrations are admirable : they are chiefly 



Animal Life. By David Stare Jordan, Ph.D., 

 LL.D., and Vernon L. Kellogg, M.S. ix + 329 pp., 

 8 in. x 5J in., with 180 illustrations. (London : 

 Henry Kimpton. 1901.) 7s. 6d. net. 



This work, which first appeared in America, is 

 one of the twentieth-century text-books edited by 

 Dr. A. F. Nightingale. The object of the volume 

 before us is to give an elementary account of 

 animal ecology, otherwise the relations of animals 

 to their surroundings and the responsive adapt- 

 ability of them to their environment. This subject 

 is one which is of the highest interest to all 

 students of zoology. Such a work as this develops 

 in us the faculty of observation, and enables us to 

 realise the objects of the association of facts ob- 

 served. We are glad to see this book, as that 

 portion of natural history study has been much 

 neglected in the science literature of this country. 

 The illustrations are admirable and subjects well 

 chosen. Indeed, it is one of the most readable of 

 natural history books that have recently appeared. 



