﻿195 
  

  

  NOTICES 
  OF 
  NEW 
  BOOKS. 
  

  

  The 
  Natural 
  History 
  of 
  Sokotra 
  and 
  Abd-el-Kuri, 
  being 
  the 
  Report 
  

   upon 
  the 
  Results 
  of 
  the 
  Conjoint 
  Expedition 
  to 
  these 
  Islands 
  

   in 
  1898-9. 
  By 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  R. 
  Ogilvie-Grant, 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  

   Museum, 
  and 
  Dr. 
  H. 
  0. 
  Forbes, 
  of 
  the 
  Liverpool 
  Museums, 
  

   &c. 
  Liverpool 
  : 
  The 
  Free 
  Public 
  Museums. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  always 
  an 
  importance 
  and 
  charm 
  in 
  the 
  delineation 
  

   of 
  insular 
  faunas, 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  lack 
  of 
  interest 
  to 
  the 
  naturalist 
  

   in 
  this 
  large 
  volume. 
  The 
  Sokotran 
  Archipelago, 
  as 
  described 
  

   by 
  the 
  Editor, 
  Dr. 
  Forbes, 
  or 
  the 
  summits 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  islands, 
  

   at 
  all 
  events, 
  " 
  are 
  now 
  known 
  to 
  be 
  among 
  the 
  land 
  surfaces 
  of 
  

   the 
  globe 
  that 
  have 
  longest, 
  if 
  not 
  always, 
  held 
  their 
  heads 
  above 
  

   the 
  sea, 
  their 
  sculptured 
  peaks 
  and 
  pinnacles 
  attesting 
  to 
  the 
  

   waste 
  and 
  wear 
  they 
  have 
  so 
  long 
  endured. 
  They 
  have 
  been 
  

   mute 
  witnesses 
  probably 
  since 
  earliest 
  Palaeozoic 
  times 
  to 
  the 
  

   drowning 
  of 
  many 
  lands 
  around 
  them, 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  uplifting 
  from 
  

   the 
  ocean 
  of 
  mighty 
  ranges 
  on 
  the 
  two 
  continents 
  towards 
  which 
  

   they 
  now 
  look, 
  and 
  of 
  which 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  or 
  another 
  in 
  their 
  

   wonderful 
  vicissitudes 
  they 
  have 
  formed 
  a 
  part." 
  This 
  expedition 
  

   was 
  distinctly 
  a 
  success, 
  large 
  collections 
  were 
  made, 
  and 
  the 
  

   fauna 
  and 
  flora 
  is 
  monographed 
  by 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  naturalists 
  who 
  

   are 
  mostly 
  all 
  acknowledged 
  authorities 
  upon 
  their 
  subjects. 
  

  

  The 
  mammals 
  of 
  Sokotra, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  known, 
  comprise 
  eleven 
  

   species; 
  the 
  African 
  Ass 
  (Eqnus 
  asi?ius) 
  is 
  found' 
  in 
  a 
  wild 
  con- 
  

   dition, 
  and 
  has 
  probably 
  thus 
  lived 
  for 
  " 
  some 
  thousands 
  of 
  

   years." 
  Fifty 
  species 
  of 
  birds 
  were 
  collected, 
  ten 
  from 
  Abd-el- 
  

   Kuri, 
  and 
  forty 
  from 
  Sokotra 
  ; 
  these 
  comprised 
  eight 
  new 
  species, 
  

   though 
  some 
  recorded 
  by 
  previous 
  investigators 
  were 
  not 
  found 
  

   by 
  this 
  expedition. 
  The 
  avian 
  enumeration 
  contains 
  many 
  

   bionomical 
  observations, 
  and 
  a 
  musical 
  representation 
  of 
  call- 
  

   notes. 
  Of 
  the 
  Eeptiles, 
  beyond 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  former 
  expeditions, 
  

   six 
  new 
  species 
  were 
  discovered, 
  one 
  referable 
  to 
  a 
  new 
  genus. 
  

   The 
  apparent 
  complete 
  absence 
  of 
  Batrachians 
  from 
  Sokotra 
  is 
  

  

  