No. 400.] REVIEWS OF RECENT LITERATURE. 315 
and a mongoose evidently won a warm spot in his heart. The chap- 
ter on the mongoose, in particular, is a charming study of a fascinat- 
ing subject. The almost human inquisitiveness of the creature, his 
fondness for toys and love of human fellowship, are lovingly dwelt 
on. Frequent reference to the need of care and thought for the wants 
of the creatures which are imprisoned as pets, is evidence of the 
author’s sympathy for them and his acute observation of their habits. 
The final chapter of the book is on birds, which the author never 
deprives of their liberty ; the chapter is a strong appeal against the 
terrible destruction of birds for millinery purposes. 
A hearty, cheerful tone pervades the book, humorous turns of 
speech and thought abound, and if the style is now and then almost 
too colloquial, the fact is explained by the statement that the sketches 
were originally prepared for a school paper. Happy must be the 
boys under such a master; it would be hard for the dullest or the 
most thoughtless to come under his influence without acquiring a 
keener observation, a wider interest, and a more tender sympathy. 
Ri H, 
Lake Urmi. — The natural history of Lake Urmi in northwestern 
Persia has been described by R. T. Günther. The lake lies in the 
highlands that separate the river systems of the Atlantic, the Indian, 
and the Arctic Oceans and has no outlet. It has been described as 
* dead," but its waters, though containing about three-fifths as much 
saline matter as the Dead Sea, harbor a number of organisms. Masses 
of zodgleea of micrococci invested by diatoms, and numbers of the 
brine shrimp, Artemia urmiana, find life possible in this water. It 
was estimated that about twelve hundred Artemias per cubic meter 
was a fair average for the whole lake. The fresh-water streams flow- 
ing into the lake contain fish which, when carried into the lake, are 
killed by its salinity. The conditions of the fish faunas of the sev- 
eral rivers indicate that the lake has for a long time been an efficient 
barrier to intercommunication. A description of the land fauna and 
flora surrounding the lake and a list of the local names of many ani- 
mals are given. The paper also includes descriptions of the species 
of animals both recent and fossil collected by Giinther, but worked 
up by other authorities. : P. 
1 Günther, R. T. Contributions to the Natural History of Lake Urmi, North- 
western Persia, and its Neighborhood. Journ. Linnean Soc. Zoöl., vol. xxvii, pp. 
345-453, 1899. 
