NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 199 



public acknowledgment of the correctness of one's views, but it 

 furnishes one more illustration of the old adage that " truth will 

 prevail," and affords additional gratification in the reflection that 

 the artist still lives to receive the homage which is his due. 



Whether it is a wise course to publish a biography in the 

 life-time of the subject of it, is a question which may, for many 

 reasons, admit of doubt ; but it has at least this advantage, that 

 it enables the biographer to collect and utilize much information, 

 the correctness of which can only be properly vouched for by 

 direct appeal to the person chiefly concerned, who is naturally in 

 possession of the largest number of facts concerning his own 

 work. For this reason we are disposed to welcome the publica- 

 tion of this volume, although issued somewhat before the time 

 when it might be more properly expected to appear. It is evident 

 that the biographer has taken extreme pains with its preparation, 

 and has produced a volume which will be welcomed alike by 

 naturalists and artists. It appeals perhaps more strongly to the 

 former class of readers, because Mr. Palmer's comments are those 

 of a lover of nature rather than an art critic. On the other hand, 

 students of animal life will highly appreciate the illustrations 

 with which the book is filled. These consist of more than fifty 

 full-page reproductions of finished drawings and paintings by 

 Mr. Wolf, with a smaller number of sketches in the text. 



Mr. Palmer, we trust, will forgive us for saying that we do 

 not think he has made so good a selection of pictures as he might 

 have done. Too many of his reproductions are copied from the 

 * Proceedings of the Zoological Society,' wherein the aim of the 

 artist has been not so much to compose a picture, as to give a 

 severely accurate portrait of some mammal or bird sufficient to 

 indicate its distinguishing characters, and to enable its identifi- 

 cation by scientific zoologists. Many of these pictures, naturally, 

 can have little attraction for the general public, who, knowing 

 nothing of the species represented, are unable to form any 

 opinion as to the merit of the drawings. Take for example 

 Accipiter collaris (p. 22), Astur griseiceps (p. 62), Germain's 

 Polyplectron (p. 69), Leucopternis princeps (p 80), Pithecia mona- 

 chus (p. 92), Dactylopsila trivirgata (p. 97) ; or the Dead Aye-aye 

 (p. 103), the Silver Marmoset (p. 146), and the Bashful Monkey 

 (p. 186). Except as careful studies of particular species, none 

 of these have anything to recommend them outside the pale of 



