308 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



of his Station, in which he records this new and interesting habit in 

 Limax. "I was somewhat surprised," he says, " one day to observe one 

 of the slugs stretch out and grasp a plant-louse, hundreds of which were 

 swarming on the leaves of the dock, where they were breeding in myriads. 

 The slug not only disposed of one Aphis, but another and another fol- 

 lowed in quick succession." He also states that they " climbed the 

 leaves and stems of the wheat to the height of eight or ten inches, and, 

 crawling along the larger leaves, cleared them almost completely of the 

 Aphides." On receipt of this interesting note I placed a number of 

 L. agrestis in a breeding-cage with numbers of hop-lice, Phorodon humuli, 

 and found that three or four soon commenced feeding on them ; but on 

 placing lettuce-leaves in the box they left off eating the lice and devoured 

 the leaves, but some of them continued to prefer the carnivorous diet. — 

 F. V. Theobald. 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



The Wild Cat of Europe (Fells catus). By Edward Hamilton, 

 M.D., F.L.S. Illustrated by P. & P. J. Smit. 8vo, 

 pp. i-xxi, 1-99. London : K. H. Porter. 1896. 



Considering the amount of material which is available for a 

 monograph on this snbject, we must confess to considerable dis- 

 appointment with the book before us. It is by no means ex- 

 haustive, nor are the materials, so far as they go, well arranged. 

 Indeed, it would seem in some places as if the pages of the 

 author's manuscript had become misplaced before printing. Thus 

 we find the bibliography of the subject at the beginning of the 

 volume instead of at the end (though this perhaps is not very 

 material), and the description of the animal itself is in the 

 middle of the volume (p. 37) instead of at the commencement. 

 The authorities cited, of which a very imperfect list is given in 

 the bibliography, are quoted apparently at haphazard as the 

 author happened to come across them, and not in chronological 

 sequence, as one would expect to find them. Thus we see Prof. 

 Rolleston followed by Aldrovandus (pp. 80, 81), Charles St. John 

 followed by Gesner (pp. 93, 94), Donovan preceded by Harrison 

 Weir (p. 88), and a sentiment of Mrs. Janet Ross (1889) sand- 

 wiched between two extracts from Le Normant's work on Greece 

 (pp. 82, 83). 



