NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 357 



that he knows nothing from personal observation of the habits 

 of the animals he writes about, nor has he sufficient acquaintance 

 with the literature of his subject to enable him to quote the most 

 reliable authorities. This is to be regretted ; for the subject is a 

 good one, and if properly treated might have resulted in the 

 production of a very useful book. As it is, its utility is confined 

 to that portion of it which deals with what may be termed trade 

 statistics, while the natural history portion of it must be regarded 

 as not only inaccurate in details, but incomplete when compared 

 with the abundant materials which — though unknown to the 

 author — are available for such a compilation. 



Not many years ago Dr. Elliott Coues published a volume 

 entitled " Fur-bearing Animals," in which he gave an excellent 

 account of the Wolverene, the Martens or Sables, the Ermine, 

 the Mink and various other kinds of Weasels indigenous to 

 North America, besides several species of Skunks, the Badger, 

 the land and sea Otters, and numerous exotic allies of these 

 animals; yet we do not find this authoritative work anywhere 

 quoted by Mr. Poland. Nor does he appear to be acquainted with 

 Caton's ' Antelope and Deer of America ' (a second edition of 

 which appeared in 1881), or with Allen's splendid monograph on 

 the " American Bisons, Living and Extinct," with 12 plates and 

 a Map, published in the ' Memoirs of the Museum of Compara- 

 tive Zoology at Harvard College.' These, and other volumes we 

 could name, would at all events have furnished Mr. Poland with 

 reliable information on the American species noticed in his book. 

 In regard to the Bison, now on the verge of extinction, it was to 

 be expected that he would have referred to the latest published 

 statistics concerning its present limited distribution ; but this 

 unfortunately he has not done. 



We shall not attempt to correct all the mistakes we have 

 noted, but reference should be made to a few at least, in order to 

 justify our criticism. 



i; The Wild Cat," says Mr. Poland (p. 35), "is indigenous to 

 Great Britain ; it is by no means rare in Sutherlandshire, Boss- 

 shire, Inverness-shire, parts of Perthshire, and South Caithness." 

 So far so good, though he might have added Argyllshire ; but he 

 goes on to state, " It is also found in North Wales, and some of 

 the northern counties of England," adding that " it is very rare 

 in Lincolnshire." The authority for this information is not 





