328 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



and mammals. " It seems to me, therefore, that in some of the 

 minute primitive forms, as old as the Devonian, if not still more 

 ancient, we may yet find the key to the great mystery of the 

 origin of mammals." Mr. Sedgwick pointed out the necessity of 

 remembering the decided imperfection of the geological record, 

 and the doubt as to whether we shall ever find the past evidences 

 of early organic evolution. Prof. Hubrecht predicted that one 

 great battlefield in the future of this controversy would be over 

 the question whether mammals other than Monotremes had de- 

 scended from oviparous ancestors. Such authoritative opinions 

 more truly canonize a Congress than the ancient practice of 

 formulating dogmas. 



Prof. Haeckers paper on " Our Present Knowledge of the 

 Descent of Man " has already been noticed in these pages (ante, 

 p. 82), and this referred more or less to the " Remarks upon the 

 Brain-cast of Pithecanthropus erectus^ by Dr. Eug. Dubois. It 

 is, however, impossible here to give a digest of the various con- 

 tents of the volume, which embraces " Recent Legislation on the 

 Protection of Wild Birds in Great Britain," and so technical a 

 subject as a long correspondence on the " Nomenclature of 

 Lepidoptera." It is a publication which may indeed be called 

 "advanced zoology," which sufficiently repays the long journeys 

 made by some of the delegates to Cambridge ; and, further, is a 

 more than creditable testimony to the unusual secretarial energy 

 which marked this Congress. 



An Illustrated Manual of British Birds. By Howard Saunders, 

 F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c. Second edition, revised. Gurney 

 & Jackson. 



The second edition of this indispensable vade-mecum will be 

 hailed with delight by all who take an interest in British birds. 

 The number of books published on this subject cannot be con- 

 sidered few, but many are sketchy, some of an anecdotal character, 

 others containing unverified records, or not including occasional 

 visitors. None of these remarks can be alleged against a volume 

 that gives the experience of a life-long attachment to ornitho- 

 logy, combined with the critical faculty of sifting evidence. This 



