NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 189 



so, whether the pigmy belt of the three-mile or even the thirteen- 

 mile limit can have any more influence on this form than on the 

 ever-abundant Herring ? " In this able defence of the "trawl," 

 we may realize what a destructive, though not altogether extermi- 

 native agent it is ; but beyond this the book is a welcome addition 

 to a knowledge of the inhabitants of that most romantic and 

 little-known region which we call the Sea. 



DesHybrides aVetatsauvage. Regne Animal. (Classe des Oiseaux) . 

 Par Andre Suchetet. Lille : Bigot Freres. 



Hybridity is a problem which lies at the root of a philo- 

 sophical conception of the much-used and much-vexed term 

 "species." We all agree that the various breeds of Fowls and 

 Pigeons represent but one species, because we know their life- 

 histories. But we describe new forms of animals received from 

 abroad as species on the canon of what is understood as " specific 

 differences." Hence philosophically we are wrong, and system- 

 atically we are right, and the same practice and a similar rule are 

 employed by naturalists throughout the animal kingdom. Even 

 mankind have afforded the same problem, and from France also 

 came a suggestive little book by Dr. Paul Broca, which was 

 translated and published in London in 1864 under the title of 

 1 On the Phenomena of Hybridity in the Genus Homo.' 



Mons. Suchetet has undertaken a great work, and if succeeding 

 volumes are allied in size to this one devoted to birds, a colossal 

 publication on the subject is assured. The limitations attached 

 to the term " species " are apparent when our author remarks : — 

 " Nous avons substitue les mots 'fonnes animales ' aux mots 

 ' especes animales,'' parce que notre embarras a ete grand lorsqu'il 

 s'est agi de distinguer entre l'espece et la race (ou, pour mieux 

 dire, entre l'espece et la sous-espece comme on fait emploi de ce 

 mot en zoologie)." The introduction occupies no fewer than 118 

 pages, and is a valuable summary of most that has been written 

 on the subject. In the " Liste des Musees Publics et des Collec- 

 tions Particulieres dont les Directeurs ou les Proprietaires ont 

 ete assez gracieux pour nous envoyer en communication," we 

 notice seventy-eight entries, the cosmopolitan character of which 

 prove that the material has been widely sought ; while the " Liste 



