SS Scientific Intelligence. 



5. Die Antike Tierwelt ; \i\ Otto Keller. Erster Band. 

 Siiugetiere I. Pp. xii, 4;M, with 145 texl-tigures and 3 plates. 

 Leipzig, 1909 (Wni. Engelnianii). — Tiiis very interesting volnme 

 describes, with many illustrations, the various mammals known 

 to the ancients, not only the domesticated animals but wild 

 and some mythical forms as well : more than 200 species and 

 varieties all told, such as are depicted in statuarj'-, bas reliefs, mu- 

 ral paintings, coins and vases, or described by the writers of old. 



The volume opens with a brief resume of the zoological system 

 of Aristotle, the remainder of the book being devoted to the 

 Mammalia, of which the jjrincipal forms described are the apes, 

 the lion and other felines, the dog, hyena, bear, many rodents, 

 among which are mentioned the conies (Hi/rax), which are nearer 

 the proboscideans among the ungulates than the hares which 

 they super6cially resemble. Horses, deer, giraffe, antelope, and 

 their kind were well known to the ancients, and the elephants, 

 including the hairy mammoth, which is depicted in prehistoric 

 drawings upon eavern walls of France. Rhinoceros, swine, seals, 

 and an amazing picture of a docile unicorn from the mediaeval 

 " Physiologius" close the volume. There are three plates of 

 coins and medals bearing animal sul)jects. 



The book, with its excellent illustrations and clear type, is of 

 great interest and value to the natural historian as well as to the 

 general reader. r. s. l. 



6. The Orders of Mammals; by William K. Gregory. 

 Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, "Vol. xxvii, 

 Feb. 1910, pp. 1-525, and 32 text-figures. — Part I of this impor- 

 tant memoir contains a history of the ordinal classification of 

 mammals, while Part H deals with the genetic relations of the 

 mammalian orders, a discussion of the origin of the Mammalia, 

 and the problem of the auditory ossicles. Dr. Gregory's position in 

 the American Museum which calls for so much literary as well as 

 scientific research, together with close association with Professor 

 Osborn and Dr. W. D. Matthew, have aided in fitting him pecu- 

 liarly for the preparation of such a work. The author's thor- 

 oughness may readily be imagined by his devoting some time to 

 a preliminary study of Descartes and the principles of inductive 

 philosophy in order that his phylogenetic speculation be not ren- 

 dered migratory by faulty reasoning. 



This thoroughness is the keynote of the whole endeavor and 

 has resulted in so valuable a work that a teacher of paleontology 

 as well as one who deals with living mammals will find it a mine 

 of information above price. It is written in the author's clear 

 and very delightful style, while the typography is fully up to the 

 high standard of the Museum's other publications. r. s. l. 



7. Analyse cler Silikat- unci Karbonatgesteine ; von W. F. 

 HiLLEBRAND. 8vo, pp. 258. Leipzig 1910 (W. Engelmann). — 

 This is essentially a translation into German, by E. Wilke- 

 DoRFURT, of Bulletin No. 305 of the U. S. Geological Survey 

 (1907) by the same author.* At the same time, however, con- 



* A revised edition has recently appeared as Bulletin 422, see p. 84. 



