36 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



nor are the antennae of a mosquito more adequately repre- 

 sented as a " beard." But a few pleasantries do not detract 

 from the general accuracy of the book, which throughout runs 

 the danger of being too well written and too entertaining. Nor 

 does the author of ' The Woman who Did,' fear the lash of 

 pseudo-scientific jargon in being termed a " neo-Lamarckian " 

 for writing " Use brings structure." 



The illustrations are excellent and instructive. The book 

 has neither a preface nor index. The first is a very small matter, 

 but the second is bad for both book and author if future refer- 

 ence is desired. 



Animals of To-day, their Life and Conversation. By C. J. 

 Cornish. Seeley & Co. Lim. 



" The following chapters were originally contributed to the 

 1 Spectator,'" is the opening sentence of the preface to this book, 

 and we are reminded of a remark made by Addison in the first 

 paper to the older * Spectator,' " I live in the world rather as a 

 spectator of mankind, than as one of the species." Substitute 

 " animal life " for " mankind," and we reach the plane of 

 Mr. Cornish in this very interesting volume, the record of life- 

 history being alone contemplated. The reprint of these weekly 

 contributions in a complete form is very welcome, though we 

 question whether they do not lose some of the original force 

 as when they appeared singly, confined to one subject in mode- 

 rate compass. Their reprint, however, clearly bears witness to 

 what is now an undoubted fact, that the British reading public 

 are at present thoroughly interested in the details of animal life. 



Many facts which are supposed to be well known are here 

 brought to light and emphasised. The Bactrian Camel " is a 

 beast made to endure not heat but cold," as experienced Mongol 

 herdsmen well know. The austere Goat is said, when city-kept 

 in parts of New York, " to flourish on the paste-daubed paper of 

 the advertisements which they nibble from the hoardings." As 

 to the number of Cats in London, Mr. Cornish quotes a writer 

 in the 'Daily Mail' for an estimate of 400,000. Mr. Hudson, 

 however, in his ' Birds in London,' inclined to a much higher 

 ratio in metropolitan feline population, believing in a probability 



