180 REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS 



what one wants to know is whether the intention • is to convey the 

 meaning that the horns in question are solid right through, like these 

 of a deer. 



One of the most interesting of all these attractive stories is that 

 which deals with the Takin, an animal very little known even now. 

 One has to imagine a goat-like animal of the size of an ox, with a 

 Roman nose and generally clumsy appearance, an animal which 

 frequents the mountainous parts of west and north-west China at a 

 height of from ten to twelve thousand feet. It seems to be fond of 

 the leaves of the bamboo, has in some cases a "golden-white fleecy 

 hide," and is known to science as the Budorcas, while the natives 

 call it a Panyang. Mr. Sowerby's chapter dealing with it will be 

 widely welcomed for its freshness and graphic description. 



But we have said enough. Mr. Sowerby has laid the whole of the 

 combined sporting and natural history world under obligations to 

 him. They can best be met by the purchase of the volume. The 

 proof-reader was not always sure of his orthography, but one may 

 excuse that when the matter itself is so entrancing. G. L. 



fit % ^ ^Cl?^- ; Published by the Commercial Press, Shanghai. $8.00 



This is a handsome volume, printed in clear type on good paper. 

 There are 1,590 pp. of text : an index of 48 pp. in Japanese characters : 

 and one of 62 pp. in Latin and English. There is an index for the 

 Chinese names arranged under the radicals. The volume contains 

 about six thousand names, with descriptive articles and many illus- 

 trations. 



The history and scope of this work is well expressed in the 

 Introduction by Prof. N. G. Gee. He says : 



"From the earliest times the Chinese have been students of the 

 plants around them, have learned of their properties and made use of 

 them in large quantities for food, for healing disease, and in their 

 industries. 



Early literature is full of references to plants which are im- 

 perfectly described, and therefore much confusion has often arisen in 

 assigning the proper Chinese name to plants that are already well 

 known to science. A plant may have one name in one place and an 

 entirely different one in another place not far removed. 



Explorers and students of Botany from all over the world have 

 taken much interest during recent years in the Chinese flora, and 

 many large herbaria have been collected and deposited in the museums 

 of the West. These herbaria have furnished material to the specialists 

 who have worked out very thoroughly the systematic side of our flora. 



